Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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September 25, 2007

4.5: 25 Things that People — Our Key Customers — Really Want

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 10:27 am

Everyone Has Customers

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I’ve been thinking a lot about customers lately. We all have them. Some are traditional sorts. They come to our businesses and pay us for products or services. Some are a little less conventional — they come in a customer role for things that don’t cost. Blog readers, first graders, park users are customers like those. Other customers don’t seem like customers at all, but really they are . . . mothers, fathers, sons, daughters all rely on our services like customers.

So it seems that knowing what customers want is more than a good idea. With that many customers everywhere we look, knowing what keeps them on a happy note would seem more like survival. Don’t you think?

25 Things that People — Our Key Customers — Really Want

Whether we have a business or we are just in the business of living, it’s good to know what will help us deliver a smile on the faces of the folks we care most about.

This list works for every kind of customer I’ve been able to think up. (Don’t go getting kinky on me.)

  1. People want help solving a problem.
  2. People want folks to notice them.
  3. People want to be heard when they offer their thoughts.
  4. People want to feel smart.
  5. People want to be a part of things.
  6. People want to be generous and for you to be generous too.
  7. People want give and be good things and want you to give and be good things too.
  8. People want to not worry . . . about time, money, health, injury, or other danger.
  9. People want to know that you’ll be the same person or better than the last time they saw you.
  10. People want to be entertained.
  11. People want to be informed.
  12. People want to learn.
  13. People want to know you don’t say bad things about them.
  14. People want to know they aren’t a number or a metric.
  15. People want good cake not just icing on a bad one.
  16. People do want the truth. They just don’t want it delivered with a sledgehammer.
  17. People want to believe in something without someone picking on them for it.
  18. People don’t want innovation. They want things that make life more livable.
  19. People want things and experiences that make their fill their time more meaningfully.
  20. People want to be understood.
  21. People want their questions answered even when the answer is “I don’t know.”
  22. People want the right to make mistakes without losing every time they do.
  23. People want to make their own choices.
  24. People want to know that you value their differences.
  25. People want to know that you know they are people.

People aren’t hard to understand. We all were born one of them. The trick is to keep in mind that folks around us — even folks we don’t know –are people too. They have their own thoughts and desires in the same way we have ours. We can meet with them where we agree — 25 points up there give us plenty to start with.

In our lives and in our businesses, people are our only customers for our actions and behaviors. If we make it about THEM, everyone will be just a little bit nicer. Lose track of that and they’ll remind us.

What things do the people in your life want? Are you a product of your environment? Could you be a better one?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Related
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18 Comments to “4.5: 25 Things that People — Our Key Customers — Really Want”

  1. September 25th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
    Robert Hruzek said

    “If we make it about THEM, everyone will be just a little bit nicer. Lose track of that and they’ll remind us.”

    Yep, you hit it on the nose, Liz. It’s not that we SHOULD learn this - it’s that we MUST! The marketplace has it’s own way of winnowing out what doesn’t work.

  2. September 25th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
    Mike said

    Liz,

    Because we’re human (even my man the Blue Shark), we are products of our environment. It’s the conscious choosing of what we do with that environment that makes all the difference.

    I really like this list. Number 9 is one that requires pondering about how to deliver on it.

    Mike

  3. September 25th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
    Robert Hruzek said

    Hmmm… now that I’ve had a few more moments to ponder, I think I like #16 best. And, I’d add one more: People want to know they matter to you.

  4. September 25th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
    Mike said

    Hey Bob,

    I think that Liz did us a favor by breaking down mattering into more measurable components.

    Mike

  5. September 25th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
    Robert Hruzek said

    OK, maybe you’re right, Mike. Actually, I could probably think of a few more, except for her admonition: “… don’t get kinky…”

    Gee, Liz must be out. Hey, (speaks in a whisper) now’s a good time to sneak into her refrigerator and grab a few Klondike bars! :-D

  6. September 25th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
    Mike said

    Bob,

    Unfortunately Chris Cree has the key to the Klondike refrigerator. But I do have the cell phone number of the Russian Mafia guy that sells the custom Klondikes!

    But the nacho bar are a different story! Belly up.

    Mike

  7. September 25th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
    Robert Hruzek said

    Gee, this is embarrassing! Hey, any chance we can erase the last three comments? And, uh, this one, too? I’d hate for Liz to get back and find our footprints all over her kitchen floor!

    Obviously we have ‘way too much time on our hands today…

  8. September 25th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Robert and Mike!
    Sorry I was on a two calls during your conversation. You’re always welcome to the Klondike bars . . . but please don’t get kinky with them either. :)

  9. September 25th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Oh Robert,
    No worries I have a guy who does the floors and the Klondikes are there for you. :)

  10. September 25th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
    Mike said

    It’s a secret party at Liz’s place this afternoon. We’ll have to tell everyone all about it this evening! LOL

  11. September 25th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Mike,
    You’re the best to arrange such a thing. :)
    I’ll go away now again!

  12. September 25th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
    Mike said

    Liz,

    We were just preparing things for your grand entrance…

    Mike

  13. September 25th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Mike,
    You are the best no matter what you were doing. :)

  14. September 25th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
    Rose DesRochers said

    Thought provoking post there Liz. You left out the part about people wanting things for free.

  15. September 26th, 2007 at 11:59 am
    Brad Shorr said

    Those are all real good, Liz. Being truthful, #16 - which also ties in to #21 - is especially important. Customers are sick of being jerked around. If you can just be truthful with customers, they’re willing to cut you some slack on many of those other things.

  16. September 26th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Rose!
    Yeah, people want things for free . . . but they don’t want junk so much anymore. They want “stuff worth stealing.” :)

  17. September 30th, 2007 at 9:48 am
    Mike Pedersen said

    This is a great list! I especially like number 18. People don’t want innovation. They want things that make life more livable.

    Making things simple and easy is a must for anyone. With all the new technology out there, it frustrates people even more, so what good is it?

    Most people don’t want to invest time and effort, so when they see something is “quick and easy” they take notice. I’m constantly trying to remind myself of this with my market.

  18. September 30th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hey Mike!
    I so love your enthusiasm! I especially like that you noticed number 18 and that you “get” what it means.

    Sometimes I think we “innovate” to show how clever we are, not to server anyone needs. :)

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