A Simple Strategy for Winning Customer Engagement & Long-Term Retention

Welcome to the Scalable Expert, the podcast where we unlock the secrets to building a business that grows with you, not around you. I'm your host, Tara Bryan, business strategist, mentor, and creator of the Infinite Scale Method. If you're a coach, consultant, or service provider who's maxed out with one on one work, overwhelmed by the grind, and ready to scale your expertise into a business that works for you, then you're in the right place. Each week, I'll share actionable tips, inspiring success stories, and proven strategies. to help you reclaim your time, grow your income and create a business that delivers results without sacrificing quality. Let's dive in and make your business infinitely scalable. Hey, everybody, welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. I am thrilled that you're here. In this episode, I want to do something just a little bit different. I'm going to show you a visual, so if you are listening, I will try and describe it as much as possible. If you are watching YouTube, you will be able to catch the visual that I'm going to share today. But I want to share a concept called WIIFM. When I was a new training professional, and learning the ropes of how do you build effective learning experiences for employees or customers so that they can get results, one of the things we always focused on was the concept of WIIFM. So if you've heard of that before, sometimes it's W I I F M, sometimes it's WIIFM, it doesn't really matter. The acronym stands for 'What's In It For Me' and that is exactly what your customer or your potential customer is thinking all of the time. So they're not really thinking about all of the things that you are thinking about as you are building your solution, as you are trying to sell your solution and doing all of the things around what you are passionate about, your expertise or your offer, or your business or your mission, or whatever it is. And so the more that you can start thinking about your customer or perspective customer in terms of what it is that they're looking for and what it is that they need, the better off you're going to be not only in selling what you have to offer, but in also being able to fulfill in a way that helps your customers get results. Because at the end of the day, that's all that really matters is that whatever your offer is, is getting your customer the intended result, which is why they purchased it in the first place. So I always recommend to people put yourself in your customer's shoes. Really look from their perspective to see how what you're creating is going to impact them? Is it going to make their lives easier? Is it going to solve their problem? Is it going to give them whatever it is that they're looking for that they don't have today. If you can do that, then you know that you are on the right track in terms of what you're creating and being able to articulate how what you're building really helps your customers. Because I think at the end of the day we all want to build something and offer a solution, something to fulfill that helps our customers. We're all in the business of really wanting to help people. However, what happens is we get so excited about our own solution that we lose sight of the customer and what it is that they need and what they're looking for. And so while we're trying to sell our thing or fulfill on our thing, we're missing the boat because we're not actually thinking about our customers. So when we use the concept of WIIFM, what's in it for me, and always thinking about it from the customer's perspective, it will help you make sure that what you're doing, whether it be your messaging, whether it be the conversations you're having, or even in the fulfillment, are meeting your customer's needs. A huge piece of advice that I always give to my customers along with the WIIFM concept is just consider that they're in front of you in your office, by your desk, they're sitting next to you, you're having a conversation with them. You wouldn't blast them with all the things that you're super excited about. You would ask them questions about what they need and what kind of experience they want and how would what you were creating make them successful? So do the same thing when you are speaking to prospects and to customers around what it is that you offer. So just remember that there's always somebody on the other end of the equation that you are actually trying to help. All right, so I want to just illustrate this concept by showing you a visual. And this visual is an inverted pyramid. So let me get it up for you because I think it, it really helps to show what it is, from a, how do you structure your conversation? How do you structure your thinking to make sure you're always considering the customer's journey, and what's in it for them? Okay, so let's break that down into a visual. So when you look at WIIFM, What's in it for me? From a customer's perspective, the very first question they're going to be asking is, Why? Why would this be the thing that is going to solve my problem? Because what they're looking for is that solution, right? They're looking for whether or not you have a way to help them solve their problem. So that's the first thing. It's like they're in pain, they're having a challenge, there's something that they want to change. And so they're looking at it and saying, Okay, why would this be the thing that will help me make that change? That's the very first thing that they're looking at. So when you're having a conversation with a prospect or a customer, you want to answer that question. Like, why is this the solution that will get them from point A to point B in the best way possible? Because again, they want to get out of the situation that they're in. They want some sort of transformation. They want some sort of change. So they're going to look at what you have to offer and whether or not you're able to answer that question, right? Like, why would I use your solution? It's because it's going to take you from point A to point B, in a linear process, it's gonna take you, it's the fastest path, I've been there before, so I can help you, and instead of trying to go out and do it all yourself, I have a proven process to help you, right? So you're answering that question of like, why would you have the product or solution that would help me get to where I am today or where I am from now until where I want to go. So that is the very first question that's on their mind, is like, why would I pay attention to this? What is this going to do for me when I am trying to decide whether or not this is going to be the transformation that's going to help me? So a lot of times people start with the what, like they start with oh, here are all the things it's going to be 14 weeks. It's going to be videos and community and get togethers and all of these things like these are all the things that are going to happen As you go through my solution. And they don't care about any of that yet. What they care about is this a solution that's going to take me from my problem to where I want to go to give me that transformation. That's the very first thing that you need to answer. Once you've answered that they're like, oh, yeah this is going to be the best way for me to get from point A to point B. Now the next question they're going to ask is okay, so when does that happen? Like how do I do that? And so if you're like, it's going to take 90 days, it's going to take six months, it's going to take a year, then they're like, okay, do I want to take that amount of time to get that transformation? Is there a faster way to do it? Is there a slower way to do it? Do I have the time to put into it? Do I not have the time to put into it? That's the next kind of set of questions that they're asking themselves. Again, they're not asking yet is it online? Is it offline? Am I getting together with people? Am I not getting together with people? Is it on these dates? Is it on that dates? Are we having video? They don't care about any of those things yet. Again, they're just trying to put it into the context of what their own needs are. So why is this a solution? It's the fast track from point A to point B. Okay, cool. That matches what I'm looking for. I really want somebody to guide me through this solution because I can't figure it out on my own, right? That's the why. Okay, great. Check that one off. Now they're gonna go into that when which is okay so how long is this gonna take? When is this going to happen? What is it going to look like when that's over, right? So if it's 90 days, what happens in 90 days? In 90 days, I'm going to have the full solution. I'm going to have a transformation, and then this is going to happen. So in 90 days, I'm going to increase sales. In 90 days, I'm going to increase customers. In 90 days, I'm going to, lose 50 pounds. Whatever it is that the transformation is, they need to see when that's going to happen, right? So you're really giving them an ownership experience of here's how their world is going to change. So when you think about the WIIFM, it's how is their world going to change? How is this impacted them? And really what your solution at this point is doing, is it's showing them that you have anticipated all of the things that they're going to be thinking about because you've been there, you know how to fast track the process, you know all of the hurdles and obstacles that are going to happen along the way. And so you're showing your level of confidence that you have the solution that will help them. Because again, they're looking at the why, and then they're going to look at the when. And then, once they've determined that, okay that seems reasonable, like 90 days seems like a good amount of time, okay, yep, I like that, right? In three months, I can assume that this is the transformation I'm gonna get. Okay, so how is that gonna be delivered? And then that needs to match their how. If they want you to be sitting next to them for 90 days, every single day, having a conversation, then that's going to be their expectation. Does it match your how? Your how may be different, right? And so your job is to help them understand and really be able to visualize how your solution at this point is going to help them get from point A to point B in the best and easiest and most impactful way to help them. And in this piece where you're really talking about how it's going to go, it's going to be weekly and it's going to be an office hours call and some learning and some application and some, support from the coach and peers and whatever else you have that is part of your scalable experience. The goal here isn't to give them all of the things. The goal is to help them really truly see how by doing the things that you have already set up for them, it streamlines the process, it makes it super simple for them, and it's something that is realistic that they can do right? So that's all they want to know about in the how is here's how the experience is gonna go, you get to log in on demand you get to get feedback, whenever you want it you get to do this you get to do that blah blah blah blah blah, right? You built it in a way that is a great experience for your people. They don't need to know all the nits and nats. They don't need to know all the details at this point. They just need to know that there is a curated experience for them that directly takes them from where they are today to where they want to go. You've addressed the why, what is the transformation, how is the solution going to help them. You've addressed the when, like what is the timeframe? You've addressed the how. We have a curated experience that allows you to go through. We have proved that this is the best approach. Not that, like it's a different approach, it's a, a worse approach, a better approach of this or that. We have proven that this is the best way for people like you to go through this, to be able to get the results in 90 days. Done. And then, and only then, do you talk about all of the cool features that are in your solution. You have an app, you have a cool whizbang automation, you have all of these things that you're super excited about that you've built. That is when you can start talking about all of the cool things, the gamification, the touch points, the recordings, the phone calls, the all of the detailed things that you have created for them to make their job easier as they're going through this process. Because the things that you've created are not just things that like you want to throw in there to make it cool. It's a very specific reason why you have a workbook or you have activities or you have a phone call. They're all strategically placed to help somebody go from point A to point B in the fastest way possible. So when you're framing up the conversation, when you want to add in all those cool things that you're super excited about you're adding them in the context of what they need to be successful because you have taken care of all of the details. And that's what somebody needs to know in order to make a buying decision, in order to get really excited, is that they don't have to go through and get overwhelmed by all of the things. When you lead in your sales conversation or in a customer conversation with all of the things, people get overwhelmed very easily. Oh, this is going to be really complicated because there's so many things that I have to remember and keep track of. And that's exactly the opposite of your intention when you are creating this. And so that's why the what actually is the very last thing. And you'll see that it's an inverted pyramid for a reason. That should be just a short conversation. Once they get into the experience, once they've made a buying decision, then you can show them all the cool tips and tricks and awesomeness that you have in there. But it's not important in and of itself. It's important in showing that you have a curated experience that has been created just for them. And then the very last piece of this pyramid is how much, right? Because then when you are anchoring the price, you're anchoring the price on the transformation, the journey, the amount of time the journey is gonna take, all of the curated pieces that you've included to make the journey easy for them. And so then the price becomes a no brainer because it's something that is, is the last piece to the puzzle. When somebody is trying to make a purchasing decision based on price without all the rest of these pieces, they're not sure that this is the right solution for them. When you start with the why, you've connected it to why it's the perfect solution for them because it's going to give them the transformation they're looking for. When you outline how much time you are giving them to do it, you're anchoring it to a realistic timeline for them. And you can decide what this looks like for your individual customers. Some like to go fast and some like to have the time to be able to implement along the way. It doesn't really matter how long it is. So don't get caught up on, it has to be 30 days or 5 days or 90 days or 6 months or a year or whatever. It doesn't really matter as long as you can show exactly how they're getting either micro transformations or how they're getting that transformation so that it makes that change. So you have to anchor that with the win and then, when you're talking about how it's going to be, the curated experience that you have to make it super easy for them to just follow the dots and do what they need to do to get the results, then they're ready for that purchasing decision because they're going to be like, oh my gosh if it gets me these results in this amount of time with all of this cool stuff around an experience that's really been thought out and proven to work, I'm in. And they figure out. How to make the financial commitment to move forward. And so when you look at it from this perspective, regardless if you're talking to a prospect or you're talking to a customer, when you look at it from their perspective, and you look at what do they need in order to get the transformation that they're looking for, what they need is the confidence that you have thought through all of the details so that they don't have to. So they're not going to come in and be overwhelmed. So they're not going to come in and have to try and figure out where to go and what to do and all of the things. Remember, learning or doing something new is hard. And so when you have to take care of all of the details and learning and applying something, that is anchored to a problem that you have, you want all of those details to be taken care of. You want a curated experience where somebody else is guiding you through step by step and all you got to do is show up and do the thing and know and have the confidence that you are going to be able to get to that next level of growth, whatever that looks like for your customers. So use this the next time you are preparing for a conversation or a customer interaction, use this and make sure that you're going in the right order again. So often we get so excited about the thing that we've built for our customers that we talk about all of the details of it instead of saying, you know what, they don't really care about the details, they just want to know that you have taken care of the details so that they can go through an experience that's curated for them so they can get results. So try that next time, see how that goes. If you love this episode, give us a subscribe, a shout out, a review, wherever you're looking at it, whatever the call to action is, we would love to have your support. Share this with a friend, give this off to other people. Until next time, enjoy your week and happy applying.