Business Success Center

Customer-Centered Marketing…
Don’t We All Deserve a Break Today?

We are all self-centered consumers. We make our choices based upon what we will receive. However, companies still don’t get it. They engage in them-centered communication, focusing on what they do or sell. This is not enough! Businesses need to go beyond mere explanation and get to the heart of the matter…what will buying your product or using your service do for your customer? Will it eliminate worry? Will it make their life easier? Will it solve their problem? Will it make or save them money?

We can learn much from non-profit organizations, which tend to do a better job communicating from a customer’s perspective than traditional businesses. Take Big Brothers/Big Sisters for example. The national agency matches an adult with a child, establishing a positive relationship and role model for children in need. The basis of what they do hits you right at the heart, but skilled marketers at the corporate level knew their definition alone would not capture the high level of donations and involvement needed. There were and are too many other organizations, in every county, with equally compelling missions asking for support.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters learned that donors and volunteers had to know what their involvement meant in their world. They communicated that, “Big Brothers/Big Sisters puts hope in the lives of children, so that they will be positive and productive members of our community.” They back their message up with evidence that children matched with a Big Brother or Sister will be significantly less likely to use drugs or commit crimes.

This is a brilliant customer-centered message! We don’t want drug users with our children. We don’t want our homes or cars vandalized. Yes, it’s good for the children, but, the reality is, it’s good for us to help Big Brothers/Big Sisters!

Have you thought about what you really offer your customers? If you are an insurance agent, please don’t say you sell insurance. Say you sell the comfort of knowing that if something happens to a car or a home, you will be there to help with answers and reimbursement. If you are an attorney, please don’t say you offer legal services. You offer peace of mind that a problem will be solved.

Of course McDonald’s sells tasty, inexpensive fries and burgers. But their success is a result of meeting your needs of convenience and consistency. It’s easy and you always know what you will get. In our world, we all deserve a break, right?

Take a look at your business, but this time as a consumer. Explain your service or product, but take that a step further. Communicate how your product or service affects your customers’ most basic needs and how it affects their world. Everyone will benefit!

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