Popular advice when it comes to business is to create value for your customers. But as I’ve said in another post: you don’t create value. Your customer creates value.
Another way of saying this is: you are not the hero! The customer is the hero. To borrow from Star Wars: you are not Luke Skywalker. The customer is Luke Skywalker.
The customer is the one who has to bring about change to the world – whether it’s in his diet, his carpet, his business, his evenings, wherever.
Rather, you are Obi-Wan Kenobi or Yoda. You give the customer the lightsaber. You train your customer. You give them the wisdom.
You provide the diet formula to help him lose weight. You provide the vacuum to help him clean his carpet. You provide the CRM software to help him keep track of his clients and sales prospects. You provide the movies or TV shows that allow him to entertain himself during the evening.
But the customer is the one who create the value. He’s the one who takes the diet, who vacuums the floor, who keeps track of his clients, who watches the movie or TV show. The customer is the hero of his world.
This is an important idea to remember in your marketing and your sales: you are there to help people succeed. To help people win. To help people change the world.
But you are not the hero.
Find out what your customer wants to change and give them the tools to do so. Put the focus on what they want to change and how great they are or will be for making that change.
And sink into the background.
That’s the essence of effective marketing.