The Best Clients in the World: They Want What You've Got

Here's a deceptively simple but extremely effective marketing idea: Work with the people who want what you've got.

Sounds obvious, right? But notice that it doesn't say the people who need what you've got. There are plenty of them around; but if they don't already want it, you have to spend valuable time and energy convincing them of the need.

Doctors don't go out on the street pointing to people and saying, "You look sick. Let's book an appointment". No, when you go to the doctor it's because you are sick, and you want her help. It's an easy "sell" for the doctor because you're already a highly motivated buyer.

Sure, there are plenty of sales programs that teach you how to uncover a prospect's true needs and help them understand the consequences of their problems (problems they never even knew they had until they started talking to you!).

There are organizations who fill needs rather than wants - for example, a government health department who sets standards for nutritious food because it's good for citizens (even if they don't explicitly say they want it). And there are organizations who create wants - like Sony with the Walkman and Apple with the iPad.

But why do all this hard work creating or serving needs? There are plenty of fish in the sea; you might as well start with those who are swimming towards you.

How do you know who wants what you've got?

Listen to your customers, clients and prospective customers say. What do they complain about (not just about your business, but in general)? What do they struggle with? What problems do they have? What do they aspire to?

If you can solve their problems with your products and services, you're almost set for life! You have a ready-made market of customers who already know, like and trust you. It might just be that they didn't realize you could solve their other problems as well.

But what if you find they want something else?

This is still valuable information.

First, if you can tailor your products and services to match what they want, it's a golden opportunity to tap into that trusted market.

Second, if you can't solve their problem yourself, you might be able to refer them to somebody who can. If this happens a lot, you can create profitable joint venture agreements with these suppliers, and everybody wins.

Third, if you can't even refer them to somebody else, that might tell you it's time to stop working so hard to win these customers, and look elsewhere. At the very least, this lets you focus your marketing efforts where they are most useful and effective.