Make Customers Smarter
Forty practical ways to make customers smarter, because informed customers choose better, stay longer and refer more.
Smart customers are loyal customers. Share what you know.
40 tips that really help
These ideas come from They Ask, You Answer (Marcus Sheridan), The Challenger Sale (Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson), The Checklist Manifesto (Atul Gawande), and On Writing Well (William Zinsser), and everyday practice. The first six help the most. Pick one and try it today.
Smart customers buy better and stay longer
Would a smarter customer not compare you and push your price down? Sometimes. But much more often, a smart customer buys better, stays longer and tells others. They value what you do.
Think of your smartest customer. List three reasons why they are good for your business. Choose one way to help another customer become more like them.
Teach them the questions to ask
One of the best gifts is a list of good questions. ‘Before you choose anyone, ask these five things.’ It turns a nervous buyer into a confident one, and applies to you too.
Write five questions that any buyer in your field should ask. Share them with a customer, and say, ‘Ask us these, too.’
How to judge any seller, even you
It takes courage to teach customers how to judge sellers, including you. ‘Here is how I would judge any provider.’ Look for honesty about limits, clear prices, references and a willingness to say no.
Write a one-page guide, ‘How to judge any seller in our field’. Include five signs of a good one, and five warning signs.
Share your reasoning, not just your answer
When a customer asks a question, give the answer and the thinking behind it. ‘I would choose this, because of these three points.’ Reasoning is something the customer can keep and use again.
In your next advice, say the answer, and then say, ‘Here is how I got there,’ with three short points.
Build a comparison guide they can trust
Customers compare many choices with little time. A fair comparison guide is a great help, but it must be trusted. Include options that are not yours, show where each is best, and name your sources.
Draft a two-page comparison guide for a common choice in your field. Include at least one rival, and mark honestly where each is strongest.
Welcome hard questions
A hard question is a gift. It shows that the customer is thinking, and trusts you enough to ask. A seller who welcomes hard questions builds a smart, loyal customer.
Next time a customer asks a hard question, say, ‘That is a good question, and I am glad you asked.’ Then answer fully and honestly.
Show them common traps
Every field has traps that catch newcomers: a clause in a contract, a cheap price with costly extras, a claim that sounds too good. When you show customers these traps, you protect them and make them wiser.
List the three most common traps in your field. Write a short, calm note on each, with how to spot and avoid it. Share it with a customer.
Teach them to read a quote
Most customers look only at the bottom line of a quote. A seller who teaches them to read it gives them a skill for life. ‘Here is what each line means, what to check and what is missing.’
Take one of your own quotes. Mark each line with a plain note on what it means. Share it as a guide for customers.
Link what they learn to results
Learning is only valuable if it leads to action. ‘Now that you understand this, here is what to do on Monday.’ That link turns knowledge into results, and proves your teaching works.
After your next lesson, add one ‘Monday action’ for the customer. Check back in a week to see what happened.
Celebrate what they learn
When a customer learns something, mark it. ‘You have now mastered how to read a quote. That is a real skill.’ A little recognition makes learning feel good and builds a warm bond.
Next time a customer shows new understanding, say so: ‘You have just learned something valuable.’ Send a short note, too.
Offer training
Training is one of the strongest ways to make customers smarter. A short session or video course teaches them to get the most from what they buy. It shows that you care about their success, not only their payment.
Offer one customer a free forty-five-minute training on getting the most from your product. Ask what they would like to learn first.
Share industry insights
You see many customers, and you read about your field. That gives you a view no single customer has. ‘Here is what I am seeing across the industry’ helps them to plan and feel less alone.
Write three short observations about trends you see across your customers. Share them in a short, friendly note, with no sales message.
Be patient
Learning takes time. If you press customers, they may feel stupid, and stop asking. Patience says, ‘I know this is new. Take the time you need.’ A customer who learned at their own pace understands deeply.
With one slow learner this week, repeat an explanation in a new way, without sighing or rushing. Thank them for asking again.
Gather their feedback
How do you know if your teaching works? You ask. ‘Was this helpful? What was unclear? What else would you like to learn?’ Feedback is the best guide, and it shows that their view matters.
After your next lesson or guide, ask three questions: What helped? What was unclear? What else would you like to learn? Note the answers.
Explain the jargon in your field
Every field has its own language. To insiders it is a shortcut. To outsiders it is a wall. If you explain your jargon, you take down the wall, and the customer can join the conversation.
List the ten words you use most that customers may not know. Write a plain explanation for each, in one line.
Share the "why" of industry rules
Every industry has rules that seem odd to outsiders. If you explain why, customers stop being annoyed and begin to understand. ‘The rule is there to protect you, and here is how.’
List three rules in your field that customers often question. Write a short, plain ‘why’ for each, and share it before they ask.
Share a buyer's checklist
A buyer’s checklist helps customers make sure they have not missed anything. ‘Before you sign, check these seven things.’ Written for your whole field, it marks you as someone who cares about buyers.
Write a seven-item checklist of what any buyer should check before signing in your field. Share it with prospects, and use it on yourself too.
Explain what drives prices in your field
Customers wonder why things cost what they do. Explaining what drives prices in your field gives them a map: labour, materials, risk, time and rules. A customer who knows can judge any quote.
List the five main things that drive price in your field. Write a one-page ‘why things cost what they cost’ guide for customers.
Teach them to read a contract
Few customers read contracts well. They skim, trust and sign, and later find surprises. You can show them where to look: end date, cost of leaving, extras and duties. And say, ‘Ask a lawyer if you are unsure.’
Prepare a one-page guide to the five parts of your contract that customers should read most carefully. Share it before they sign.
Teach them to spot a weak claim
The world is full of claims: ‘the best’, ‘guaranteed results’, ‘used by thousands’. A smart customer asks, ‘Says who? Compared with what? Can I check?’ You can teach them these questions, including for your own claims.
Write three questions customers can use to test any claim. Apply them to one of your own claims, and fix it if it fails.
Teach them to compare fairly
Many customers compare apples with oranges: a cheap basic offer with a full-service one. You can help them to compare like with like: same scope, same term, same support. A fair comparison leads to a fair choice.
Write a three-line ‘compare like with like’ note for customers: scope, term and support. Share it when they have more than one quote.
Teach them to check references
References are one of the best tools a buyer has, and one of the least used well. Teach customers to ask: what went wrong, how was it handled, would you buy again? These questions reveal the truth.
Write five good questions customers should ask a reference. Share them when you give references, and tell the reference to answer honestly.
Teach them to test before they buy
The best way to learn whether something works is to try it. A smart customer tests before they buy: a sample, a trial or a pilot. Teach them to set a clear goal, choose a fair test and measure the result.
Write a one-page ‘how to test before you buy’ guide: goal, fair test, measure, decide. Offer it with your trial.
Teach them what good looks like
Many customers do not know what good looks like in your field. If you show them, you raise the bar and give them power. ‘This is what a good service looks like.’ They can demand it, from you and from others.
Write down five signs of a really good service in your field. Share it with customers, and invite them to hold you to it.
Teach them what bad looks like
It is also helpful to teach customers what bad looks like: warning signs of poor service or shady deals. ‘If a seller refuses to put it in writing, be careful.’ It protects customers across your whole field.
List five warning signs of a poor or dishonest seller in your field. Share them calmly with customers, without naming anyone.
Explain the whole field, not only your corner
Most sellers explain only their own product. A true teacher explains the whole field: the main approaches, their strengths and where each fits. ‘Here is how this field works, and where we fit.’
Draw a one-page map of your field: the main approaches, who each suits and where your firm fits. Share it with customers who are new to it.
Share mistakes other customers made
One of the fastest ways to learn is from the mistakes of others. Share what you have seen, with names removed and no blame. ‘Here is a mistake I see often, and here is how to avoid it.’
Write down three mistakes you have seen customers make, and what they cost. Share one this week, as a lesson, with no names.
Share what top customers do
You see what your best customers do: those who thrive and grow. Their habits are a treasure. ‘The customers who do best with us do these three things.’ It gives others a clear path.
Look at your top ten customers. Find three habits they share. Write them as short tips, and share them with others.
Hold a customer learning day
A customer learning day gathers customers for short talks, practical sessions and time to meet one another. It shows how much you value their growth, and builds a community.
Plan a half-day learning event for ten to twenty customers, with three short sessions and a break. Ask them what topics they most want.
Write a plain-language guide
A plain-language guide explains your field in everyday words: no jargon, just clear steps and examples. Written once, it can help hundreds of customers for years, and shows your respect for the reader.
Outline a guide on the topic customers most often ask about. Write the first page in plain words, and test it on someone outside your field.
Create a glossary
A glossary is a short list of terms with plain definitions. Customers who meet a strange word can look it up at once. It also reduces fear, since they can learn in private and join in with confidence.
List twenty terms from your field that customers meet. Write one plain line for each, and share the glossary on one page.
Make a ten-part starter series
A starter series is ten short lessons that take a newcomer from knowing nothing to understanding the basics. Each takes a few minutes. A customer who finishes it is far smarter and far more likely to choose well.
Outline ten lessons that a newcomer to your field needs, in order. Write the first one this week, in under three hundred words.
Run a Q and A forum
A forum is a place where customers ask and answer questions, with your team there to help. It becomes a shared library. Customers help each other, and it shows that your firm is open.
Start a simple online space, such as a group or a page, where customers can ask questions. Answer the first ten yourself, in full.
Teach their staff to use your product
The person who buys is often not the person who uses. If staff do not know how, the product will not deliver. A short, warm session with their real work turns reluctant users into confident ones.
Offer every new customer a short training for their staff. Use their real files or tasks, and give each person a one-page cheat sheet.
Teach with their own data
Teaching with other firms’ examples is good. Teaching with the customer’s own data is better. They see their own numbers, problems and chances. The lesson becomes personal and impossible to ignore.
With permission, take one customer’s real figures and show them what they tell. Explain it step by step, in plain words.
Teach through their first results
The first results a customer gets are a golden moment for teaching. They are curious and a little anxious. Do not just send a report. Walk through it, and turn a set of numbers into a lesson.
When a new customer gets their first results, book a short call to walk through them: what is good, what to watch and what is next.
Keep teaching after the sale
Many sellers teach before the sale and stop afterwards. But the best learning often happens after, when the customer meets real problems. If you keep teaching, you keep them successful, and successful customers stay.
Plan three teaching touches over the first six months after a sale: a tip in week two, a lesson in month two and a review in month six.
Learn from smart customers
As your customers grow smarter, they begin to teach you. They see things you miss and know their own world better than you ever will. A smart customer is not a threat. They are a source of insight.
Ask your smartest customer, ‘What do you see in our field that we may be missing?’ Listen, take notes and act on one idea.
Respect their knowledge
Customers know their own business, people and market. A trusted advisor respects this, and does not talk down. ‘You know your business better than I do.’ That respect is returned with loyalty.
In your next meeting, ask for the customer’s view before you give yours. Say, ‘You know your business better than I do. What do you think?’
Let smart customers become advocates
A customer who understands your field and your work becomes an advocate. They explain you to others, defend your price and bring new customers. You earn it by teaching well and treating them fairly.
Identify three of your smartest, most loyal customers. Thank each by name, and ask, ‘Would you be willing to share your experience with others?’
Easy things to say
When you are stuck, pick one of these. They work in many sales conversations.
“Here is how to judge quality when you shop for this.”
“These are five questions to ask any supplier.”
“Here is a simple way to compare options.”
“Would a short guide help?”
“Glad it helped.”
“I can walk you through it if you like.”
Your first week
One small action a day. Each day is only a little bigger than the last.
Write five questions every buyer should ask
Create a buyer’s guide
Share one tip weekly
Host a short Q and A
Ask customers what confuses them
Update your guide
Track conversations from it
Further reading
- How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie)
- The Go-Giver (Bob Burg and John David Mann)
- The Trusted Advisor (David Maister and others)
The tips above are written in our own words and are general guidance. The books are suggestions for further reading.
More lessons in “Build Trust That Lasts”
Keep going. Small steps every day make a big change.
← Previous: Think Long Term, Not This MonthNext: Open Posture, Open Mind →
- Smile Like You Mean It
- Use Their Name the Right Way
- Find Common Ground Fast
- Match Their Pace and Energy
- Small Talk That Opens Doors
- Be Interested, Not Just Interesting
- The First Five Minutes Checklist
- Do What You Say You Will Do
- Be Honest About What You Cannot Do
- Share Bad News Early
- Admit a Mistake and Fix It Fast
- Give Before You Ask
- Show Proof Instead of Making Claims
- Keep Promises Small and Real
- Be an Expert Who Teaches
- Give Free Value That Matters
- Recommend What Is Right, Even If It Is Smaller
- Tell Customers What You Would Do
- Be Independent and Honest
- Think Long Term, Not This Month
- Make Customers Smarter
- Open Posture, Open Mind
- The Right Amount of Eye Contact
- A Voice That Feels Safe
- Mirror Without Mimicking
- Dress for the Customer You Serve
- Make Video Calls Feel Personal
- Read Signs of Discomfort
- Remember the Small Details
- Send the Unexpected Thank-You
- Check In Without Selling
- Celebrate Their Wins
- Introduce People to Each Other
- Build a Simple Relationship System
- What to Do When You Make a Mistake
- A Sincere Apology That Works
- Turn an Angry Customer Into a Fan
- Rebuild Trust After a Missed Deadline
- When a Customer Doubts You
- Rise Above Gossip and Reviews
