Your clients are morons.
For most of you, that’s probably not telling you anything you don’t already know.
But I was reading someone’s blog the other day (I’m not not naming them out of politeness… I just can’t remember who it was… if it was you — well, you’ll probably be pleased I have forgotten!) and they were talking about determining what information products are best for your clients… and therein I read the offending sentence:
“The best way to find out is to ask them.”
What a load of crap.
The reason they’re your clients in the first place is that they know less about your subject matter than you do.
If I surveyed my clients and asked them what kind of Information Product they’d like me to build for them, what are they going to say? They’re limited by how much they already know about the subject.
I once had someone say to me that they knew Information Products and telesales wouldn’t work in their industry because they’d surveyed their clients and their clients said no. On further digging, it turns out the questions went something like this:
“Would you like us to call you up on the phone and sell you some information products?”
Of course they’re going to say they’re not going to buy. What value is there in that statement?
Hey! Do you want me to call you so you can spend $1,000 on a bunch of unspecified stuff that may or may not have any relevance to you? No?? Awwww …. Come on!
People tell me all the time that they hate and will never buy from long copy — and then proceed to spend thousands of dollars with us via, you guessed it, long copy. It’s not that they are dirty rotten liars. It’s just that… well…
Henry Ford once said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
Fact is, your clients need you. They need your expertise. They need you to lead them. And the only opinion that matters is the opinion they express with their credit cards.
People aren’t very clever. And people en masse are even less clever.
Um, not you guys, of course.
As a group you’re highly intelligent.
And very good looking.
Leela Cosgrove is Managing Director of Business Writers Anonymous, focused on sales, marketing and business development. She is also a firewalker, has a black-belt in Tae Kwon Do, a penchant for tattoos, and enjoys bands such as Rammstein, Li Bach, Marilyn Manson, Pennywise and Bad Religion.
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View Comments
Melissa
March 9th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Very good point Leela, well said
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ThorSalesWarlord
March 9th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
You’re awesome Leela.
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Peter
March 9th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Yes, it can be frustrating to deal with clients who JUST DON’T GET IT. Yes, it’s true that clients often don’t know what’s best for them. And yes, I agree that business owners need to take the lead and produce products that are outside the scope of what their clients could have designed.
I also completely agree with the sentiment of Henry Ford’s statement.
However, I see too many company owners these days who believe their clients ARE morons, and as a result treat them with contempt.
I am fortunate to have some very intelligent and savvy clients, and I hope that I can stay open to the many things that they can teach me.
To me, the trick is being able to balance both approaches.
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Peter Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
…that is, being able to lead and to listen. And to know when it is best to do one or the other, or both.
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AnnieD Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 9:04 am
I brand small businesses and train them to keep the brand growing as a living entity. A lot of my clients think they know what they want with graphics etc and insist. I tell them how it will blur their message and dilute the concept and they insist because they are holding the cheque book. I agree that clients come to us as professionals and its our job to lead them. In order for that to happen they need to value the outcome and respect your skills.
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Brenton Rule Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Totally agree Peter, I am afiad that the world is now crawling with ‘Leelas’ who get it right about 1/2 the time. The rest of the time they waffle on with self indulgent crap based in large part by who they last spoke to – me I am just a retired old bugger who spent 30 years in high end sales and marketing – What I have learned and can apply varies depending on who I am talking to, but always comes from FIRST HAND experience and not a text book. But if Leela has an avid following then hey who am I to question the ‘intelligent’ masses? In summary, arrogance has its place but when applied carte blanche it is your worst enemy. It is folly to generalize and say that all clients are morons. When you say thet it seems to me that you are the moron.
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Leela Cosgrove
March 10th, 2010 at 9:28 am
I think, Annie, It’s important to know as the business leader what they need and stick to your guns. I’ve fired clients (with a full refund of course!) for repeatedly ignoring me and arguing with me. Because it’s not just about the money – at the end of the day any product that’s released that I’ve been part of reflects on me. And I won’t compromise my quality expectations for any amount of money – long term, that will only end up hurting me.
I hear you Peter – and I agree.
You should never treat your clients like morons.
Just be aware that in some areas, they probably are!
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Anikee
March 10th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
I believe my customers as individuals are anything but morons but you are completely correct. They have no idea what they want.
When I stock the products they all ask for, these products usually don’t sell. When I find products they’ve never heard of before these products sell like crazy. They say they want low prices but it’s clear from their buying habits that price isn’t that much of an issue and what they want is convenience.
I could give endless examples. The fact is they don’t truly know what they want until I provide it for them.
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Anikee Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
That’s not to say we shouldn’t pay close attention to what our clients and/or customers show us they want. It’s just that their actions are often more important than their words.
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Leela Cosgrove Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
EXACTLY Anikee – SPOT ON.
I keep telling my clients that the only vote that counts is the vote they make with their credit cards.
Don’t listen to what they say – monitor what they do.
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Leela Cosgrove
March 10th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
I’m really only adding this comment so that this articles beats James’ for the most discussed …
La la la.
I am very clever.
Yes.
It is the clients who are morons.
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Timmah
March 11th, 2010 at 10:31 am
James bumps his posts – what a lemming…
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ThorSalesWarlord Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 10:35 am
I love the way she said YOUR clients are morons. VERY sneeky.
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Heidi Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 10:47 am
That’s because The Leela only has clever clients
*waves at James* :p
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ThorSalesWarlord Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Yeah reckon James must hate the way your facebook community is overflowing onto his forums eh.. Must really suck for his readership stats!
Leela Cosgrove
March 11th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Good Point Heidi … I never said MY clients were morons.
I said YOUR clients were morons.
My clients are inordinately clever.
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Leela Cosgrove
March 11th, 2010 at 10:50 am
P.s.
IN YOUR FACE TUCKERMAN!
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James Tuckerman Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
I’m a broken man.
Well played LC.
You bested me…
This time!!!
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Leela Cosgrove Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Next time, Gadget … Next time …
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Brian Cassingena
March 11th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Very true, you can survey your clients all you want, the only result that matters is where credit cards are concerned…
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ThorSalesWarlord Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Visa or Mcd?
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Swanski
March 11th, 2010 at 10:58 am
A Mentor of mine from a few years ago – one Mr Adam Hudson, when talking about creating ‘idiot proof systems’ said (something like); that you have to assume that all your staff and clients are completely inept. Great approach for systems and creating ‘low support’ info products.
In conjunction with that we have also learned some of what the market wants by asking them: ‘what do you want to know?’ Could I suggest making products that target (by headline / title) what people think they want to know, then give them what they never knew they always needed?
Leela you essentially do this now, it just hasn’t been spelled out in this post.
PS to ALL: send out the URL of this page and get people to comment so this page gets more (useful) comments than James’!
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Leela Cosgrove Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 11:14 am
True, True – I’m all about sell them what they want, give them what they need …
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Leela Cosgrove
March 11th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Doh! The Warlord is right! I played right into his hands …
Oh well. It was worth it to let the Twitterverse know about James’ puppy kicking activities.
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Samith Pich
March 11th, 2010 at 11:00 am
I think most customers aren’t morons, often they’re quite calculating, they’re more than happy to shop around comparing products and ’shopping savyvy’. However, customers are essentially people, and people more often than not have no idea what makes them tick, what makes them buy and have no idea what they want – okay yes, they can be morons lol.
Since, I’ve just read the E-myth I’m going to expand further into your argument that customers are morons. Most entrepreneurs are something that most people aren’t – visionaries. Most people are happy with more of the same but only visionaries can look ahead and see the next shiny thing or service to sell to people and make them want it. Thus fundamentally, people love to be lead and have their vision of the world expanded for them.
However, most people can be grouped in ‘managers’ and ‘technicians’. For these people, businesses can always be made more efficient or produced to be easier, more aesthetically, or better. While it can be seen as nit-picking, their opinions can generally raise the standards of your products, if their opinions are constructive and if they feel like they have a sense of loyalty/ duty (as a cult member) to improving your brand and products.
So yes, customers are often morons, but they’re occassionally crafty, helpful morons!
Note: You can never make something fool-proof because fools are ingenious.
warm regards
Samith Pich
http://www.samithpich.com/blog
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Judd Leverton
March 11th, 2010 at 11:06 am
Since we’re “inordinately clever” then perhaps we should tell you what we want then, being that we’re so un-moronish! ;O)
Seriously though, Leela is right in her point, but may I attempt to clarify something. When asking the client what they want, where most businesses are failing is asking the client what ’solutions’ they want, and as Leela pointed out, they don’t have the expertise to know what they want, let alone need. Better to ask them what frustrates them about their business, what they wish were easier and what’s the one thing we’re continually doing wrong. It’s then your job to sift through the responses, find the common threads and then provide a solution.
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Sandy Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Exactly, Judd.
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Sandy
March 11th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Leela, I think that if you ask the right question, as in what problems your clients are having, then you can easily solve the problem. As a counsellor and coach, my clients tell me their problems with veyr little prompting, so perhaps I’m biased about the question thing
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ThorSalesWarlord Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Hey Judd, you’ve never bought from us, you’re not our client!
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Bra Queen
March 11th, 2010 at 11:11 am
While I think it is crucial to listen to our clients, it is even more important that we educate them. They way I look at it if our customers do not get it then we are not doing our job property. It can be incredibly frustrating and sometimes we will not get through however it is still our responsibility to try.
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Leela Cosgrove
March 11th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Great points guys – the quality of the questions ABSOLUTELY determines the quality of the answers …
So if you structure the questions with the assumption that they have no idea (i.e. that they’re morons) – and take them through a process (like we do with UVP stuff) – you can get the answers you seek …
Unfortunately, a large majority of business owners DON’T get this point …
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Heidi
March 11th, 2010 at 11:21 am
I actually had this situation yesterday with a client.
“I want pictures of my work on the internet like I can do on facebook”
“No, you need a site that showcases the BEST of your talent, gives in insight into your creative process, allows visitors to get to know you a bit, a point of contact,” etc, etc…..
Someone who wants to just upload pictures is not my client!
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Troy Patching
March 11th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Leela love the post and makes a lot of sense that they wont say they will buy however if you emotianally sell them and give them a reason to buy and pile high the bonuses or added value they will throw money at you , You will be saying where has all that money been hiding when you get it correct or close enough.
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WILLIAM KING GUTSHALL
March 11th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Good to know I am in the highly intelligent and very good looking group…now what’s next? (said the fish as he swallowed the hook!)
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Leela Cosgrove Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I’ve been thinking about doing a US seminar for a while … we’ll be back in November …
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Geraldine
March 11th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
“Um, not you guys, of course.
As a group you’re highly intelligent
and very good looking”
Amen sister
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