Do You Know What They Want and Need?
Do you know what's cool? Living your life in the service of others.
You can create a business with the sole purpose of making a profit, earning money you can use to enhance your lifestyle. It's obvious that if you are making a profit you are delivering something to your prospects and clients that is of value to them… otherwise they would not be parting with their money. But this limits the growth of your business and of course its success.
However, if your sole focus of starting a business is to be in the service of others, then you are more in tune with what your prospects and clients want and need. Your attention is on their challenges and problems… focusing solely on how you can help them.
The more of a relationship you build with them… the longer you are a part of their lives, the more you understand what it is they want and need. So pay attention to what they are saying, what they respond to, as well as the things they don't like.
What's the best part (or ultimate experience) of this relationship? When your clients or prospects are in a situation where they need your help, you are there with what they need to get them through. It's almost like you know, without them even asking, what they need to make their lives easier and in turn more enjoyable.
Does this sound a little out there? It probably does. But think about it… if you really know who your market is and what it is they want and need… doesn't it make sense that you'll have a knowing of what that is?
Do you know what another cool thing is? This applies to your personal life as well. With all your important relationships, personal and business, pay attention to what the other person wants, needs, and likes, and fulfill that for them. Make the service of others your main goal and focus and what you'll find is joy, and stronger relationships… as well as business success.
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2010-11-21 @ 9:51 pm
Hi Pat and Lorna,
It’s the difference between making a living and having a life. Having a service and giving a service. It’s more fulfilling working with the people that you have some sort of connection with that you are able to help – when you know that it actually mattered. That it translated into some real for them – even if that meant that this year, finally, they could afford to take their kids birthday off and spend it with them. Or that this month, they finally sold their first, second and third pair of earrings through the advertising they’ve been running online. Or even something as simple as – they’ve been trying to solve this problem online, and they couldn’t figure out how to do it, and you actually know how to, and you showed them. That’s fun. – Rob
2010-11-22 @ 8:30 pm
Rob,
You know what? You’re right… it IS Fun! Really helping people and having a connection with them is such a great feeling…
Thanks!
~ Pat and Lorna
2010-11-21 @ 10:39 pm
Hi I want to voice my opinion about what you said in your article up above. My thoughts are your right I’m one that wants to help people and the people that I want to help are the #Cystic Fibrosis people
which need help from my state of Florida and all the way to Congress. Every year they take away their
money from the program and eventually they won’t have one. The state has helped my son out with
his medications each month of $5,000 a pop every month till he could get his mecaid waiver for the program. Now if you don’t have a medicaid waver you cannot be in the program and where are they
going to get help.
For years now I’ve been wanting to help these people but I could not because I had also a daughter
with the same disease and was worse than my son ever was. I tried my best to keep both my children
going to take care of themselves but she kept getting sick all the time fatigued and ended havin double pneumonia which I knew in my heart was the end on September 27th, 2010
2010-11-22 @ 8:37 pm
Diane,
We are sorry for your loss. You are a wonderful mother and a very caring individual, and we see you as being the person who will help people with Cystic Fibrosis.
All the best,
~ Pat and Lorna
2010-11-22 @ 9:20 pm
Pat and Lorna,
I thought I was already focused on providing service for others, as a therapist. To a large extent I was.
But then I got into this online world and I listened to the hype and the rush to succeed and beat the competition and get my products and services out there. In that process, I was slowly losing focus on my potential customers. Uplifting posts like this one remind me to slow down and smell the roses, focus on my clients and potential clients’ needs and desires, provide service, share my wisdom and allow the universe to provide – rather than seeking to get….
Erica
2010-11-23 @ 10:22 pm
Erica,
It’s amazing how we can lose focus on what’s important. Quite often we feel we’re doing things for the right reason, but not necessarily so. Sometimes by taking a close look at ourselves and getting feedback from others we find that we’re not necessarily focused where we should be.
Thanks,
~ Pat & Lorna
http://TheCoolestCouple.com
2010-11-23 @ 10:56 pm
Stephanie,
Focusing on how we can help people rather than how much money we can make is a better way to ensure business success. It’s interesting how your latest post and ours basically conveys the same message. Too cool!
Thanks,
~ Pat and Lorna
2010-11-24 @ 1:05 pm
Thanks for the good points. We have to remember, when we start a business, the focus should be on the customer and the clients. If we don’t supply what they want and need, we will soon be out of business.
Angela
2010-11-24 @ 8:44 pm
Angela,
Oh so true…
Thanks,
~ Pat and Lorna
2010-11-24 @ 4:17 pm
I love this post you guys. It is so true to find out what people are looking for and supply that to them. In others words, help them to get what they want and you’ll be taken care of in return. Your statement “pay attention to what the other person wants, needs, and likes, and fulfill that for them” for both business and personal is so right on.
Michael
2010-11-24 @ 8:45 pm
Michael,
If people see you as someone who gives them what they want and need, they’ll be coming back for more. A great place to be in business and in our personal relationships.
Thanks,
~ Pat and Lorna
2010-11-25 @ 5:38 pm
Hi Pat and Lorna,
There is an old Tibetan story where a villager was very sick and he went to the Wise Man of the village to be healed. The wise man said “Return to your village and help as many other people as you can “. The villager left in frustration because the Wise Man did not heal him. The villager visited the Wise Man asking the same question and got the same answer. Overtime the villager became healthier and his illness disappeared because he had helped so many others. Helping others helps yourself and brings about a feeling of gratitude that feels wonderful and is healing. From a business point of view I believe it would work the same …
2010-11-27 @ 10:41 am
Lesly,
It’s amazing how by focusing on helping others we can gain so much… especially if that is not our purpose for helping others.
Thanks so much for the story… very cool.
~ Pat and Lorna
2010-11-26 @ 8:41 am
You guys are always ahead of the curve. What’s the point of living if all we do is take care of our selves. My wife and I practice two things. She likes to give anonymously money to struggling women by mailing them a sum of money that will help them over a crises. She has been blessed beyond measure for her generosity. I have this thing about sending unexpected cards of appreciation to someone I see who is making a difference in the world. We all need encouragement and I have the need to better myself by encouraging others. Great post and I really do appreciate you.
2010-11-27 @ 2:06 pm
Nelson,
We applaud your generosity, your focus on helping others and the encouragement you give. Although we totally understand that you don’t do all these things for the recognition… it’s for the true purpose of wanting to make a difference in the lives of others. We so appreciate you.
Thanks so much,
~ Pat and Lorna
2010-11-28 @ 3:56 am
On December 3rd I will be having an event for my most desired passion to help the #Cystic Fibrosis Community because the State and Congress keep taking their money away that they need for maintenance medications and would love to use your Send Card Service to thank them for their donation to the cause. I am doing this in Memory of my daughter Crystal Dawn McPherson she was 23 yrs old August 6, 1987 to September 27, 2010. She was such a blessing in our lives that I would like her Memory to live on. She was also deaf and she went to school here in St Augustine for The School for the Deaf and Blind from September 2001 to May 2006. I had many challenges but I learned quickly to take one day at a time. Every where she went she touched a person in some way or another and it has made me so very proud and blessed by her presence. She has really left her very own legacy.
If you would also help to spread the word about December 3rd at 8:00 to 9:00 pm. Karmen Booker is in charge of the arrangement and you will find her on Facebook. I want to thank you in advance for your help.
2010-11-28 @ 4:13 am
Hi Pat and Lorna, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday mine was wonderful too except for Crystal and my mother did not come.This year I cooked the whole meal all myself and I really enjoyed doing it because I got many compliments that it was delicious. I cannot believe it and no fussing and arguing like in the past. The day was so wonderful it still just amazes me. I know life is really to short to be at each others throat because that is what it used to be like. Crystal has brought us so much in her life here and has left us with some kind of peace on earth so to speak and again has touched us with her angelic touch forever. I would like to ask you both to tell your friends and your friends of friends about the event on December 3rd at 8:00 to 9:00 pm for my cause #Cystic Fibrosis Awareness and to donate anything for these precious people. Good Morning and Happy Sunday
2010-12-02 @ 12:12 pm
Hello Pat & Lorna:
This is a cool post! Each and every day, we need to have an attitude of gratitude. Then, we need to pass it on. I see so many people behaving in such selfish ways. They think this will bring them joy and satisfaction… they’ll make others agree with them, trust them, buy from them. They seem clueless as to how the very opposite is what will happen. I see this both in online businesses and in personal relationships. We all treasure freedom and should have the freedom to choose for ourselves not have others points of view or opinions forced on us.
Happiness comes when we care, share, and grow with others. That comes from nurturing not forcing relationships.
Thank you for the common sense advice and positivity you give us all,
Deborah
2010-12-02 @ 8:06 pm
Deborah,
We love the way you’ve related the freedom of choice with happiness. It is a very cool thing when people understand that they need to connect with what people want and then deliver that to them – and not give them what the person selling wants.
Thanks,
~ Pat and Lorna
2010-12-02 @ 7:45 pm
Hi Pat & Lorna, your post is so timely for where we are with our team focus right now. Many of our team members were getting caught in the trap of “signing people up” repeatedly, into our opportunity. This is fine, but what ends up happening is almost always a new enrollment who is not properly focused on what they want in the first place. These people are usually on autoship a maximum of one to two months. We are teaching to help their prospect find out what their needs and wants are to begin with, then offer the proper support and direction to being a customer or distributor. It is working much better!
Thanks Guys
Laura
2010-12-02 @ 8:19 pm
Laura,
It’s great to find that your team is now looking into what their prospects are want and making sure they get it. We feel they will be more successful by understanding their prospects needs upfront and delivering that to them.
Thanks,
~ Pat and Lorna
2011-03-21 @ 12:35 pm
Hi Pat & Lorna ~ I luv this post as it truly resonates with me and what having your own business is all about (and is quite similar line of thought as my most current post). Knowing that I can be of service to others is a huge motivator of mine, and why I choose to be associated with the business/industry I am involved in. Being sincerely interested, and paying attention/listening to what the other person really wants is crucial in ANY relationship, and in my opinion, one key factor that can help to create a genuine, long~ lasting relationship with someone. 🙂 Christine
2011-03-21 @ 9:19 pm
Christine,
Being of service to others is absolutely key in any business, and of course in life in general. Without paying attention to what the other person wants is huge in any relationship… business and personal.
Thanks so much the cool insights.
~ Pat and Lorna