3 Ways to Better Understand Your Customers and Generate More Sales

Patrick McFadden

Would you like your advertising efforts to bring in real results?

How about have your referral programs double (2x) sales?

Do you want more quality traffic to your website?

Maybe, even have your service and product pages generate a flood of new customers or clients?

An excellent way to accomplish those objectives above is to constantly learn more about your customers or target markets.

The hard cold truth is that understanding your customers allows you to market your business more effectively and generate more sales.

If you’ve never had strategic listening conversations with customers or target markets before, do it ASAP as it is the best way to:

  • improve your advertising efforts
  • double sales of your referral marketing programs
  • drive more quality traffic to your site
  • create product and services pages that convert

Now, much has been written and spoken about understanding your customers or target markets but below are the three ways to get your start-up or organization  ball rolling as they can provide a great foundation for getting at what’s truly important to your customers. Start talking to customers every month and you’ll be rewarded with insight and sales.

3 Ways to Better Understand Your Customers and Generate More Sales

  1. Talk with your best customers. Your best customers have the following two behaviors:  they are profitable and also refer business to you.   Not to   mention   it’s not practical to engage all of your customers in a conversation. Discover who your 5-10 best customers are, then email or phone them asking for feedback on your marketing, sales and service processes.
  2. Use Rapportive.  I personally use this Gmail plugin and recommend you use it to find out more about your customers before you email them. We are living through a clutter world and personalized communication always breaks through the clutter. Emails that are anticipated, personal and relevant get opened today.
  3. Eliminate “yes” or “no” questions. My motto is to “go Oprah” on your customer base and make sure you ask open ended questions. Some of the things you’re after is the LANGUAGE your customers use when describing why they buy from you, the WORDS and PHRASES your customers use when explaining what they value about what you do, and the DESCRIPTION of the perfect buying experience. You can’t get that by asking them to rate things from 1 to 10.

Far too often businesses create advertising campaigns around irrelevant pain points and features, referral programs that don’t create referral motivation, and optimize their websites around industry specific jargon and terms when their ideal customers really pay attention, engage and respond to other communicating factors.

Forget “Perfect Workspaces.” Customers Want Perfect Installation Days — Here’s What Happened When One Furniture Installation Company Got That Right

By Patrick McFadden • March 31, 2025
1. The Challenge: VMI was like many service providers — positioning their value around what they thought clients wanted : “Office furniture installation and assembly — let us handle creating your perfect workspace.” But the actual buyers — facility managers, project managers, furniture reps — weren’t looking for “perfect workspaces.” They were trying to avoid installation nightmares . Their real priority? ✅ Great installation days. ✅ No chaos. ✅ No missed deadlines. ✅ No angry phone calls from clients. 2. The Insight: After conducting stakeholder interviews under our marketing strategy consulting engagement , the Indispensable Marketing team uncovered critical feedback: “We need installers who maintain a professional site and follow instructions.” “We lose relationships when installations go badly.” “I need quotes back quickly or I can’t sell the job.” This wasn’t just about services , it was about trust, problem-solving , and professional reliability . So we reframed their differentiators not by what they did, but how they showed up : Same-day project quotes Problem-solving on-site Update protocol with clients Professionalism guarantee Lasting Impression Insurance 3. The Shift: We shifted the positioning from vague benefits to real-world, emotional triggers : Instead of: “Let us create your perfect workspace.” Now: “Get the perfect installation day, every time.” That subtle shift aligns with who’s actually buying (and who feels the pain when things go wrong). The end-user may care about the workspace. But the buyer cares about the install . 4. The Lesson for Others: If you’re selling a service, don’t describe what you do. Describe what the client wants to avoid or achieve — and who the real buyer is. Then, systematize what you’re already doing well and give it a name. Just like our team did with: “Same Day Quotes” “Lasting Impression Insurance” “Reliable Presence Protocol” 5. The Outcome Within weeks of updating their messaging and positioning: The company reported more qualified leads asking the right questions Furniture reps began referring them because they were “easy to work with and made them look good” They were shortlisted for larger, multi-phase projects due to increased confidence in their process But most importantly, they stopped competing on price — because they weren’t selling perfect workspaces anymore. They were selling peace of mind on installation day.

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