I own a business that sells products online. I have had it for a few years now and am always looking for ways to make it better. But the funny is, the more I have looked for answers (in trying to improve my business), the more lost I have become. And until recently, I didn’t know why. But now I do. I was looking for the “right” answers without first asking the “right” questions.
Over the years, I have done a lot of improvements with my business but the results haven’t been great. I have tried things like making the website design more professional, having a toll free number, having a wide selection of products, etc. I can go on and on, but no matter what I did it seemed like it never really payed off. As you can imagine, this was very discouraging. But then one day, I put myself in a customer’s shoes and started asking the right questions. This is what I asked:
Would I buy from this business as a customer?
- Much to my surprise, my answer was a definite NO!
I then asked myself: Why?
- My pricing was not competitive, I could find the same product somewhere else for less.
- My website was not easy to navigate.
- Even though I had a wide variety of products, they weren’t the kind my friends or I would buy.
- I would never know about my business, because it didn’t have a good marketing strategy in place.
These four reasons (or answers) that I came up with has changed my whole focus with my business. These were huge issues that I had somehow overlooked. And until I asked myself a question as simple as “Would I buy from my business?” I would have kept on overlooking these issues.
I am trying to make asking the right questions a habit for me now. Because when you start asking the right questions, the answers seem almost obvious. Something to note though: I ask myself the “right” questions from a third person point of view. I do this to make sure my emotions don’t cloud my judgment when trying to come up with an answer (see the Smart vs Intelligent post).
I am starting to do this with this blog as well. Before I start writing a post, I ask myself: What am I trying to get across? I then make a few bullet points and start writing. I do this to avoid any “fluff” in my posts and get straight to the point. Because in the end, that’s what you (my readers) really want. But enough about the questions I ask myself. What are some of the “right” questions you need to ask yourself?
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Many thanks for publishing this information. It is really helpful for me.
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