Avoid 'Expert Blindness'

(Article first published in Oct '09. It has been modified slightly to suit its publication on our site)

Isn't it interesting how we can give other people perfectly sound advice about their lives, jobs and businesses, yet we all carry our own problems and burdens. This is especially true in business and marketing and it's an effect I call "Expert Blindness". We're all experts in our businesses, but for some reason we are not able to see the problems we are facing, while those of other business owners seem as plain as day. The reason for this is not so mystical; we are either customers or potential customers of other people's businesses, so we know what we want from them, but we are not customers of our businesses, so we become blinded by our own opinions.

This is why business owners will often call in consultants. They are paying for an outsider's viewpoint on their problems, someone who can cast a knowledgeable and critical eye over the state of their business and provide an opinion. It is also why big businesses will run focus groups, in order to get real customer feedback on campaigns before they spend millions on them.

When it comes to marketing, you might not be an expert in the types of activities and media available or even how best to design and layout your marketing materials, but you should be an expert in what your customers want from you. You just need to avoid the "expert blindness" syndrome to get what will work best for you. Let me give you a practical example of what I mean:

Recently I was talking to a customer about the design of her new website. We were running through our brief and during this period the customer could explain at length what she wanted, but every time I asked her about what her customers wanted from her business, she struggled. She was able to tell me eventually, it simply took some thought and some penetrating questions; and therein lies the answer. Small to medium business owners can easily get the answers. We are at the 'coalface', dealing with the customers on a daily basis, so we know what they want. We simply need to put a little time aside to think about it and write it down.

So try answering the following questions in your own time and write down the answers on a piece of paper and keep it safe. Then every 6 months or so pull out the paper and review it. If you ever find yourself in a briefing situation, contemplating some ad design or where to place ads, the answers will prove invaluable. So here goes:

1. Who are your customers?
   Think percentages and write them down as it's rare that you get only one type. If your business appeals to a specific audience make sure you track that info. Note genders, age ranges, single/married, kids/no kids, social class and occupation. If your customers are businesses, think about type of business, size of business, average budgets etc.
   
   
2. Why is your business/service/product so interesting to your customers?
   Think benefits not features or 'widgets'.
   
   
3. What do customers look for from you?
   Is it bargain prices, great advice, widest choice, freshest products, specialist knowledge/advice, caring environment, etc?
   
   
4. Why do customers choose you over your competitors?
   
   
5. How easy would it be for a customer to switch from you to a competitor?
   Think about all the reasons that keep someone coming back to you. Do you have a long-established rapport, do you hold important information on file, are your products/services unique, is your knowledge respected, etc?
   
   
6. How easy would it be for a customer to switch from your competitor to you?
   Do you/could you have any programs, incentives that might entice customers to do business with you? What do your competitors have that you don't?
   
   
7. How much of your "sale" involves after-care service and how much focus do you give it?
   Do your customers need or expect after-sales care. If they don't specifically " need" it, is there something you can do to provide it anyway?
   
   

The above are not the only questions you could ask, so write down any others that are important to your business as well.