If you are unsure of your answers give me a ring on my Apprentice Hotline and shoot them by me and I would love to give you some free assistance on them. (If you are not a member of my Free Apprentice Program go ahead and visit http://www.saleschemistry.com/apprenticeprogram.html to sign up for free".
But before you do that let's take a closer look at each of the three questions to go over them in more detail.
#1 What do my customers want from me when they hire me?
The biggest mistake I see fledgling marketers make in their careers is the fact they do little to differentiate themselves from their competitors and by failing to do so they become a commodity.
What the heck is a commodity and why is it a bad thing to be considered one?
A product or service that has nothing special about it is considered a commodity. Some examples of commodities are toilet paper, shoe laces, fish food, chicken nuggets, guitar picks and anything else in which their is no perceived value of the product between one provider or the next.
The problem with selling a commodity is that you can compete on price and price alone. And anyone who has been in marketing or sales for long knows just how hard it is to compete on price.
So to combat this you need to figure out exactly what your customers want from you when they do business with you. For instance so they want immediate call backs when they speak with you as well as your undivided attention? Do they want you to actually listen to them when they are telling you their needs? Or do they want someone who will put in 110% effort to make sure they are happy at the end of the transaction?
Now the best way to figure out what your prospects want when they contact you is for you to listen to them very carefully every time they speak to you, Which means you're going to have to shut up long enough to really let them say their piece. As they are talking go ahead and jot down the points you think means the most to them judging from what they tell you and not your own preconceived notions you bring into the meeting. Then after they quiet down and have stopped talking go ahead and say to them "if I understand you correctly you are interested in..." and repeat back to them the points you jotted down.
Now you do that enough you will start to see some common denominators all your customers and prospects share with one another. Which if you do this I promise you you will be very surprised when you find out how different their stated needs and wants are as compared to what your preconceived notion was going into this exercise.
Once you know what they truly want you can then start targeting prospects in a powerful way via your blog and other marketing efforts.
#2 Am I targeting the right kind of customers?
Once you figure out what your customers want you also need to know that you are indeed targeting the right kind of customers. For more information on this you can check out my previous post in this series.
But it's worth stating here that unless you're targeting the right kind of prospect or customer your business will be doomed from the very beginning.
#3 What is the unique benefit my customers get from me that they can't get from other agents?
This is where you're going to step away from being a commodity (which is the absolute worse thing an agent or any other marketer can be) and into being remembered for providing something special by your customers and the prospects you meet with in person or on your blog.
Let me give you some examples.
Maybe you can be known as the agent who goes the absolute extra mile with his customers. Or the agent who has unbridled enthusiasm in everything she does. How about becoming the agent who never ever quits until he or she has achieved teh goals of their customer.
The point is to differentiate yourself in any positive way you can from your competitors.
If you would like some free help doing so just give me a call on my Apprentice Hotline and we can brainstorm some ideas together on different things you can do to accomplish this very thing.
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