My wife and I had the amazing opportunity earlier this month to travel throughout Europe -- gathering stories from England to Turkey.
As we traveled from one city to another, one thing was a constant -- the street vendors.
"Special deal for blondie," "Almost free, you like, yes?" "Real nice, come inside, look around..."
They were imposing, irritating, in-our-face, and self-defeating. Frankly, we were more likely to consider their products if they hadn't said a word.
The wife nailed it: "It's like they don't understand what makes Americans comfortable."
Understanding prospect's needs
My wife, while perhaps a bit naïve, was right. The vendors didn't understand what made us comfortable, nor what our priorities were.
We were (clearly) Americans -- tourists... money -- and they wanted our attention before we gave it to the next vendor fifty feet down the street.
But we weren't going to be swayed by them walking closely by our side, and we didn't suddenly realize a need for their product after they told us they had a "special" price.
Instead, we walked on, rarely looked the vendor in the eye, and ignored their banter.
How your prospects buy the first time
It's the same with our customers and prospects.
As business owners, it's our responsibility to know exactly what's important to our customers. What makes them comfortable? What makes them want to buy?
Even more important are the small variations of all of those questions, but with a focus on the first impression.
When a customer first walks into your shop -- be it digital or brick and mortar -- are you loud and in their face, or do you greet them quietly and invite them to get comfortable?
Should we spend more time highlighting our low, low price or invite them in to spend some time reviewing a special product attribute?
Or take a bigger step back and reevaluate how you're perceived by the first time visitor 15-30 seconds into the initial visit. Do they immediately know who you are and what you do or are they forced to read through a block of marketing jargon?
If we don't know what's most important to our customers, how can we possibly expect to produce a satisfying product?
Sure, you could sit there reading this very post and answer the above questions fairly well, or you could physically walk through your shop the way a first timer does -- or maybe watch over somebody's shoulder as they try to navigate your site for the first time.
It's those new experiences that take you out of the "too deep" mindset and help smooth the buying curve for those (hopefully) loyal customers.
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