How to Find Needs & Desires That Scale – or – What Gift Giving Has to Do With Your Goals
So you’re ready to create a new product or design a new collection. Further, you’re ready to take this baby to scale.
It’s go big or go home.
When your business creates a product that scales, you’re aiming to serve as many people as possible with a solution designed with them in mind. The danger is watering down what you offer. Solutions that scale are based on specific needs and desires, not on sweeping generalizations.
The key to discovering the specific needs & desires that scale is to examine particular customers you’d like to reproduce. You know the ones: you’re thrilled to see them on the calendar, you’re happy to package up their orders and send them a little something special, you’re glad to answer their questions and guide them towards the best purchase. They’re the customers who challenge you, thrill you, and inspire you.
Scale doesn’t start with a big idea. Scale starts with a single customer, a single problem, and single solution.
Too often, business owners try to diagnose the problems of the market instead of an individual customer. You try to spot the trends, the big opportunities, instead of getting clear on what the person right in front of you needs most.
The go to tool for this? The survey. Don’t get me wrong, surveying your audience can be extremely useful. However, it’s not useful when you’re looking for your next idea. Use a survey when you want to know more about your customers’ experience with [blank] or their frustrations with [blank]. But don’t use a survey when you want to know what’s on their collective mind. It will (almost) always be a shadow of what is really true.
The people who are right in front of you–those customers who thrill, excite, and inspire you–are constantly giving you information. They are writing you emails, responding to your tweets, and giving you feedback on their purchases. The best tool for discovering the needs & desires of those right-in-front-of-you customers is your own mental archive. Trust yourself, trust your observations, trust the information.
The same way you know how to give the perfect gift to someone you love is the way you discover how to create a product that scales.
The thing about the person right in front of you is that her needs are felt by someone else. In fact, those needs are felt by countless others. Obvious? Perhaps. And perhaps what you’re doing when you go trendspotting is trying to identify those very needs. But when you survey the group, you inevitably water down your observations.
You turn your observations into “big ideas.” Those big ideas are great for getting buy in. They can motivate, entice, and enthuse. But, they rarely turn into a sale.
Scale is about precision: precise language, precise desires, precise solutions, precise connections.
Scale is about the perfect gift.
That kind of precision isn’t about demographics or profiles. It’s about meaning, belief, internal scripts, personal priorities, and core desires. You won’t discover those by going broad; you’ll find them by diving deep. Focus your energy, your intuition, and your magnifying lens on the people right in front of you.
That’s where you’ll find the needs that will scale.
***
Are you ready to unlock those needs?
That’s why I created The Customer Perspective Process. It will allow you to tune into your customers’ inner needs & desires and creating lasting systems for growth based on them.
Click here to find out about the next Customer Perspective Process boot camp.
Can your business bring love to scale?
Often, clients come to me because they’re ready to go beyond serving one customer at a time. They’re ready to take their ideas to a bigger stage and a broader reach. They’re ready to scale.
You might be there right now–or approaching that point–if you’re asking questions like:
- Is the way I’m working right now really sustainable over time?
- Isn’t there a way to get more “bang for my buck” when it comes to marketing & sales?
- Where is the closest human clone machine?
Traditionally, scale has required making products or services less personal. You can’t clone yourself & your super personal service, so you scale back as you scale up.
First, what do I mean by scale? Simply, scale is serving as many customers as possible with as little effort on behalf of your business as possible. Serving a group of customers through scale means that your business has an impact on people who you wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise.
What if scale didn’t have to be impersonal? What if scale was an extension of all the most human elements of your business?
Creating a business that scales leverages your gifts for the greatest good across the broadest channels.
I believe that most businesses require a level of premium, unleveraged work. It could take the form of commission art, couture dresses, one on one coaching, or corporate speaking engagements. But most of those same businesses require a level of leverage to take their impact to scale. The two sides of the equation can and do work hand-in-hand.
One informs the other, improving both.
Over the summer, I watched Danielle LaPorte work a room of eager, warm-hearted entrepreneurs. She opened with…
“Love scales.”
We were at World Domination Summit and it’s a beautiful example of how you can nurture relationships while leveraging your gifts & skills. Chris Guillebeau doesn’t have a relationship with each of the people who bought tickets – all within minutes of them going on sale. But, of course, many people feel like they have relationship with him.
More importantly, their connection to Chris makes connecting to the others at WDS much easier. It’s not the relationship with Chris that makes this event a success; it’s all the other relationships that are spawned by their implicit connection.
Yes, love scales at WDS. It scales at meet ups, conferences, and events. It scales at rock concerts, sidewalk sales, and yoga classes. Love even scales through ebooks, programs, and masterminds.
It’s the intention, process, and values that create the atmosphere that allows love to scale through a business. It’s not a business owner or her work with any individual client.
It’s a clear understanding of how one individual’s needs & desires are the fuel you need reach the masses. More on that next week.
The most powerful kind of scale happens when you make each & every customer feel like she’s one in a million, even when you’re serving thousands.
What holds you back from leveraging your gifts & skills to create more wealth and impact more lives is thinking that your work can’t survive without you & your special attention to the client.
The thing is, you can duplicate your favorite clients. You can clone your best customers. You can leverage your love for these special people. You can know them better, discover their innermost thoughts & desires.
You can identify the patterns behind why they buy and when. You can design filters, campaigns, and events that attract & bind people who genuinely value what your business does.
And at the same time you can create work that fulfills their deep desires and answers their core needs.
When you leverage the love & scale your offers, you’re creating a big impact on the customers who are just right for your business.
And that ends up having a big impact on you.
Evolving Your Model is the Key to Evolving Your Revenue
The number one reason your business isn’t generating the revenue it could be is that your business model is not set up to generate more.
People who earn more know a very important fact:
It’s easier to earn the second $50,000 than it is to earn the first $50,000.
Or the second $100k, or the second cool million.
In other words, once you’ve earned $50,000, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be earning 6-figures. The difference is that earning 6-figures generally requires leveraging your earning. It means no longer trading time for money. It means understanding what parts of your business can be duplicated over & over again with almost zero effort. It means finding a tipping point again, and again, and again.
You don’t have to give up family time to earn more. You don’t need to resort to shady promotional tactics or annoying affiliate campaigns. Instead, your business needs to embrace a better business model that is based on value & results, not time & energy.
If you’re putting too much work into earning too little, there’s a good chance your business is based on a relationship model.
Now, don’t get me wrong! Relationships are great. The human element is the most important element of any business. But here’s what starts to go wrong when you base your business on a relationship model:
Relational transactions happen most often in project-based or one-to-one client scenarios. The easy way to develop a relationship is with time, exchange, and getting-to-know-ya. You put your whole heart & soul into the process. Those relationships turn towards a transaction when you have something that fills a need for the other person.
It’s a feel good way to do business. But it’s a slow process. Each customer represents hours of time, loads of money (don’t think your social media use & Skype coffee dates aren’t costing you), and emotional stress waiting for those relationships to convert.
On the other hand, sales in transactional models come fast & furious. They utilize scale to generate the revenue that’s needed in the business. Transactional models are built on acute needs & impulse purchases.
The difficulty with this model is that it’s hard to achieve customer loyalty, harder still to truly delight your customers. Once a solution is purchased, there’s often no word from the customer to find out if it’s working or not. And this type of business might leave you scratching your head, wanting more.
In a perfect world, there would be a sweet spot between transactional models & relational models.
Not to get all Dr. Pangloss on you, but the New Economy just might be the best of all possible worlds.
There is a sweet spot. There is a way to build a business that takes your big ideas and your brilliant products to scale in a way that makes each customer feel special and singled out.
Your customer understands that you are doing business with him in mind, that your business is geared to her success, and that you have a vision for how his life can be better.
Leveraged income isn’t outside the customer relationship cycle. It’s an integral part of it. You don’t develop leveraged income opportunities to generate money where before there was none. You develop leveraged income opportunities to solve problems for people you care about, over & over & over again.
If you’re making $10k, $20k, even $50k per year, you’re already solving problems for people one at a time. To make the jump to your dream income, your goal is to solve problems for people 10, 100, even 1000 people at a time.
Don’t fight your desire to forge & foster relationships with your potential customers. Just realize that you can serve more than one person at a time. In fact, you owe it to your customers to do just that.
What’s On Your Customers To Do List Today?
I’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s on your to do list today. I know you’re processing email, writing blog posts, crafting email marketing, meeting with clients, polishing sales copy, putting dinner on the table, and catching up on Downton Abbey.
Those to do lists are sacred documents, evidence of our shared chaotic lives. When your business approaches customers on terms that are top-of-mind, personally meaningful, and relevant to their daily concerns, you’re speaking the same language. Your customers will–finally–recognize why your product is something they need and not just something to think about.
Do you know what’s on your customer’s to do list?
Everyone is trying to get something done. Your business is tasked with making some of those things easier, hassle-free, cheaper, or more fulfilling. Whether it’s getting dressed & accessorized in the morning or dealing with a difficult situation at work with grace & ease, there are real opportunities where your customer “to do’s” and your products line up.
Your business’ vision can help foment a movement and get your potential customers to buy into the brave new world you are co-creating. But when it comes to actually getting people to buy, your business needs to ground its offers in the expressed needs and desires of your Most Valued Customers.
Turn your customers’ to do list items into the inspiration for a new product.
Take what you want to teach, the service you want to offer, or the product you want to create and figure out how it’s going to help your customer cross something off their list. That’s the ultimate measure of whether your idea is going to make their lives easier or just add to the overwhelm.
Every product is a tool. The bestselling tools help people do the things that are important to them faster, more easily, or with less expense. People naturally feel a sense of urgency to buy what you’re offering when they understand that it’s a tool for helping them get done what they already want to do.
When you’re ready to market and sell your product, make sure it’s crystal clear that you’ve designed this product to help your customers cross an item off their to do list. Use their language. Make it matter to them.
Today, jot down a to do list for your Most Valued Customer. Then consider how what your business offers helps your customers to check things off with greater ease, for less money, or in less time.
How can you use that knowledge to better position your products & create a no-brainer statement of value for your customers?
There’s a Little Stucker In All of Us
“There are the people who stay stuck and the people that leap.”
Deirdre Walsh, one of the brilliant business owners in a group I’m currently running, knows this about the people who come to her for integrative health coaching.
My challenge to her and the rest of the group? Construct your business in a way that caters to “leapers.”
What’s the difference between a stucker and a leaper?
Stuckers are the customers who buy from your business and show up for the jam session but rarely act on the ideas, they keep the jewelry in the box, or they add your book to their overflowing shelf of unread books.
They’re genuinely interested in what your business has to offer. They buy into your vision. But that’s where it stops.
For whatever reason, they’re not really ready for the bigger picture. They like to look but they’re not interested in the follow through.
And you know what? That’s just fine!
Here’s the thing: Stuckers aren’t good for business. Not because they’re bad customers or because they take up your time, but because they don’t give back. They don’t create the ripple effects that allow your business to grow and evolve.
On the other hand, leapers are the people who bring energy and enthusiasm to the consumer-producer relationship and create a return on their investment. They are quick to make changes, they update their wardrobe to match the jewelry, they tear into your book and take notes. They get results. Their investment is as much in themselves as it is in your product.
What’s more, they tell their friends. Their lives become an example of the good your business creates. They stick around for the long haul. They’re repeat buyers and repeat referrers.
Leapers renew your entrepreneurial energy. Stuckers drain it.
We’re all a little stuck.
The best way to get in touch with who the stuckers are in your potential clientele is to get in touch with your own inner stuck.
Is there some aspect of your life on which you just haven’t taken action past lip service? I’m betting there is. Maybe you bought that juicer but you never use it. Maybe you bought that killer dress but you haven’t made an opportunity to wear it. Maybe you bought that gym membership but you just don’t make time to go.
What holds you back? Keeps you stuck? Bottom line: it’s almost always about priorities. And secondly, it’s about support.
Leapers put a priority on the work they’re doing with your business or the product they’ve buying. They have an emotional connection to it long before they buy. They have envisioned the outcome of the purchase and have already begun making changes or adapting to their post-purchase lives.
Stuckers have other priorities. Plain and simple. Their desire is spread thin and something else in their lives is receiving top priority.
Leapers also have support. Whether it’s self-support or an accountability network or just a pat on the back from a friend, they know their decision is made in relation to a greater (supportive) context.
Stuckers are going it on their own. They’re not necessarily functioning in a hostile context but they don’t have the inner or outer care that makes change a reality. They put more responsibility on the product or service than they do on themselves.
Of course, what the leapers and stuckers look like and how they present themselves varies for every business. While you may not always be able to distinguish one from another, you can study former clients and customers to see what they have in common.
Identify 5-10 customers who have leapt–taken the advice, changed their habits, achieved personal success, etc…–then identify 5-10 customers who have stuck. Consider the differences in:
- how they contacted you to buy
- why they bought
- how quickly they bought
- how they expressed their needs/desires
- what their reaction was to the product
- what their outcomes/results have been
Notice any patterns?
I don’t have all the answers. It’s different for every business. But if you’re interested in really understanding the social dynamic of your business–and, I believe, you absolutely should be–it’s important to bring attention to the subtle differences between your leapers and your stuckers.
What does this have to do with actually selling products?
Stuckers can drain the life-force out of a relationship-driven business.
You–as a business owner, maker, thinker, designer, coach–genuinely care about the outcomes your customers realize through your products. If you, or your team, are regularly coming into contact with customers who aren’t getting the results you envision, you’ll begin to question your product. And rightly so.
However, if you notice that those not achieving your shared vision are stuckers, you can go on fulfilling the needs of your leapers.
It’s not that you need to turn every stucker away. Instead, your business can create leveraged offers that allow stuckers to get what they want without taking up a disproportional amount of your resources. Leapers can have access to higher level, deeper relationship offers.
Your business model–and the way it is marketed–should be built to satisfy stuckers at the lower end and direct leapers toward the higher end. It’s better for your revenue, it’s better for your Most Valued Customers, and it’s better for the people your MVCs will come into contact with.
Triple win.
Tell me about your own experience with leapers, stuckers, or leaping/sticking yourself: tweet me.
Get Bigger Results by Thinking Smaller
It’s not often I ask you to think smaller. Today is one of those days.
You have read everywhere, and rightly so, that one of the chief ways get traction for your brand is to sell people on your purpose, your larger vision. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” I don’t even like breaking out this axiom of enlightened business anymore because it’s become cliche and misused.
Yes, your vision & purpose is key to the success of your brand, but it is not a substitute for clear statements of value. You don’t get off the hook for being clear about what your product does, how it is used, and what the expected outcomes of use are because your purpose is so grand.
A particular area in which I see this plaguing business owners is in what I will call the “transformational service sector.” Think coaches of almost every kind and consultants of every ilk. That includes many of you reading.
And even if it doesn’t, keep reading. Winky face.
Sharing your vision for your customers and the purpose of your work is directional. It helps to catch them up in the flow of your work. But it doesn’t trigger their desire to buy.
People buy when they’re ready. They need to be both ready to buy into your vision and actively looking for a solution to a stumbling block on the path to that vision.
Your job isn’t to provide a straight, newly paved highway to dream life. It’s to anticipate the happy detours and not-so-happy ice storms they’ll have along the way and guide them through. When they’re ready for a happy detour, metaphorically speaking, they’ll be looking for museums to visit, places to eat, and spots to explore. When they run into the not-so-happy ice storms, they’ll be looking for shelter, tire chains, or a tow truck.
If you’re especially observant of your customers, you know exactly when the detours come and when the ice storms will hit. You can then show up when they stop and say…
“Hey! I know you and I know where you’re going. Let me help you with this.”
“This” is what you’re actually selling. And it’s what people actually buy.
Here’s a more concrete example. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I’ve been doing some “research” on online dating strategy. One of the books I’m reading is by the founder of a company called eFlirt Expert. They offer services to help people looking for love online be more efficient and effective.
What they don’t do is try to sell anyone on the idea that buying from them will result in the perfect match or finding a soul mate. Instead, they’ve identified tasks that online daters need help with on the path to doing just that, such as picking which sites to use, building your profile for you, replying to the messages you get, or giving your profile a makeover.
Here’s what that looks like for the customer. He decides he’s had enough of bad blind dates and the bar scene. He’s ready to give the online world a go. First, he has to decide which site to use. Panic (hopefully mild!) ensues. He uses eFlirt Expert’s free dating site evaluation service. Bingo, he signs up for the recommended sites.
Then he starts building his profile and starts searching the site. He doesn’t the get the response he wants immediately. So he remembers that online dating company and goes to see what they have to offer (of course, he’s probably getting an email right about this time to remind him of what they can do for him). Profile building! Yes, that’s what he needs.
With a shiny new profile, he’s getting lots of messages from great potential matches. He wants to make sure he’s answering them properly. So he goes back to that company and signs up for email reply services. If all goes well, he’ll be dating away in no time and, hopefully, finding a relationship.
You tell me. Which is more compelling?
An offer to coach you through the dating process to find your one true love? or
3 distinct offers that deliver 3 specific outcomes?
Boom, as they say.
Before you give me a million and one excuses about why this isn’t a good model for your business, let me give you three questions you will be able to answer that prove otherwise:
- What questions do your clients commonly come to you with in the process of serving them?
- What tasks do your clients commonly need to complete in the process of achieving their goals?
- What frustrations do your clients commonly feel during the process of making progress?
Within the answers to those questions are the seeds of specific service offerings, leveraged programs or products, lead generation tools, blog posts, emails, even Facebook updates or tweets. They’re sign posts on the journey from the moment of readiness to the fulfillment of your shared vision.
Each answer is a potential place to enter the market.
One of the reasons my book, The Art of Earning, has sold so well is that it answers a question that all of my clients have had at one point or another. The Art of Growth is positioned to do the same thing by answering the question, “How can I create a bigger impact with my business but put less energy into it?” Our bestselling products at Kick Start Labs, Website Kick Start and Sales Page Kick Start, address two tasks every entrepreneur in the digital space need to complete: building a website and writing a sales page.
The more specific a task I can help my customers complete, the more likely they are to know that they want it. Not only that, the more likely they are to want it on their own terms, meaning I need to do less to push the product. They will search it out.
That’s not to say that an all-inclusive package can’t be a great product. But it’s not likely to be an easy sell. The thing is, most customers simply don’t believe your 12-week course or your VIP day will put them on the fast-track to achieving your shared vision. Let’s be honest: I don’t care how good you are at what you do and how ready your customers are for change, transformational services–from the technical to the metaphysical–simply take time, growth, and natural progression.
Any one product or service is one step in the right direction. Not a teleporter.
You can build a solid business model on breaking that journey into its natural pieces. Or you can struggle to sell something so grand it’s literally unbelievable.
Hold onto your vision. Sell the steps to it.
***
Want a framework for breaking your big ideas into smaller ones that really sell & get better results?
The Customer Perspective Process walks you through exactly that. You’ll learn how to breakdown the many tasks, milestones, and questions your customers will have on their way to reaching your shared vision.