Do You Know Your Customers?
Do you know who your customers are? My guess is that you know their name, maybe their address, sometimes the company name and that's about it.
Knowing your customer means knowing what your customer really wants. Maybe it's your product, but maybe there is something else, too: recognition, respect, reliability, service, friendship, and help - things all of us care more about as human beings than we care about malls or envelopes. Once you attach your personality to the proposition, people start reacting to the personality, and stop reacting to the proposition.
— Harvey McKay: at the age of 26, he purchased a small envelope company, which he grew to an $85 million business employing over 500 people.
Harvey McKay wrote 5 books, 3 of which are classics:
- Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
- Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt
- Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty
Harvey McKay developed a system to gather all the information needed about a customer. The 66 questions are at: McKay 66. You can print the PDF file. Many of these questions are pretty much standard, name, addresses...
The 66 questions are divided in:
- Customer
- Education
- Family
- Business Background
- Special Interests
- Lifestyle
- The Customer and You
But some are much more interesting:
- College, fraternity, sports
- Long-range business objectives, medium-range business objectives
- Adjectives to describe the customer
- Most proud of having achieved
- Ethics
Many of these questions are your own impressions about your customer. You shouldn't/will not ask all of these questions, but over time, you can build all these answers. Some of your resources for the information could be secretaries, receptionists, suppliers...
With this profile, think about how many more photos and photo shoots you could sale her: Birthdays, anniversaries, friends, referrals, campaigns...