[Sunday supplement]: So, what do your customers really want?

Published: Mon, 12/06/21

Last week I attended a fascinating workshop during which the facilitator asked the question: "So, what do your customers really want?"

We all know that we don't buy drills (we buy a hole in the wall) or flights (we buy holidays).

Which got me thinking about a service business - like mine - and what my clients really want. It's certainly not accounts, or tax and VAT returns, or even management reports and mentoring.

It's OUTCOMES, the subjective - often quite personal - considerations such as reducing anxiety, the ease with which they can do business with me and time saving.

There is a really interesting article in the Harvard Business Review (March-April 2018) entitled 'The B2B Elements of Value' which contains the Value Pyramid below.

I found my list: peace of mind, decreased anxiety, certainty, choice, no risk, compliance, time saving and responsiveness (I am sure there are others) had nothing directly to do with my services.

I was then encouraged to ask: "What are all the things someone has to do to get the benefit from your service and what is stopping them?"

We all think we know why our customers/clients buy from us, which at a superficial level is probably true, but I wonder how often - if at all - we give it this degree of deep thought?

Noel Guilford