Tip 32: Give your customers what they didn't even know they needed or wanted

Have you ever had someone give you something you didn’t realize you needed, but once you had it you wondered how you ever lived without it? Yeah, those are along the lines of best gifts ever, and they are super, super memorable. When you do this for your customers, you’ll forever earn a place in their hearts.

Examples

Henry Ford said “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Customers wanted a faster way to travel, and Henry Ford translated that into the car. Something they couldn’t have even fathomed of needing, let alone wanting.
For some crazy reason, my friends and I didn’t think we would need bottles of water to hike Table Mountain in Cape Town. Big mistake! Thank God the rangers at the bottom of the mountain insisted we get some water to make it up the climb. Based upon their experience, the rangers knew what we were going to need, even when we didn’t. As a result, they were able make sure we got what was essential to our journey.

Suggestions

Pay close attention to what your customers say, don’t say, as well as what they do and don’t do. By staying in tune with how they spend their time, and what their needs and desires are, you’ll put yourself in a good position to capture information about ways to deliver on a need they didn’t even know they had.
Be creative. Don’t think outside the box. Get rid of the box altogether as you dream up new ways to solve your customers’ problems that are unlike anything else that’s available.

Application for your business

Brainstorm five new ways you can help solve your customers’ problem in a way they don’t know about today.
Based upon what you know about your customers, write down the essential ingredients they need to successfully solve their problem. If there are any elements that your customers may not be aware of, be sure to highlight them.