What are they really buying?

If you’ve heard me speak or read my book, The Secret To Selling More, you know that the core job of Marketing is to figure out What the customer is buying from your company they don’t believe they can buy elsewhere. Jeff Krawitz describes this as What #3 in his paper, “Building A Customer Oriented Business.”

I have LOTS of examples of this, and love it when I find a new one. Such was the case in talking with Jen Oliver of Shooting Stars Productions. When Jen was a teenager she was a VERY popular babysitter. Her calendar was fully booked by parents anxious to have her babysit their kids. She charged market rate, but while many of her friends were available, Jen was booked solid.

Was Jen a better babysitter than her friends? She says no. Did the kids like her better than her friends? Again, Jen says no. So what made her so popular with the parents? Simple she says: she did their dishes. When Jen left, any dishes that may have needed washing when she arrived, were washed and put away, as well as any she used while there.

Her friends always asked her what her secret was to being “sold out.” She never told. But now you know.

What can customers buy from you, they can’t get elsewhere … or at least don’t believe they can?