What is most important to my customers?

"See, you think I give a shit. Wrong. In fact, while you talk, I'm thinking; How can I give less of shit? That's why I look interested." - Sh*t my Dad Says.comI like to give a shit about important stuff that translates into my own perceived value.  We spend time where we care - family, job, kids games, philanthropy, exercise, food, sports, etc.  Everyone ranks and assigns value to things a hundred times a day.

As an example, I give a shit about my laundry and dry cleaning 'cause that means i get to wear clean clothes and present myself well.  That is valuable to me.  It wasn't always [see every college student's dorm] that way. So, the more important the value I perceive, the more I should care - right?  If I didn't have any washer or dryer to do my laundry, it would be a serious impediment to staying clean and presentable.  I could figure out other solutions to fix this problem, however it would be a large obstacle in achieving the outcome of having clean clothes.  

What about giving a shit for our customers?  Well, I suppose to understand that, we need to understand what our customers give a shit about... What is the #1 thing to the customer, today?  

If i was the CEO, it's likely to improve my shareholder value and hit and exceed revenue targets and maintain profit margin.  If i was the Head of a Nursing School, it might be to increase NCLEX licensure and graduation rates.  If I was a CFO, it would be to reduce churn, balance the budget.  If I was a Mom, it would be to have my kids go to bed on time without whining.  

You get my point?

Maybe it's not anything you can help with... maybe you can directly improve their most significant concern.  They key is to always understand what that concern is, at any given time.  Interestingly, what is #1 on my mind today is not necessarily true next year, next month, next week.  I might have a huge product defect that caused 30 deaths as a Drug Company - now I am most worried about Risk Management and Legal implications.  Either way, the more we position our product and service in support of that #1 priority is going to elevate our outcome likelihood.  If I was dealing with my laundry situation and someone came to sell me an iron, i might not be able to process that because while it does something in support of my goal of looking clean and presentable, the major need i have is a washer and dryer.  

So, does that mean I wont also need an iron?  Not necessarily, just not right now.  Maybe i have a constraint that my budget will only allow a $500 purchase of a washer/dryer, but the market price is $900.  The iron sales guy goes and works with a distributor he knows and brings me a coupon for $400 off washer/dryer, he's provided a value to me and i will likely purchase his iron because he saved me money on my primary concern and he provided a elevated level of service in my primary mission.  Not because that iron was such an urgent need.  I really didn't need it, but i needed someone to help me solve my problem given my constraints and obstacles. Now, he has my loyalty and my money in exchange for the solution he has helped to bring.  That solution will be made even slightly better due to his solution, but he gets all the credit and customer appreciation for the primary mission being solved thanks to his/her effort.

Ask your customer, "What is the most important thing you are working to improve right now?"Then, shut the fuck up and listen carefully.

Or, if they start off on the most pressing issue they are facing... see the line above.

So, even if a customer is talking to you about shit that might not seem like it matters to you, doesn't relate to your prioritizes and goals and/or is anything interesting... you gotta listen if you want to succeed.  It's the things that we are most concerned about that dominate our mind share and those things are shared as an attempt to draw together ideas to solve these problems.