Would you give your customers worms for lunch?

Would you give your customers worms for lunch?
March 21, 2022

We hope not! But you probably wouldn’t fish with a strawberry either, would you?

The following is a poignant message from one of our training consultants, Beth Bressan, which we should all remember.

My son and I went fishing on a recent trip to Florida. We got a boat, set up our gear, and headed out for the day. My son baited his hook with a worm. I reached into my lunch box, pulled a strawberry, and put it onto my hook. My son glanced over and gave me one of those looks only a teenager can give his (hopeless) mother and rolled his eyes, asking, “What exactly are you doing?” I replied that I thought the fish would prefer to eat strawberries instead of worms, and I certainly would. He sighed heavily and replied, “Mom, you have to offer the fish what they want, not what you’d prefer.”

As I thought about this exchange, I realized that his advice was not only valid for fishing but for selling as well. We too often approach our customers from our perspective, which products we need to sell, how to reach our quota, and so forth, rather than the customer’s perspective. What does your customer need? What do they want? How do they want it? In other words, we need to meet our customers where they are, on their terms, to maximize our chances of creating a solid connection.

We often hear about being customer-focused or, as it’s sometimes called, customer-centric. The origin of the word customer derives in part from the Latin sui or suus, meaning oneself.

We must consider that our customers may not want strawberries. Perhaps our customers prefer something else, and if you plan on selling to them, give them worms if that is what they want, figuratively speaking!

Join us in one of our upcoming interactive online workshops as we explore how to fulfill and surpass customer expectations and preferences.

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