When you are in business, it’s understandable that you want to make sales.  You have to make sales to make a profit and pay your employees, overhead, etc.

Most customers, when they come to you, have certain needs.

In our case, it might be a tax return or accounting, or an audit, for example.

And it’s pretty easy to figure out what their needs are.

But in my experience, what is oftentimes left out of the equation is what they truly want.

When we meet with a potential new client, and even our existing clients, they may come in for a meeting to discuss something specific or discuss what they need, and it is our job to uncover their true wants.

I believe that everyone has hidden wants that they don’t tell you.  In our case, they typically want peace of mind, they want better communication from their CPA, they want a true trusted advisor they can count on, they want to understand what we do, explained to them in plain English, they want more cash flow, or they want better tax planning.  Sometimes they simply want a better relationship with their CPA.

The absolute only way we can uncover their true wants is to meet with them, have a conversation with them, actually listen to them, and most important of all, be curious and ask A LOT of questions.  We have to understand what motivates them, what their goals are, and what they are trying to accomplish.

Being curious is one of our core values as a company at The Hultquist Firm.

It’s vital that we are, so that we can fully understand their situation.  Needs are easy to figure out, but wants take a bit more work.  But to truly be the trusted advisors we set out to be, we have to understand their wants just as much as their needs.

And I believe this is true for any business owner…make an effort to understand your customers’ needs AND wants to not only build a better relationship, but to also build a better business.