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ir customers are, and who they aren’t. One way to target customer growth is to get to know customers. Growth can happen by having a different product or service that’s memorable. When your business and employees listen to customers, they can service needs customers don’t know they have.</p><p id="2979"><a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/zig-ziglar">Zig Ziglar</a> says, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” Couple that thought with this, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals,” and you’ve got the foundation of a good business model.</p><p id="0dc0">Ziglar has passed on, but his sales strategies still serve millions of business owners and are the strategies I use in my business.</p><p id="649f">Taking good care of employees also<a href="https://readmedium.com/essential-steps-for-leaders-to-lead-well-that-are-often-overlooked-bc53ea31db35?source=friends_link&sk=4b2d73551e81e6a1aa999d5432f81640"> means nurturing yourself</a>. There’s a time to hustle, and once you’ve grown to a certain level, it’s time to take care of yourself. Watch customers and listen to the personal things they share to provide the best customer service. Do this consistently, and your business will continue to grow when others experience a downturn.</p><p id="08de">Cookies track us across the internet, but I use crumbs to create an image of the customer in my head. The image isn’t an avatar, it’s better than an avatar because avatars are based on perception. The customer images I create come <a href="https://readmedium.com/loyalty-is-an-old-fashioned-ideal-that-is-dead-50d555e5be77">from real-life interactions</a>. Here are my secrets to success.</p><h2 id="55d3">Have Genuine Conversation</h2><p id="9d67">As you interact with customers, be genuine. Anyone can identify a canned response from one that is touching. During the conversation, make mental notes about whether your customer is single, married, or has kids. Having a family will tell you a lot about their needs and wants. Do they have kids? If so, note kids' general ages and be able to relate everyday struggles. As a business owner, if you don’t have kids, you can ask: <i>What’s that like? </i>Be genuinely interested, and customers w

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ill tell you their private thoughts.</p><h2 id="85ce">Listen to their Speech</h2><p id="802d">More than listening for problems and services you can provide, listen to the way they talk. Ask questions like: <i>Is that a British accent I hear?</i> Pick up on colloquialisms and jargon to zero-in on geographic location. Convert their time zone to your own time and note the time difference. You’re asleep when I’m awake, and right around the time you are having morning coffee, I’m still sleeping. My customer in India and another in Japan is on tomorrow morning when I’m on the night before. The devil is in the details, as <i>they</i> say.</p><h2 id="6d25">Pay Attention to Details</h2><p id="abf2">Customers drop hints about themselves everywhere they go. Many of our interactions are online. Notice a new profile picture, a life change, and a status change, and think about what these changes mean to your customer’s life.</p><p id="61c0">Brainstorm what you can do with those details to make your service top-notch.</p><h2 id="037e">Offer Special Services</h2><p id="ecf6">Take the details a step farther by offering services they didn’t know they needed. Do little things that make life easier. <i>That online interaction, I can’t tell you exactly when it will happen, but when possible, you’ll see it no later than 3 pm, for example. </i>Create a service no one else offers.</p><h2 id="b961">Tell the Customer</h2><p id="a117">The customer won’t know how good you are until you tell them. This extraordinary detail you’ve been enjoying for weeks or months happens because I paid attention and<a href="https://readmedium.com/giving-and-receiving-feedback-is-a-delicate-art-cc374308d433"> met needs you didn’t know you had</a>. Good service isn’t luck or chance. Smart business owners have genuine conversations, take excellent notes, and go above and beyond to give good service. When you tell the customer what you’ve done, you’ll blow their mind. Develop a personal connection that shows the customer you care, and they’ll stay with you forever. Let those you’ve serviced well talk about your excellent work ethic, and you’ll have a slew of customers beating down your door for the same kind of service.</p><p id="62e1">Now the secrets are out; it’s time to get to work.</p></article></body>

Get to Know Your Customer to Build a Successful Business

Listen to provide the best service

You’ve heard the saying, ‘The Customer is always right.’ The phrase was initially coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker, and Marshall Field, to take customer complaints seriously. As pioneers of the words, they wanted to ensure that the customer is never cheated or deceived.

The problem is customers misuse the phrase in an attempt to get businesses to bend to their whims and tall orders. The words’ intent is lost on customers who use the phrase with a sneer and try to take advantage of businesses.

The customer is not always right. In fact, sometimes the customer is wrong but uses the old adage just the same.

The times have changed.

Huffington Post goes so far as to say that if we take care of employees, they, in turn, will take care of customers. The new way of thinking is that businesses who focus on employees first have better customer relations: “Any business needs to put its people first — and watch them put the customers first.”

The secret to every successful business is to know your customer and serve her well. Over time, enterprising entrepreneurs learn who their customers are, and who they aren’t. One way to target customer growth is to get to know customers. Growth can happen by having a different product or service that’s memorable. When your business and employees listen to customers, they can service needs customers don’t know they have.

Zig Ziglar says, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” Couple that thought with this, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals,” and you’ve got the foundation of a good business model.

Ziglar has passed on, but his sales strategies still serve millions of business owners and are the strategies I use in my business.

Taking good care of employees also means nurturing yourself. There’s a time to hustle, and once you’ve grown to a certain level, it’s time to take care of yourself. Watch customers and listen to the personal things they share to provide the best customer service. Do this consistently, and your business will continue to grow when others experience a downturn.

Cookies track us across the internet, but I use crumbs to create an image of the customer in my head. The image isn’t an avatar, it’s better than an avatar because avatars are based on perception. The customer images I create come from real-life interactions. Here are my secrets to success.

Have Genuine Conversation

As you interact with customers, be genuine. Anyone can identify a canned response from one that is touching. During the conversation, make mental notes about whether your customer is single, married, or has kids. Having a family will tell you a lot about their needs and wants. Do they have kids? If so, note kids' general ages and be able to relate everyday struggles. As a business owner, if you don’t have kids, you can ask: What’s that like? Be genuinely interested, and customers will tell you their private thoughts.

Listen to their Speech

More than listening for problems and services you can provide, listen to the way they talk. Ask questions like: Is that a British accent I hear? Pick up on colloquialisms and jargon to zero-in on geographic location. Convert their time zone to your own time and note the time difference. You’re asleep when I’m awake, and right around the time you are having morning coffee, I’m still sleeping. My customer in India and another in Japan is on tomorrow morning when I’m on the night before. The devil is in the details, as they say.

Pay Attention to Details

Customers drop hints about themselves everywhere they go. Many of our interactions are online. Notice a new profile picture, a life change, and a status change, and think about what these changes mean to your customer’s life.

Brainstorm what you can do with those details to make your service top-notch.

Offer Special Services

Take the details a step farther by offering services they didn’t know they needed. Do little things that make life easier. That online interaction, I can’t tell you exactly when it will happen, but when possible, you’ll see it no later than 3 pm, for example. Create a service no one else offers.

Tell the Customer

The customer won’t know how good you are until you tell them. This extraordinary detail you’ve been enjoying for weeks or months happens because I paid attention and met needs you didn’t know you had. Good service isn’t luck or chance. Smart business owners have genuine conversations, take excellent notes, and go above and beyond to give good service. When you tell the customer what you’ve done, you’ll blow their mind. Develop a personal connection that shows the customer you care, and they’ll stay with you forever. Let those you’ve serviced well talk about your excellent work ethic, and you’ll have a slew of customers beating down your door for the same kind of service.

Now the secrets are out; it’s time to get to work.