Devon is going to be 12 this Friday and he is asked what he wants to do and what he wants for his birthday. Everyone gets frustrated when he says he doesn’t know or reverts back to something he already has.  This is no different than your clients; they don’t know what they don’t know.  If they have a problem they don’t know how to fix it to achieve the end results, they just want it fixed.  We keep giving bigger better brighter of what they have.  Why not give something they never thought of or in some cases imagined?

How many of you imagined what life would be like if you had a smartphone?  I mean seriously, weren’t we all content having a smaller cell phone and being able to talk anywhere?  Thanks to Steve Jobs and Apple we now have so much more.  Maybe that’s why he never did focus groups.

We try to give people what they want based on what they tell us and perhaps that’s the issue; are we asking the right questions?  A musician for the movies made a comment that he and several other musicians bidding for a contract submitted what was asked for but the proposal was won by the person who was different.  He, like the rest, said they could have been different but they followed what the customer requested.   My suggestion was to create a portfolio of different music that evokes all sorts of emotions and let the client pick. Show the range.

Ok, how many of you have ever tried chocolate covered potato chips?  How about chocolate and bacon?  Would you have requested these?  Lindt chocolate (www.lindtusa.com) makes chocolate with all sorts of flavors including bacon and it’s good.  Vinegars and oils are in the same category in that all sorts of flavors are added that we never imagined I even found a recipe for making Matzoh taste good.  That’s a wow.

What does all of this mean for you? When you want to increase sales or upsell clients imagine what they would like or need instead of asking them. Put yourself in their shoes and imagine what would please them.  Oh and one of Devon’s gifts is www.mb2raceway.com  and if you want to wish him a happy birthday on April 27 send it to chisolmfamily4@yahoo.com; that will surprise and delight him.