Curiosity is better than better — Kelford Labs Daily

I don’t often advocate for simply being “better” than other businesses in your category. That’s a vague aspiration and an empty promise.

Instead, I usually say it’s better to make specific tradeoffs that your ideal customers want to choose over other options. Not because you’re universally “better,” but because you’re the credible best for that customer in particular.

There’s one thing, though, that I do suggest entrepreneurs get better at. And, in fact, become better than all their competitors at:

Curiosity.

Stay with me here: Understanding which tradeoffs to make starts with understanding what your best clients value most.

Which means, if you can get extremely curious about why your best customers buy, you can save yourself time, energy, and money. Because you know exactly what they’re looking for, exactly what they value and prioritize, exactly when they need it—and exactly what you should say.

Most businesses don’t actually know why their customers buy, so they offer too much, to too many, in too many places, with too many words.

But when we understand our customers, we can speak to them in their words about what they value most.

For example, you can pay attention to what your clients actually say, in their own words, when they provide testimonials and referrals—and you can integrate their words into your marketing language.

Instead of acting like we need to drag out every shiny object we can get our hands on and plead, “Is this what you want? Is this it? This? This?” until they finally relent and buy, we can say, “I have exactly what you need.”

It starts with curiosity. With asking questions. And with understanding that our job isn’t to convince or persuade, but to demonstrate that we’ve made the right tradeoffs and decisions.

Not to make us better than the rest, but to make us the obvious best choice for our ideal buyers.

Kelford Inc. helps hands-on entrepreneurs and founders with complex marketing challenges define and articulate their unique value to their very best customers.

We’ll show you the way to always knowing what to say.