Customer success is key to a company’s long-term success. “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM) is a question that every person wants to be answered, and if you can provide them with what they’re looking for, you’ll have a happy and successful customer base.
Think about your product or service from the customer’s perspective. What are they looking to get out of it? How will it make their lives better? Answering these questions is the first step to providing a great customer experience and ensuring customer success.
Let’s search a little deeper into the WIIFM marketing approach.
Key Takeaways
- Understanding the customer’s perspective is crucial for delivering value. By focusing on “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM), businesses can tailor their products or services to meet customer needs, ensuring satisfaction and long-term success.
- To effectively integrate WIIFM into business practices, companies should establish customer service protocols, train staff to prioritize customer needs, anticipate customer preferences, reward loyalty, and go the extra mile in service delivery.
- Gathering feedback, analyzing data, and asking direct questions are essential for identifying and meeting customer desires. Constantly refining strategies based on customer responses helps in building and maintaining customer loyalty and satisfaction.
What is the WIIFM approach?
The acronym WIIFM, “what’s in it for me,” refers to the underlying motivator that drives people. It’s the logical and reasonable questioning of what someone can gain by taking a certain action.
This question often arises when presented with a decision or an opportunity.
WIIFM is based on human nature. Everyone wants to gain something positive by doing something, such as financial rewards, recognition, personal satisfaction, or tangible results.
When persuading someone to act upon an idea or take advantage of an opportunity, highlighting wiifm is key in creating a compelling argument.
At its core, the WIIFM approach to marketing is based on the premise that customers respond better if they see how it will benefit their company.
This approach may be applied in several ways, but common strategies include the following:
- Promoting customer testimonials.
- Using positive customer reviews in marketing materials.
- Prominently highlighting the features and benefits of a product or service.
When executed effectively, the WIIFM approach can be highly effective in winning over new target audience and driving sales.
How can WIIFM Help Your B2B Business?
WIIFM helps to:
- understand what their customers want and need
- keep their customers engaged and interested
- track customer behavior and preferences
- provide tailored service and support to their customers
- make your site work in building customer loyalty and trust
How to Identify Your Customers’ WIIFM?
So, how do you pin down your client’s deep desire so you can be their white knight?
1. Keep your customer’s best interest at heart.
Setting your customer’s best interest at heart means always acting in a way that will benefit the customer, even if it means making a sacrifice on your part. You put their needs and wants first, above your own.
For example, if a customer is unhappy with a purchase, you should make things right, even if it means taking a financial loss. Or, if a customer is interested in a product that is not right for them, it is your responsibility to steer them towards a better option.
This principle may seem common sense, but it’s amazing how many companies are willing to sacrifice their customers’ satisfaction to save a few dollars. Always putting your customer first will build a reputation for being fair and reliable – two essential qualities for any business. You’ll see all will pay off in the long run.
2. Pay attention to what your customers say and do.
If you pay attention, your customers will give you plenty of clues about what they want and need. Observe their behavior, both online and offline. Listen to the words they use. Read between the lines of their actions. All of this will give you valuable insights into their wants and needs.
3. Ask your customers directly.
Often, the best way to find out what your customers want is to ask them. You can work on this through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or even just one-to-one conversations.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to your customers and ask them what they want. They’ll be happy to tell you, and you’ll save time and energy finding out.
4. Use data and analytics.
Data and analytics can be powerful tools for understanding your customers’ WIIFM. You can do this by surveying your customer base, analyzing purchasing patterns, or tracking engagement with your brand.
Creating targeted marketing campaigns, developing new products or services, or improving customer experience with the gathered information is much easier.
5. Listen to your customer’s feedback.
Your customers will also give you feedback, whether you ask for it or not. It’s important to listen to this feedback and use it to improve your business.
Positive feedback can be used as validation that you’re on the right track. It can also give you ideas for improving or expanding your business. Negative feedback can identify areas where you need to make changes.
Responding to feedback shows that you care about your customers and their experience with your brand. It’s a manifestation that you take them seriously.
How to Implement WIIFM in Your Business?
1. Establish customer service protocols
Customer service protocols are the steps your business takes to provide customer service. They include the procedures for handling complaints, responding to inquiries, and resolving problems.
Once you have decided on your protocols, ensure all your employees are familiar with them and follow them consistently. It will ensure that your customers receive the same high level of service every time they interact with your business.
2. Train your staff to be customer-focused
Your employees are the face of your business, so they must be properly trained to deal with consumers. They should know how to listen to customer needs, communicate effectively, and resolve problems.
Customer service training will help your employees understand the importance of providing excellent service. It will also provide them with the necessary skills to succeed in their jobs.
3. Anticipate customer needs
One of the best practices in providing excellent customer service is to anticipate your customers’ needs. It means being proactive and anticipating their wants and needs before they even have a chance to talk about them.
You can do this by keeping up with industry trends, observing customer behavior, and using data and analytics. By anticipating your customers’ needs, you’ll be able to provide them with the solutions they need before they even know they need them.
4. Reward customer loyalty
It costs far less to sustain an existing customer than to acquire a new one, so it’s important to reward customer loyalty. Businesses do this in several ways, such as discounts, coupons, free shipping, or exclusive access to new products or services.
Rewarding customer loyalty will show your customers that you appreciate their business and encourage them to continue doing business with you.
5. Go above and beyond
Finally, always strive to go above and beyond for your customers. It means going the extra mile to make sure they’re happy with their experience. It could be something as simple as hand-delivering their order or providing them with personalized service.
Going above and beyond for your customers shows that you care about them and their experience with your business. It’s a great way to build loyalty and create long-term relationships.
Questions to Ask When Using the WIIFM Approach
- What are your top priorities when choosing a product or service?
- Why did you choose our company over our competitors?
- What do you like best about our products or services?
- How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or family member?
- Was there anything we could have done to make your experience better?
- What do you think of our customer service?
- Would you like to see any changes made to our products or services?
- How often do you use our products/services?
- Do you have any suggestions on how we can improve them?
Conclusion
The WIIFM approach to customer success is about understanding what your customers want and need and providing them with solutions. You can greatly use this to your advantage. Knowing what your prospect desires and satisfying them are very effective ways to establish and maintain customer loyalty.
FAQs
Here are other questions about WIIFM that we have not discussed in the article.
The responsibility for delivering WIIFM within a company is a concerted effort of the sales team. Your salespeople are responsible for creating and delivering value to the customer and ensuring that the customer’s needs are met. They must secure that the customer understands what benefits they will receive from working with the company.
Yes, you can customize your “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM) program for different customers. Depending on your business model and what you’re offering, you may find that some customization is necessary to meet the needs of different customers.
There are a few potential reasons your customers might not respond to your WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) approach. One possibility is that they don’t see how your product or service can benefit their business. Another possibility is that they’re unsure how your product or service works or don’t understand its value.
If you suspect that either of these might be the case, then it’s important to take the time to explain the benefits of your product or service in greater detail. Explain how it can help them meet their goals and solve their problems. And make sure you’re speaking their language – use terms and jargon they’ll understand.
If you’ve already done all of this and your customers still aren’t responding, then it’s possible that they’re not a good fit for your business. In this case, it might be best to move on and focus your efforts on other potential customers.
