Gaining Client Perspective – From the Eyeballs of the Client
Using ‘Perceptual Positions’ is a powerful way to mentally shift into your client’s shoes and gain that powerful client perspective. But here’s what I recently learned when I actually physically experienced the world from my client’s perspective. It was astonishing!
A new prospect phoned me to let me know she was interested in purchasing my video training on ‘13 Expert Tips for Creating Truly Persuasive Presentations’. She expressed frustration because the information page lacked clarity about what she was actually buying and in what format. Yikes! I was very grateful for the feedback. Most people wouldn’t have bothered picking up the phone and sharing their frustrations.
This exchange prompted me to question what my clients experienced when engaging in my website in other areas. I wanted to experience what the client experienced when they:
- Signed up for my blog
- Signed up for my newsletter
- Purchased one of my video training products
- Participated in the self test to assess their sales skills
- Filled out ‘contact us’
Experiencing from the Eyeballs of the Client
I hired Jennifer Kelly of New Initiatives Marketing (fresh eyeballs) to do an audit of these key engagement pages. She took screen sheets as she clicked through the step-by-step process for engaging with these key pages. She documented her feedback for each page commenting on the process, the words chosen on each page, the visual impact and most importantly what it FELT like. And then we set up an online meeting and she gave me the goods. Wow! What an eye opener! It was one of my most insightful lessons learned. We quickly put a simple action plan together and executed her recommendations. Phew!
The exercise with Jennifer may sound basic. I take great pride in my website and spend more time and money with my webmaster than I would like. But I had not experienced my website from my client’s perspective. Only mine. From my eyeballs. And I now realize how limiting that can be.
Your Client Perspective – How Do You Get It?
Client satisfaction surveys, post project evaluations, project debriefs, process checks are examples of powerful tools to gain that powerful perspective. One of my favourite and most powerful approach is one I use periodically with my clients.
We know how important it is to ask questions to uncover client needs and perspectives. In Intentional Selling I introduce the 6P Questioning Strategy to ensure you ask a broad spectrum of strategic questions. The strategic framework is always tailored for each client and typically includes questions that uncovers needs around Product, Patrons, Positioning, etc.
One ‘P’ category that I encourage my clients to ask their existing clients is Partnering Questions: questions that elicit feedback about the client relationship and their level of satisfaction:
- What do you most appreciate about the services we provide?
- What specific value do we bring to you and your team?
- Where could I improve?
- What could I be doing more of or less of to enhance your experience?
It takes courage to ask these questions but when you frame your request to ask these ‘Partnering Questions’ with a benefit for the client, you will demonstrate your professionalism, your desire to exceed their expectations and you will stand out from the rest of the pack. So few sales professional people do this. The average person is not curious enough, doesn’t care enough or isn’t brave enough to ask. They prefer to stay in their comfort zone and simply make assumptions.
What about you? What techniques do you use to gain your client perspective? I would love to hear from you. Drop me a line in the comments below.
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