80 - Understanding Your Clients Needs
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Hello friends. Welcome back to the crush, your goals with Christi podcast, the business podcast, where you'll find clarity over confusion. Community over competition and the confidence to crush your goals. I'm your host, Christi Johnson, wedding photographer, business strategists. And now online business manager. 

Dedicated to helping you achieve your dreams and have a life that you love. All breaking it down. Step-by-step so that you can have this dream be a reality today. We're talking about understanding your client's needs. This is a continuation of episode 69, an easy way to do market research, where we talked about market research. I just want to dive in a little bit more about how to understand your client's needs. 

Give you some practical tips to help get you started, but also give some background more into why it's important to understand your client's needs and what you can use this information for. So let's first talk about why it's important to understand your client's needs. First of all, it's going to improve your services to them. 

If you are reading their minds, so to speak and you know what they want, you know, how to best interact with them. You know, the types of products that work for them, the types of results that they want to see, you know, their pain points. And all of this it's really, really going to help you to improve your services to them and just totally wow. Them. 

Every single time, if you are out of touch with what they want, and you're just running a business based off what you think they want or what you think will be best and kind of. Operating in the bubble of what I say is the best way, then you're totally doing a disservice to your clients. And you may not be offering the best services that are for them. So if you can truly get to know them, what they need, what they want, then you're going to be able to give them the best service that you can. 

So, for example, do you know how much money they have to spend? Do you know some of their hesitations. To working with people in your industry. Do you know what types of things would make it an easy? Yes. For them. Do you know how they like to receive information? Do they like to listen to videos? Do they like emails, podcasts? Do they like Instagram posts? Carousels? What do they like? 

If you know these things, then you can offer your services in a way that helps them out. Do they like to get on phone calls with you to learn things about, uh, the process? Do they like to have multiple phone calls? During the time that they're talking with you. Or would they rather be more hands-off. 

And just get some emails from you. Do they want a package? That's all inclusive. Or do they want, uh, an all a cart package where they can pick and choose what they need. All of these things are really important to know so that you can improve your services to them. We'll talk about how to understand their clients and get the answers to these questions in a little bit. 

But for now, it's just, I just want you to know that it's really important to understand their needs. You really, uh, want to use everything that they want. In your website on your digital marketing assets and everywhere. To improve how you're going to work with them. Also, if you understand your client's needs, it's going to help to build trust and also build your relationships with them. If you can empathize with them, then they are going to love you. A lot of times when people hire professional, they might be. 

Worried that, uh, there's some part of the process that they don't understand. They might be worried that, um, they don't know what the next steps are. Um, they might feel overwhelmed. Sometimes they might feel ashamed. For example, if they're hiring an organizer, maybe they feel ashamed that their house is so cluttered. Or if they're hiring a website designer, sometimes they might feel ashamed that their website is not up to standards. 

But you have an opportunity to empathize with them and relate to them and really, truly. Uh, help them to see that you're on their side, that you're not judging them, that you're really, truly there to help them. And that is going to really help you along the way. It can also help you to re have really great customer service. If you are able to understand what they need, what they want, you can even guess some of their questions before they even have them. And you can have an FAQ page on your website, too. 

To know what they want. I mean, have you ever been on a chat bot for example, and, uh, you've typed in a question and the chat bot responds with, Hey, here's an article for you. And it's the exact article that you need that is because they know what their clients want. They know what to offer up to them. So you can have a similar thing. 

You can have a chatbot on your website, or you can have an FAQ page that, that kind of. Uh, 

That knows their questions before they even ask them. And that's going to help you to build strong customer service and. You also need to know how do they want to get in touch with you if they don't find what they need on the FAQ page, can you make it really easy for them to contact you after that, knowing how they expect to communicate, how they expect you to communicate and what they expect to find when they go to your website is going to help you to boost your relationships by empathizing with them. 

Offering really good customer service and fostering really good communication. We talked about communication in the last episode. So definitely check that out. If you haven't. So that those are just a couple of ways that it's really important to understand clients' needs. And then lastly, probably the most obvious one is if you know what your clients need, know what they want. 

Then it's going to boost your sales and increase your profits. If you. Our marketing your services in a way where you're just simply describing your product and what you do. Then you are really just forcing your customers to make a decision based on price. And there's always going to be someone that is priced better than you. 

For example, if you are talking about your services and saying I'm a photographer, and here's what you get, you get an eight hour package and you get two photographers. You get at least 500 digital images and it costs $4,000. And you also get an album. Those are just facts that does not appeal to their emotions, that doesn't appeal to their needs. It doesn't appeal to anything other than facts and numbers. And so if they see that, then they're probably going to go to another photographer who has a better price than you. 

But if you can instead get to know what they truly want, what they truly need and build some emotional, um, weight behind what you're selling, then it can boost your sales and your profits, because you're going to be able to sell a 4,000 or 8,000 or whatever dollar package based. If you have a really clear message and you know that this is what your client clients need. 

I mean, why do you think that there are some, some things where you will just. Totally. Sign up for their stuff and pay whatever it takes, because you know that it's going to be exactly what you need. It's because they have done the market research to figure out what their clients need. So if you'd know what they need, know what they want, know the types of things that appeal to them. 

And no, what types of questions they want answered, what types of things they really want in the service and all of that, then you're really going to be able to make more money because you're not going to have to compete based on price anymore. So you're going to be able to be in a higher tier and be able to sell your services for more money, um, which is going to help you out. 

Also, maybe you have a low ticket offer and it's something that is exactly what your clients need and you really have it pinpointed nailed down to an exact science. Then you're going to boost sales. If it's, if it's something that you're, that, that they really, really need, you're going to get more sales and boost your profits. So those are some ways that it's, that it's really important to understand the client's needs. It's going to help you improve your services. 

It's going to help you build your trust and your relationships with them, and it's going to help to boost your sales and your profits. All right. So let's talk about how to understand your client's needs. In episode 69, we talked about Facebook groups being a good way to understand their needs. That's just an easy way to do some market research going in Facebook groups, searching for keywords that your clients might be searching for and seeing what they have. But there are some other ways that you can do it as well. 

You can use your past clients to hear from them and see what they want. So ask them questions and say, Hey, what is it that set me apart? Why did you work with me? And see the reasons that they come up with ask them, what could I have done to make it better and see what they say and listen actively so that you can understand what they need. You can use surveys, send surveys to your clients, ask a lot of specific questions and use that data. 

To help. Uh, understand your client's needs better. So learn from your past clients. You can also do market research calls with people who are your ideal client, but are not your clients currently. So I would encourage you to reach out to people and ask them deep questions. One of the things that I like to do when I ask people questions, 

Especially on market research calls is to go three why's deep. And you might be like, okay, what do you mean by that? So let me explain to you. Let's say that you're a graphic designer and you are talking with a restaurant who wants a new logo. So. If I were the graphic designer, I was either on a sales call or doing market research just with someone who's not even my customer. I would ask them. 

Hey, what is it that you want from the graphic designer? And they might say, I want a new logo for my restaurant. I'm going to ask them, why do you want a new logo? And they might say, well, our logo's outdated and it needs a refresh. And then you can ask them why again, a second time. Why do you think your logo is outdated? And they'll say, well, it doesn't align with our current brand and it's not attracting high-end customers that we want. 

And then you can say, why do you think your logo is not aligned with your current brand? And that is. The third, wide deep and how they answered that third, why is going to give you their deep desire? That is when they're going to really tell you what their values are as a business, what they really need, they might say, well, we want to offer this high-end experience. Blahdy, blahdy, blah, whatever it might be, or maybe they're a fun. 

Uh, they're not a high end restaurant. They're casual restaurant and they're, for some reason, they're not attracting the people that they want. However, they answer that third. Why that's their deep desire. And that's what you want to use in your website on your Instagram posts, your podcast or whatever it is that you're putting out there. 

And again, How do you know what you want to put out there by asking them? So you can even ask them. How do you like to, when you're learning about things, how do you like to get information? Is it from Instagram? Is it podcasts? Is it audio books? Is it YouTube? What do you do? Ask them that so that you can make sure that you are putting out the right resources and, uh, that you are marketing in the right way. And you're not wasting your time on places that they're not hanging out or things that they're not listening to. So. 

Uh, use your past clients, ask them. Uh, send them surveys, ask for their feedback. And use client people who are not your current clients get on market research, caused with them, ask them a lot of questions. If you need help with this. Uh, let me know in my group program, my eight week program, we have an entire module on market research where I give you specific steps and even questions to ask your clients. So reach out to me if you want that, or you can just go to christijohnsoncreative.com/buildyourbiz. 

To sign up for that and get access to those market research questions to ask your clients. So. Another way you can understand your client's needs is to keep up with market trends. So make sure that you're constantly continuing your education, that you are keeping up with the latest trends by reading new books, following, uh, social media pages that are really doing things and staying up to date on the, on the latest trends to make sure that you're not falling behind. 

Uh, so for me, One of the ways that I do that is by being a member of the rising tide society, they provide education to business owners and is always current. It's always new. It's always fresh. So I know that I'm not stuck because the way that people did business 10 years ago is totally different than the way that people do business now. So it's really important to keep up with market trends, to make sure that you are staying fresh and keeping customers current, keeping them coming back. 

And that you're not just getting. Tossed to the wayside. So those are some ways to understand your client's needs now. Let's talk about how you can use this information. Knowing their needs to improve your services. You can improve your services by offering them more personalized experiences. If you let's say that in one of your market research questions, you ask them, what's your idea of a perfect day? And they said, oh, I like to go to the spa. 

You can gift them a spa day or something like that, or gift them something that, that you know, that they want. If they love, uh, being outdoors, you can give them something that has to do without doors. Or you can offer an experience in your business that has to do with that, whatever it might be. So if you know what they like, then you can offer personalized experiences and improve your services. 

You're also going to be able to meet and exceed their expectations if you know what they want and you know, what types of things attract them and appeal to them. They're going to just be raving about you and tell their friends because you will have exceeded their expectations. They're going to be like, wow, I cannot believe that they did that. 

That was amazing. Uh, I just had such an amazing time working with him. And they're going to rave about you. The people who have five star reviews, those are the ones who know what their clients want. And they exceed those expectations and how do they do that? Because they really, really know their client and what they want and what they need. 

And lastly, you're going to be able to. Address their pain points and their challenges. If you don't know what is hard for them, what the struggles are then what are you even doing? If you're a photographer and you don't know the most common pain points that people have working with photographers. Then how then how are you setting yourself apart? If you're a makeup artist and you don't know the most common pain points that people have when working with makeup artists, how are you going to be serving them? Well, 

By knowing what they need, knowing what their pain points are, knowing what their deep desires are. You're going to be able to address those and give them an incredible experience. It's very important. When talking about your services to address their pain points, their biggest pain points, what are their biggest hurdles and empathize with them, and then present your services as the solution to that pain point and give them a transformation that they. 

W have wanted all along their deep desire. Donald Miller talks about this a lot in his book, building a StoryBrand, which I highly recommend. Checking out. So. Understanding your client's needs is supremely important to improve your services, build your trust and relationships and boost your sales and profits. The way that you can understand your client's needs is by using your past clients and seeing them services and asking for feedback. You can also get to know their needs by reaching out to potential customers who are. 

In your ideal client demographic and getting on market research calls or seeing them surveys to get to know what they want and ask them specific, detailed questions about everything that you can think of to ask them about. Uh, working with someone like you and even their daily habits. What their perfect day looks like their spending habits, all those types of things. And you can also understand their needs by analyzing market trends and keeping up with the latest techniques you can use your new found knowledge of understanding your client's needs to improve your services by offering personalized experiences. 

By meeting and exceeding their expectations and by addressing their pain points and challenges. Thank you so much for listening. I really hope this helps you to create some more copy on your website. That is. Speaking directly to your ideal clients, maybe, uh, you can come up with an Instagram reel that is gonna just wow. Them. 

'cause you know what they need. So thank you so much for listening. I want to invite you again to join my, build your business cohort. Uh, you can go to christijohnsoncreative.com/buildyourbiz. It's an eight week program where I walk you through all the steps to start your service-based business. And we focus a lot on market research. 

All right. Follow me on Instagram @christijohnsoncreative and I will see you next week. Thanks for listening.