The 5 most important things your potential clients really want

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When I was starting out in business many years ago, I thought success was all about getting what I wanted. (Translate: getting the sale!) From my inexperienced perspective back then, I didn’t understand how important it was to approach a potential client or customer from a deep understanding of what they really needed and wanted.

Thankfully, I’ve learned a lot since then. Now I know that success as an entrepreneur – and selling successfully in particular – is firmly founded on a clear recognition of what your potential clients are looking for.

While this point holds true for sales in general, it’s important to remember that the bigger the price tag for your product or service, the more important this approach becomes. What do I mean? Take a look at these five-potential client “wants” and consider whether you’re hitting the mark and or falling short.

What potential clients need from you

1. Let me know that you’re genuinely interested in what I need. People who are thinking about buying from you want assurance that they’re not just another number in your spreadsheet. They want you to be authentically interested in their pain point and how your product or service can help them resolve it. Whether it’s a personal want or need, or something that will help them in their business.

Do your homework before the conversation and prepare to ask insightful, meaningful questions before moving the discussion toward sales. Provide information that helps but that leaves the buying choice to them. To see what I mean, think how you feel when someone gives you the hard sell and seems to care less about what you really want. (I know I want to turn around and run in the opposite direction!) Don’t be that someone.

Listen to what the client really wants

2. Listen more, talk less. Have you ever been a prospect in a sales conversation with someone who simply will not stop talking? As a prospective client, you need information, but you also want talking space to make your concerns heard and understood. There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get a word in edgewise about what you – the prospective client who may be handing over hard-earned money – want or are worried about!

As the seller, you must have information ready to go in a discussion with a possible client, but it’s impossible to have all the answers about what they want or need. Slow down, ask good questions, and actively listen. When you do that, a funny thing happens. Your prospect will actually tell you what they really need in order to buy from you.

3. Keep track of the conversation. As a prospective client, your time is valuable and you want to engage with people who respect that and don’t waste that finite resource, especially when it comes to a sales conversation. There’s a lot happening in a discussion like that. Both in words and through non-verbal cues that can sometimes feel overwhelming. That overload can make it impossible to remember everything, especially if the product or service has any level of complexity to it.

During a sales-related conversation, it’s the seller’s responsibility to keep the conversation on a productive track, to take detailed notes, to accurately compile those notes afterwards, and to provide them to the prospective client, preferably within no more than 24 hours after that conversation.

Doing this demonstrates that you have a genuine interest in forming a long-term relationship with your prospect. That you are invested in listening carefully to them and maintaining transparency. Also that you are motivated to help them make the buying decision that has their best interest.

What does client satisfaction depend on?

4. Be honest with me. As an entrepreneur who has encountered both the best and most disappointing in people, I still tend to give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to sales. But I’ve also gotten very good at detecting BS. Trust is important in business, and it takes time to earn it.

Speaking from my own experience, if you’re consistently truthful with me and your offer matches my needs, I’ll most likely buy from you. I want to engage with you as a true partner and trusted advisor. But, if you do or say anything that calls your trustworthiness or integrity into question, skepticism might start. The obvious lesson here? If you’re going to succeed in business, honesty is not negotiable. Anything less will catch up with you.

5. Follow through on your promise. This is where the work really begins. Delivering to your existing clients what you said you will, when you said you will, and in ways that adhere to the agreed-upon terms. But to really serve in the best way possible, it’s about more than just meeting client satisfaction “expectations.”

In a landscape of competitors, you will endear your existing clients or customers uniquely to you if you surprise them with more than you promised. What could that look like? It could be any form of value-added service, whether it’s a higher level of professionalism or exceptional service.

What clients want all comes down to you

What do the above five points mean for you as an entrepreneur who’s learning the ropes and eager to succeed? The answer: your financial success depends on identifying and serving what your client or customer needs and wants. Figure out and fine tune who your ideal client is. Approach business relationships from the standpoint of authenticity, partnering, and long-term relationship building instead of one-offs.

Develop relevant consumer insight skills and the highest level of expertise and industry knowledge possible to create a value-added experience for those ideal clients. Make helping and honesty your highest priorities. And then always deliver – and then some – on what you say you will.

It’s that hard – and honestly, that easy!

Do you have questions about how you can succeed in your business and accelerate your journey toward reaching your goals? I invite you to learn more about From Startup to Success coaching packages. Begin with a no-cost 30-minute consultation to discuss where you are with your business and where you want to go.

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