Your creativity plays a part in shaping customer perception, but it’s not the whole story.
“The customer’s perception is your reality.”
~ Kate Zabriskie
When I began writing my book, a savvy and experienced writer gave me this advice: select one person to write to and keep her or him in the forefront of your mind and heart. Think of their dreams, the pain they want soothed, what keeps them up at night, what brings them joy, and the words that would most make a difference to them.
The moment I chose my one-person audience, the tone and trajectory of my book changed.
My work became softer, more vulnerable, and clear. My words left the land of the lofty and came down to Earth. I felt an urgency in getting real within myself so that I could excavate the best I had to give and deliver it through words that had genuine impact.
I find that when I work with entrepreneur clients, they, too, find the exercise of creating for one person to be natural and easy to accomplish. But when I ask them questions about their ideal market or mention the concept of customer perception, their eyes glaze over, and they sink into their chairs.
We forget that the market is simply a collection of individuals just like our one person.
The Unpredictability of Customer Perception
The market has a certain flow and intelligence…as does our creativity and importantly, our intention behind it.
I can spend hours writing something, and the reaction from readers can be silence. Or, I can dash off a post on Facebook while stirring a sauce in the kitchen, and witness it garnering electric attention. Those “off the cuff” popular post moments are important: I can notice what the market notices.
I can ask…what was it about that, in particular, that landed so well?
We can be surprised by the market’s response to what we create and place into the river to quench thirsts. I’m continually reminded that ultimately, we have no control over customer perception or the market’s interpretation of what we create.
Creativity and Resonance
We can also just create for creating’s sake… for our own expression. For our own wellbeing and connection to ourselves.
What resonates within you and heals your spirit? Where is that true within the market? Where do those intersect? That place may very well be a fun and successful foundation of a product or service to create and offer to the world.
All the while, keeping in mind and heart, our one person. The one person we want to reach, teach, move, help, and heal.
