If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse. — Henry Ford
Give the customer what they want. The customer’s always right. Our customer’s know best.
Really?
Imagine if Mr. Ford, following the would-be advice of customers, simply bred faster horses. (This is not an environmental debate – so don’t go there.) The customer – me, you, them – we can’t know what product or service will captivate or literally move us. Did you imagine – 15 years ago – needing a postage-stamp sized music player on your hip while pumping your arms and legs on the elliptical machine at the 24-hour gym? Did you think the ‘mobile’ phone you carried in a bag – which looked like the Princess phone in a bag – would evolve to a sleek piece of pocket-fitting technology you would Facebook and tweet from? Yeah – I didn’t think so.
Here’s the moral of the story – to remain essential, you have to think past what your customers know. You must solve the problems they’ve yet to encounter. Anticipate like a good fighter.
BUT HOW?
You listen. Listen to what they’re saying. Hear what they’re not saying. That sounds so zen – but it’s reading between the lines. If you sell fish and chips, do people always rave about your chips, but clam up about the fish? You get the point.
You learn. Research. Talk with other people – in your industry and out. Is your insurance salesman doing something that makes you a happy customer? Can it be applied to your business? There are countless ways to stay on top of information – and many of them can be accessed from the well-designed phone in your pocket.
You experiment. To paraphrase Emerson* – don’t be a wimp. Timidity gets you nowhere. Did you enter into business because you like the cheap seats or lurking in the shadows? Try things out. Test market. If it comes out smelling like day old fish – you’ve still learned something. Certainly not telling you to bet the house on a whim – but there are calculated risks well worth taking.
Problems, needs, short-comings, desires – all need undiscovered solutions. Put your self in position to provide customers with things they don’t know they’re missing. It might be the difference between being a beloved horse farmer, or the father of the gasoline engine.