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When
you’ve done that, feel free to go back and make any adjustments to your
‘guesses.’ Be sure to note your guesses, and the mystery word (what do
you think it is?), on the above table.
Now
before the mystery category and the results of this survey are revealed,
it’s important to note that this survey has been completed in every
western nation since the end of World War II. And interestingly, the
results varied little every time.
As
a test, you or your team could, in fact, go out into the streets of your
town or city and ask the question. Experience to date shows that your
results will probably come within 1 to 2% of the results outlined later.
So
let’s start with the mystery category. What did you think that was? Most
people say the missing item is ‘service’ or ‘quality.’
Actually
it’s…‘perceived indifference.’
Perceived
indifference is literally that. Your customers or potential customers feel
you or your team members are indifferent
toward them. Indifferent meaning they’re given the impression you
couldn’t care less if they purchased from you or not. Looking at it
another way, customers feel nobody really cares about them or their needs.
So
let’s review the actual results. (And, just to appreciate the
differences or similarities revealed by these results, please note these
actual results in the ‘results’ column on the previous page.)
Convenience
3%
Relationship
at a high level
9%
Miscellaneous
5%
Product/price/time
15%
‘Perceived
indifference’
68%
100%
Virtually
7 out of 10 inquiries (or customers you lose) walk away because they feel
your business is indifferent toward them.
Seven
out of 10 inquirers who fail to purchase from you are doing so because
they felt your business didn’t care enough, didn’t take time for them,
and really didn’t make a difference! That’s just amazing.
Think
about how much that could be costing you!
Looking
at that statistic, it could mean as much as three-quarters of all the
hard-earned dollars you’re spending on your marketing and advertising is
being wasted. Literally thrown away.
This
is an interesting point, too. Most business owners or managers are
constantly looking to generate more leads, to get that phone to ring even
more often, or to have more people come into their businesses. Focusing on
these issues can be expensive because more and more money must be spent on
advertising and other tools to generate new inquiries.
These
statistics show that a far more leveraged way to grow your business may be
to simply do more with the inquiries you’re getting!
You’ve
spent hard-earned dollars on marketing and advertising only to have people
not deal with you because, despite that, they feel your business doesn’t
care enough.
Importantly,
you’ll notice, too, that only 15% of the market shop or purchase
on price alone.
It’s
obvious that some industries are more price-sensitive than others and that
these results may vary for your business because of that. But it’s
critical to remember that this survey has been completed the world over,
in every walk of life. As such, it’s vital to understand that the vast
majority of people really do purchase along these lines.
The
fact is, even if you feel these results may only be partially true for
your business, you’ll still be facing an opportunity to INCREASE sales.
Let’s
look at some reasons why business owners, managers, and team members alike
might feel price is a big issue.
Yours
might be the kind of business where either on the phone or face-to-face,
an inquiry starts with something like this: ‘How-much-is-it?’ or ‘I
want to find out the price of an XYZ.’
Now
think about what most businesses say when asked that sort of question.
That’s right. The price.
For
example, ‘OK, that’d be $40, $400, or $4,000,’ whatever the price
actually is. Sure enough, many potential customers (the potential customer
you’ve paid to have call or visit you through your advertising costs)
then say, ‘Thanks very much. I’ll get back to you.’
Mostly,
they never do. They call 2 or 3 other suppliers of the same sort of
product or service—your competitors—and ask the same question.
Unfortunately,
your competitors do the same thing when they call—give them the price
and let them go. And here’s the crunch. At that point, would your
potential customers have anything else to judge you by except
for price? Frankly, no.
And
most business owners complain about people who shop on price alone! If
your business handles price inquiries this way, you couldn’t possibly
expect your customers do anything but! In this example, you’ve given
them no reason other than price to choose you or a competitor.
To
add to that, you haven’t given them any reason to believe you aren’t
indifferent toward them. In fact, it would appear you were.
Not
only that, the business has failed to take the customer’s cue. You see,
most people only ask about price as a place to start, yet most
businesses assume this question is the start and finish. And from
the customer’s point of view, nobody bothered to ask what they want the
product or service for or to do for them. Nobody asked what they were
really after—what type, color, number, make, when they would need it by,
or how they wanted to pay for that. Plus, the business lets the customer
get off the phone without capturing any follow-up details.
All
of these points are critical because these or similar points offer you a
great, easy, and cost-effective way to stand out from the crowd!
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