Although it is something that had been rattling around in my head for years; I first heard the following from Mr. Jay Abraham:
Love the Customer, not the Product/Service You Provide
Love the customer. Better yet, consider the customer a life-long client and fall in love with them. To provide the high level of value to the client that is needed to differentiate yourself in the marketplace; you must be passionately dedicated to serving the spoken and unspoken needs of your clients.
The trick to providing value in unique ways (and a high level) is to get inside the conversation and/or problem that is already taking place in your Client’s life. At that point, you can position yourself or your product as a solution, in fact as the only viable solution, to their dilemma. So many of us fall in love with our product, service, or worse yet, ourselves! We are so wrapped up in how great we are or how great our product is that we completely miss the desperate needs of the Client.
This process often involves listening much more than speaking, bringing a low-ego to the table, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to solve problems.
NS