Do You Have Clients or Customers?

Most people start businesses because they have the skills. They think that clients will automatically be drawn to them simply because they have perfected their skills. That's not the case.

Clients are not drawn by cheap pricing; customers are. There is a big difference between a client and a customer. A customer buys from you, but a client knows you, loves you, is loyal to you, and experiences you. Clients don't shy from referring you to their network(s). Customers don't remember where they bought from. A customer simply buys your product/service, and a client, on the other hand, experiences your product/service.

To have clients, you MUST know your heart. You must touch theirs too, as they are not there for the price but for the value and experience you give them. You must speak their language. I once asked someone, "Do you have a purpose, mission, and vision for your business? Are there values that you stand for?" They simply told me that those things are for big corporations. That's not true.

You need to know your brand heart. You need to know what you are doing and why you started your business. It is only through this that you can build a client base and not just one-off customers.

I came across this crazy statistic, "9 out of 10 startups fail in the first three years of operation," and that has kept me thinking. It is shocking that only 10% of people get to build something solid that can stand the test of time. There are about 7 billion people on the planet; just imagine that only 10% of them get to build something firm.

How about the 90%? What do they build? Well, everyone is building something. Everybody is building a house; someone is building using dried grass, someone else is building using wood, another mud, another stone, and another, always called out for being too proud, a snob and extravagant, is using precious stones.

Since everything is refined by quakes, shakes, and fire, only 10% of those who decided to build using precious stones stood the test of time. You see, precious stones are rare; they are expensive and hard to acquire. Only a few are willing to go the extra mile to search and get their hands dirty to dig for it.

The overwhelming majority keep wishing because they do not want to get their hands dirty. Sadly, they don't even know what they are building, and they keep wishing that they were like the 10% who did their best to gain knowledge and skills to understand their 'WHY'. They get to understand why building using precious stones is more important than merely using other building materials.

Today, I want to share with you 5 books that can really help you build something worthwhile.

1. Sell Like Crazy - Sabri Suby

2. Start With Why - Simon Sinek

3. Brand Gap - Marty Neumeier

4. This is Marketing - Seth Godin

5. Zero To One - Peter Thiel

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