How to read your customer’s mind

Amazon says it can ship items before customers order.
Is this some sort of mind reading trick?

Hardly.

They’ve just been paying attention to their customers.

Want to read the minds of YOUR customers?  Here are a few tips to help you.
1. Wish List
Amazon allows users to keep multiple list of things they want in the future. Create a Wish List on behalf of your client in regard to their industry, personal goals, and things they want in doing business with your company. When your client or prospect tells you about something outside the ordinary course of conversation, jot it down and keep it in a file. It might be about a business problem they’re encountering or their desire to expand into a new area of focus. Add the information to your file and see if you can do some research to learn more about it. At the very least keep it on your radar so you can prick up your ears should the topic come up again.

2. Past Purchases
Amazon’s strength is that they keep a record of everything you purchased in the past. If they know you buy every super hero movie that gets released on DVD, it’s a safe bet you’re going to buy the next movie when it’s released. Adding your name to the pre-release buyer list is no great leap of precognition.  What about your customers? Do you know what they are apt to buy because they favored the same type of purchase in the past?

3. Also Bought
Amazon increases its sales exponentially simply by tracking other items that people buy with their primary purchase. Now they can predict (through technology and statistics, not telepathy) what other customers might buy if they purchase just one thing for which they have a buyer record.  If you have a client who buys Product A, does it make sense that they’d also benefit from owning Product D? It’s the perfect type of thing to offer as an add-on sale or project upgrade.

The primary reason it appears Amazon can read minds is that they care about what their customers think.

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