02 Mar Delight your customers and encourage advocacy of your products or services

The quickest way to success in your business is to delight your customers by finding out what your customers want and need. And to design and deliver products and services that will solve their problems. Or speak to their desires or aspirations (wants and needs basically).

Simply put, your ideal customer has a big gap between their actual state (or how they are right now), and their desired state. For example, it is a really hot day today. You want to go to the beach. This is your desired state. Something important is happening at work or school. So you made the decision not to go to the beach. This was your actual state.

Or it is a lovely, warm evening. You feel like you would love a yoghurt and berry icecream from Gelato Messina. It is about 2 km up a hill away. Your actual state is that you are hot. Your desired state is licking an ice cream under a tree in the breeze. You figure that even though there is some cost to you, to walk to the ice cream shop, it will add to your weekly goal of activity. It is also beautiful evening. You think that you will enjoy the walk. So you make plans to achieve your desired state.

Be very clear about your value proposition

In every transaction there is a certain amount of VALUE that your potential client stands to benefit from buying your product or service. This comes at some cost to your potential customer. It may not be just a financial cost. It may be that they have to invest time and effort to make your product work.

For those reasons, you have to be very clear about what VALUE you offer the consumer. So that they can weigh this up based on the sacrifice they will have to make.

Delight your customers by exceeding their expectations

To build loyalty and retention in your customers, it is important to understand your customers expectations and over deliver. You want to exceed their expectations. If they are satisfied, or better yet, delighted, they are likely to tell other people about your products or services. Not only will they be more likely to buy from you, rather than your competitors, but they will be advocates for your products or services.

My advice to you, then, would be to look at your product or service and think about ways you can value add to your offering, to further delight your customers or clients. You will also be more likely to succeed if you are very clear about the VALUE you provide, or your value proposition.

Finally, you can think about your customers actual and desired state with regard to your product or service. Try to influence your potential customer with regard to either of those two states, to make your product or service more desirable.