Some days I’m bummed I know anything about business development and customer service. Maybe I wouldn’t be so bothered.

Today my plan was to buy a Japanese Maple from a local nursery. I even had $30 of ‘merchant bucks’ to put toward the purchase. So I drove up this afternoon to get my tree.

I like this nursery. They have a great selection of healthy plants, a nice layout and staff that are knowledgeable and helpful. My wife and I already spent hundreds of dollars there when I reworked our front yard – thus the $30 of fake money to put toward our tree. Their trees also have a two year guarantee, which was another reason to get our Maple there.

After I had chosen my tree, loaded on a cart, wheeled in it, paid (with my credit card and the fake $30) and completed the transaction, I asked if the receipt was all I needed for the guarantee.

The cashier said that using the $30 credit money negated any guarantee. Two managers up the chain confirmed this and were not going to alter their policy. I had my card credited and left without the tree.

I had made a special trip, out of my way, to buy this tree. My wife and I had saved the $30 credit (which expires today) to put toward the tree. I had made the effort to inspect trees and pick one out and pay for it.

And, right at the end…breakdown.

There are three ways that they could have made it right.

First, the cashier could have reviewed the guarantee negation policy before the purchase, since she knew I was using the ‘merchant bucks’.

Second, since their lack of clarity put me in a bind, they could have made an exception, granted the sale and guarantee, and worked to revise the way the were dealing with this issue.

Third, they could have made some concession for goodwill. They could have given me a new set of $30 credits, which I would have spent there anyway.

Unfortunately, I left feeling ill served and without a tree.

But I do still have the $200+ I was ready to give them.

And they don’t.

One of the key foundational elements of a successful marketing strategy is knowing why your customers buy from you.

Often business owners don’t take the time to work through this concept. As a result, their message to the market is muddled, unknowingly pushing prospects away.

Here are the 5 components of knowing why your customers buy from you.

1. Target Market

Imagine you need a deck built for your home. You talk to both a home improvement company and a deck company. The former’s website lists all sorts of projects they work on, one of which is building decks. The latter tells the story of how they build decks, amazing decks, unique decks, all kinds of decks and only decks.

All else being equal, who do you want to build your deck?

Also, if you want a deck, might you first look for companies that build them?

The key ideas here iare that you define your target market in a way so that when they find you it is obvious that you are dedicated to that target market and, by knowing your market, you will know where to look for prospects.

And when you understand your target market, you can figure out their…

2. Urgent Needs and Compelling Desires

You must know what your market wants and what your market needs. Your goal, as a business, is to provide the solutions to match.

In our deck example, your target market might want to host parties on their deck. Or they have a deck that needs repair. Or they want a private place to spend time when the weather’s nice. Or they want extra space year-round.

So when you understand your target market and their needs and desires, you can define the…

3. Important Results

These are the answers your market is looking for, the physical manifestations of their needs and desires.

In our example, it’s a deck, with whatever custom components needed for each various need or desire.

Knowing the results your target market needs or wants allows you to craft…

4. Invest-able Opportunities

Now you can create service and product offers to present your target market. Customers want to make a wise purchase that will give them a return for their investment. In your case, now that you know the results they want and need, you can make sure that you have a variety of goods and services to meet the varying situations of your prospects.

For our home owners, you may have enclosed decks, decks with BBQ sections, decks with privacy screens or decks that keep the space below them dry.

Finally, when you have invest-able opportunities and provide results according to your target market’s needs and desires, you are really supplying…

5. Deep-rooted Benefits

It’s not just the purchased item that we want. Additionally, we desire the way it makes us feel. These are the deep-rooted benefits, the core fundamental ways in which a customer is changed by our service.

With the deck designed for entertaining, it may be increased status, a larger social sphere or more pleasure from relationships.

With the deck designed for privacy, it could be the increased peace and reduced stress that comes with having a place to relax.

A deck in the sun might result in a tan that brings self-esteem, confidence and satisfaction.

Walk through these five steps and you will have a powerful grasp on why your customers are buying what you are selling.

Combine this with the three other components of the Book Yourself Solid Foundation Module to have a platform on which the your entire marketing strategy is supported, a springboard into powerful business success.

A week ago I was sitting with a group in Virginia, hosted by a business coach who was presenting on different marketing aspects for wellness professionals.

She was reviewing different marketing principles and doing a fine job – even if her perspective isn’t exactly the same as mine. I managed to keep quiet when she wanted the group to work on their “elevator pitches,” although I think they are better swept from the face of the earth. It was the comment about giving prospects your business card that prompted my input.

“I don’t give business cards.”

Yep, that brought the day’s lesson to a dead stop. Every eye was on me. The confusion was obvious.

“I don’t give business cards. I get business cards.”

Needless to say, the perspective shift got people thinking. Here are four reasons to use this strategy:

1. It gives you the opportunity to follow up and build trust.

How many times can you remember giving your card to someone and never hearing from them again? Or even getting a card and dumping it in the ’round file’ when you got home?

Getting your prospect’s contact information allows you to continue the conversation and build credibility. If you tell someone you will contact them – and then actually do it – you’ve just jumped past most of your competitors and established you are a professional who follows through on what you say you will do.

2. It allows you to focus the conversation on a matter that is relevant.

Carry a writing implement and jot down a note on the back of your prospect’s card pertaining to what they need or offer. Knowing what they need allows you to direct them to appropriate services that you or someone in your network offers. Knowing your prospect’s services lets you connect them to others in your network who are in need. It’s a win-win!

3. It communicates that you value the other person enough to obtain their information.

Isn’t it nice to talk to someone who is about more than how they can sell you? If your prospect has a card, then being asked for one gives them a chance to do what they want in the first place – give someone their card!

4. It relieves your prospects of yet another responsibility in their already hectic lives.

Most people don’t want more tasks in their lives. Taking their card and the duty of the next step allows your prospect to relax and enjoy themselves, giving you another chance to leave a favorable impression.

“What about my business cards?”

Yes, I have business cards (I did photoshop one into the picture above) and I don’t run the other direction when people ask for them. They are wonderful for delivering my contact information and a bit of branding as well. I use them when it makes sense to use them. That means I need to be present in conversations with prospects and make a decision to act, instead of robotically pressing cards into anybody’s hands that aren’t in pockets or holding drinks.

Most importantly, try to treat any prospects you meet as real people, not just dollar signs for your business.

Find out who they are and what their lives are about. Then you’ll be able to truly serve them well, make a new friend or, at the very least, enjoy one another for that brief moment your paths cross on this earth.

“When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world” (George Washington Carver, 1864-1943)

We all experience the endless number of choices in today’s marketplace. As business owners, we often struggle to be heard above the cacophony of advertisements and commercials flooding society every day. Many beginning entrepreneurs are finding it difficult to be seen or heard in this economic era.

My suggestion is just what Mr. Carver suggests above. Take the common elements of business – target market, prospect identification, needs and desire, personal branding – and address them in an uncommon way to get attention.

Uncommon Way 1: Identify Ideal Clients

The first step is to identify the type of person whose attention you really want.

The Book Yourself Solid system teaches an uncommon method called the Red Velvet Rope policy. Imagine the new, hip club in town. People arrive in droves, wanting to know what it’s all about, only to find a humongous doorman with his clipboard and the red velvet rope. Only those on the coveted V.I.P. list get in. While we don’t want to come across as businesses that are going to bounce people who aren’t on our list, there are two ways in which you can benefit from this concept.

From the business’s point of view, the customers allowed to enter are those who are ideal clients for the product or service. They will energize and inspire you instead of sapping your strength and dragging you down. These customers also enable you to do your best work.

The customer will experience this synergy as well. Being the recipient of your best work, the customer will then proceed to talk about those results out in the world, doing your most effective marketing for you.

Defining your ideal client and continually working to serve them is the beginning.

Uncommon Way 2: Five Steps To Why People Will Buy

Once you’ve identified your ideal client, you must have products or services that provide deep-rooted benefits.

The Book Yourself Solid system has five steps:

1. Know your target market
2. Understand the needs and desires of your target market
3. Identify clear, specific results you will provide
4. Offer investible opportunities – products and services
5. Provide deep-rooted benefits – financial, physical, emotional, spiritual

Each step could be a blog post in itself. Nevertheless, working through the answers to these five steps will clarify all the components necessary to get your customers’ attention.

Uncommon Way 3: Personal Brand – Who, What and Why

Once you’ve found your ideal clients and have products and services that deliver the benefits they desire, you must know your personal brand identity.

Personal brand can be stated in two parts. The first uses the information you have collected to this point. The second requires inward examination.

Start with your “who and do what”. Simply, it’s who you serve and what you do for them. You combine your target market with the results and you’ve got it.

The second statement is why you do it. What gets you out of bed in the morning? What do you stand for in the world?

Take note that this might be the most uncommon task in this process and the most valuable. Generally people don’t like to state their personal mission and life values boldly. It’s much safer to talk about impersonal products and services.

I believe that incorporating the why of your business just may be one of the most important messages to communicate to your market. In our Web 2.0 and Gen Y era, connecting to customers as real people is of the highest importance. Even if it only is the lens through which you connect to your target market, it is a necessary ingredient. Ignore this at your own risk.

Uncommon Way 4: Have A Conversation – No Pitches Allowed

I don’t know many business owners that like the ‘elevator pitch.’ At best it is an impersonal, scripted, one-way speech forced into a timeframe. At worst, you could cause the listener to dismiss you, and your business, forever.

Instead, incorporate the information from each section above into potential conversations with those that might be interested. When time is short, your “who and do what” statement is a great beginning. With longer stretches of time, the components of why people buy can be used in different arrangements to convey information about you and your work.

The most important point to remember is that there is a real person in front of you. Avoid shoving information down their throats. Listen and be respectful, attentive and relevant to the conversation at the moment.

Uncommon Summary

Most businesses out there are hawking a product. From what I can tell, their only true interest is to get my money into their bank accounts. They want profit.

One of the most uncommon and powerful ways to get attention (and it is sad to think it’s uncommon) is to deeply care about the market you serve. This is an area where the small business and solopreneur have taken the advantage. Go back through the steps outlined above, hone your responses, and know how you impact your customers’ lives for the better. Finally, dig into the “why” of your life and uncover that spark that makes it all worthwhile, that will energize your life and the lives of those whose paths you cross.

“The wise man does no wrong in changing his habits with the times” (Dionysius Cato, 3rd or 4th A.D.)

“The wise man is a wise man when his principles remain consistent through turbulent times.” (Kirk Hoffman, now)

Our economy has definitely shifted over the last few years. Our boom market went bust. Wall Street was hit by an earthquake. Businesses and banks are scrambling to stay open.

The other day I read that the new market demands new client service tactics. Is that true? I think it is. And isn’t.

Business Foundations

It appears that many businesses have lost their way. Enron, Halliburton and WorldCom are just a few that have weakened the foundations of relationships between businesses and customers. Somehow a massive disconnect has formed between corporations and the people they serve, causing them to act destructively and criminally in the unbridled pursuit of their own self-interest.

The problem here is that they’ve missed or forgotten one small but extremely important step. You must know the reason you get out of bed in the morning and what you stand for in the world. Without that solid foundational element it’s easy to fall into thinking it’s about getting all the money you can, instead of living out the purpose of your life.

Trust and Credibility

How many times have you felt like you were being rushed into a sale, that it had to happen at the insistence of the salesperson in front of you? You tried to communicate concern or lack of readiness but your salesperson put their agenda first. It left you frustrated, unheard and unlikely to return.

Instead, we can build a sales cycle that becomes a process to engage people however they are comfortable and at their pace. It allows time to get to know who we are and how we can really help them, to give them trust-building evidence over time. We can build relationships in which people can decide they want what we have to offer and choose when it is right for them. We can also develop a variety of offers that provide people with different levels of personal and financial commitment as well.

Self-Promotion

I can’t remember the number of times I was approached with an offer and, when I wanted more time or more information, never hearing from the salesperson again. The message here is clear: their prospects are only of interest as long as they are going to buy, and buy now.

Let’s create a way of maintaining our relationships with people without it always being a sales call or pitch. Build a referral network of other professionals, in other industries, that will enrich people’s lives. Recommend good books or seminars in areas of interest. Deliver valuable, usable information in blogs, articles or speeches. Become someone who adds value and generally improves people’s lives without always having to be paid.

Now, this is where I have to say, after all the evidence, that new client service tactics are not needed…because the remedies have been around for ages!

Knowing the way you positively impact your customers’ lives and treating your customers as human beings, both in allowing them to set the pace that is best for them and by consistently reaching out to them helpfully over time, is not a novel idea.

Just a forgotten one.

The new market demands we remember ageless client service tactics.

Thankfully, only those who remember tend to survive during times like these. I’m looking forward to spending more time with people like that.

For me, customer service is often a ‘make or break’ issue.

A couple of months back my wife and I went to the Dupont Circle Cosi in Washington DC during a day out together. Before I even had my food I had decided I would never go there again.

The restaurant is one where you go down the line, ordering the different items you would like. My first server at the ‘sandwich station’ did not smile or greet me. He asked what I wanted in a tone the conveyed I was bothering him. Of course people have bad days so I ordered and moved on.

I slid down to the ‘soup station,’ which was unattended. I waited. No one came. Servers did walk past occasionally and did even look at me, but not one smiled, greeted me or asked if I needed help. Eventually I left without ordering soup and went to the cashier.

The cashier took my list, without smiling or greeting me, and rang up my total. I paid and took my little table sign with its number that allows a server to find us. That was when I decided I’d never come back again.

My wife then returned to the counter to get water (I had been so preoccupied by the bad service that I forgot) and returned to the table perplexed. People had been milling around the ordering area so my wife  asked if the food was brought to our table or if we picked it up at the counter. The response was something like ‘you get it over there, where all those other people are.‘ (Just imagine the italized section spoken with an ‘it’s so obvious’ attitude.)

I returned to the server with my table card in hand. Here’s a summary:

Me: (Direct) So you just told my wife that we pick our food up at the counter over there.

Server: (On guard) Um, yeah.

Me: So, even though this card says that the food will be brought to our table (pointing to the words on the card that say exactly that) we’re supposed to go pick up our food over there.

Server: (Defensive) You can talk to the manager if you want.

I did get our food and it was fine. I scanned around for a manager while we ate and think I saw her (a woman was working in a more formal outfit), but since she frowned more than anyone else I wrote off any conversation as pointless.

It really doesn’t take much to smile, to treat another human being with care. True success, the win-win kind, will come to those who realize the importance of customer service and work it into the fabric of their daily lives.