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.
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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