“Man is so constituted that he then only excels other things when he knows himself.” – Boethius, Philosopher
“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.” – Lao Tzu
The emphasis on knowing your customer gets a lot of attention in marketing. Treated as the holy grail, that understanding enables you to craft better messages, target your audience more effectively, and develop your offerings so that you solve your customers’ problems.
However, to really excel at marketing means creating a great experience for your customers. And the best way to do that is to love what you’re doing and to do it well.
That requires a deep understanding of yourself: your strengths, your inspirations, your talents, your passion. Once you’re clear what gives you joy and you also do it well, then you can check to make sure that you’re offering something at the heart of that. If not, consider shifting your offerings over time so you’re in your sweet spot.
Knowing yourself has two aspects to it:
- Understanding your intentions, values, goals, and your personal experience of yourself.
- Getting the perspective of someone else, a variety of other people. Once you ask other people about you, you’ll start to see threads and themes you didn’t realize were coming through in every situation regardless of whether the person is close to you or not. I suggest asking about strengths, weaknesses, what they can count of your for, and what they think your contribution to the world is.
The impact of knowing yourself on creating a great customer experience applies to solopreneurs, small businesses, all the way up to enterprises. Customers can feel if there’s a disconnect between the offering and the business culture and values. While they may not articulate it, there’s tension when an offering doesn’t have any joy behind it.
And, of course, when your offering matches your inspiration, your talents, and solves your customer’s problem delightfully, then working in your business will be energizing and satisfying – who doesn’t want that?
