Why Your Clients Don’t Care If You Are An Expert!

Most people starting a new business have the perception that they need to position themselves as an expert in their chosen field and frequently assume that they have a valuable commodity that the customer wants and needs. - They also wrongly assume that the customer will see the value in the offered product, knowledge or expertise that you provide without any effort on your part.

I am sorry to burst any bubbles, but customers do not care about you or what you think you know!

A true "light bulb" moment 

Early on my career my boss suggested that, as a mortgage broker, I has access to the money and knowledge that people need to buy homes and that I needed to position myself as a valuable expert in mortgage business. He further suggested that I keep "banker's hours" and, to further reinforce my position as a valuable expert, I should create an aura of artificial scarcity and make all of my clients meet me in my office times that suit only my own schedule. This, he was certain, would create the proper branding vibe and would make me the highly sought-after professional who would keep the business rolling in.

Being new to the business I assumed that this was a reasonable way of approaching the situation, at least until the day I when met my most valuable client. This client was like no other client. He was an older businessman who had been self employed for many years. While this client was in my office, on my time and on my schedule, I was giving him my usual canned talk about how I was an expert in my field. He turned to me looked me in the eye, and said flatly, "Honestly, I really do not care what you think you know, I care about what I don't know."

That moment I had my first business-epiphany moment. At that very instant I realized what I had been doing wrong with my business. Mercifully, it was very early on in my career and I had time to change my thinking about what my true role was as a mortgage broker.

Contained within that client's short sentence was the following concept:

Clients do not care what you think you know, what they want is to be educated about what they are attempting to do and they want to know if their ideas or plans are sound and rational. They are looking to you to educate them such that they come away from the transaction with something of value from the experience that they can actually put to use.

I realized from that point on that my job was one of an educator rather than an expert. That realization led me to completely change my way of doing business. Gone were the days when my clients would come to me on my schedule. From then on I would leave my office to meet all of my clients at a location convenient for them, and I would give them a complete education about the mortgage process. I would educate them on the finer points of the often-confusing details of loan products and dispel a few myths in the process. No longer would I perceive myself as having valuable knowledge that I would hoard and then parcel out in limited doses. I would give my knowledge away freely, as a gift to my clients and prospects.

Knowledge is a very powerful positioning tool.

The beautiful thing about all the industry-insider knowledge and experience you have is that it costs you nothing to give away but remains very valuable to both you and your clients. It is literally the most valuable asset your business owns, and one of your most valuable tools when it come to positioning and customer relations.

I have never met a client who did not have a laundry list of questions about mortgages. For some reason mortgages have an air of mystery to them and, to be honest, I use that mystery to position myself in my industry as a valuable educator, and you can do the same in your industry!

Once I had my epiphany moment I began to see that my expertise in my industry was a very valuable tool to that I could use to "show" my clients that I was an expert in my field rather than "tell" my clients I was an expert in my field. In fact, I never even mention that I know anything at all when meeting new clients. I let my clients ask all the questions that they want. I make plenty of time for them, I explain things in great detail, and allow them to come to the conclusion for themselves that I am an expert - and they always do!

There is much truth in the saying, "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink." An idea that a client comes to realize on their own is ten times more powerful and convincing to them than an idea that you have to beat them over the head with.

People like to know things and are always appreciative of free information. Most people have a thirst for knowledge and sometime like to impress their family and freinds with what they know. If you can meet your client on their terms and their schedule and give them a bit of knowledge that they can take away from the meeting, you will almost always create a loyal client.

Using knowledge as an anchoring tool.

There is an old marketing gimmick that's referred to as either "the anchor" or "the imprint." This concept says that the first idea, experience or price that a client, customer or prospect is presented with will be the gauge by which they will measure all other ideas, experiences or prices.

This is why the practice of "manufacturer's suggested retail price" is such a valuable tool for pricing products. Customers always measures the relative value of a given object against the MSRP price. Conveniently, the actual retail price is nearly always lower than the MSRP, so the actual retail price seems cheaper by comparison, and therefore appears to be a good value. In this case, the MSRP is the anchor that all other subsequent pricing is compared to.

What does all this mean to you? Well, your goal as a professional service provider is to set the anchor as a benchmark against which your potential client will use as their gauge when shopping around for your services.

In his book "Predictably Irrational," psychology and market research expert Dan Ariely states, "consumers choose products and services by a method of comparison and do not know who or what to choose unless they have been given a reference point by which to make that comparison."

Your job as a professional service provider to be the, "firstest with the mostest," and set the anchor against which your competitors will be measured. If you can do this you will find that regardless of how far and wide your clients wander they will always measure your competitors against the experience you provided them and they will almost always wander back to you.

Build an outstanding "person" brand

This is not a how-to manual for being a manipulator. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is there has never been, nor will there ever be, a magic bullet for service or customer relations. A good customer base has to be built one client at a time based on a foundation on education, respect, trust, and mutual benefit.

In his book, "Love is the Killer App," Tim Sanders says, "there is a tremendous opportunity for your compassion to make a difference in the lives of your clients and how they view you and that is always good for business"

Over the last 10 years I have arranged many loans for my clients and I have tried to treat each one of them respect and provide them all with excellent service. Many of them have been repeat clients and some have become good friends, all because I offered them something quite valuable without cost or obligation: everything I knew about my business.