by It happened a couple of years ago – slowly at first, and then suddenly:
I fell in love… with a flippin’ spreadsheet.
Weird, I know.
Even weirder, because I’ve always been a words guy at heart…
Books, stories, conversations, movies, songs, messages.
Those are things that move and inspire me.
Numbers, data, stats, formulas… spreadsheets?
That stuff almost always leaves me cold.
I get that everyone’s wired differently, and I have zero beef with the more mathematically or scientifically-inclined.
In fact, some of my best friends are nerds (I’m kidding, they’re ALL nerds and I love ‘em).
But it’s been 2 years since I fell in love with a spreadsheet so passionately I now consider myself King Of The Nerds!
Because that spreadsheet contained something much more important than just numbers or data or formulas…
(Formulas? Formulae? I’m never sure…)
It contained answers.
And insights.
Most importantly, it enhanced my understanding of a valued client’s customers – and their own understanding of them too.
See, that spreadsheet was the result of a research survey we created to try to find out the hidden reasons why some people became customers and others didn’t.
We followed the process as used by Ryan Levesque in his excellent Ask Method® Masterclass, and it worked like a charm.
(I outlined a simple way you can use this survey for your biz last week.)
We got loads of responses back that clarified WHO the ideal customers were, exactly WHAT they needed to hear about my client’s product in order to buy, and HOW they felt about their situation – all in their own words.
But it was more than that…
This sweetest and sultriest of spreadsheets also contained actual hidden nuggets of pre-written sales messaging, ready to pluck ripe from its cells and drop into my client’s marketing.
All I had to do was figure out which bits to use and where to use ‘em.
And that’s actually a lotta FUN for me (see! I told you I was King Of The Nerds).
Soon, other biz-owners wanted to witness this same spark of passion ignite for them, and before long… I found myself cosying up to other spreadsheets who looked a lot like my first.
Like an Excel-addicted floozie, I began ‘spreading my sheets’ all over town.
And as each lovely document exposed its long, long columns and ample rows to me (er, steady on! – Ed.), I realised how addicted I was to the heady rush of information that followed.
Insight followed valuable insight…
One spreadsheet helped my mental-focus-boosting app client and I to understand why some customers stayed loyal and others churned out at various stages.
Through our survey we were able to uncover the most common objections & issues to their product, so they could address these specifically in their onboarding messages and reduce new customer churn.
Another spreadsheet allowed a payroll accounting software biz to create a specific sales message for driving referrals after we asked accountants about what their own clients needed from the product – opening up a previously untapped resource for new customers outside of their usual audience.
It wasn’t just bigger businesses with an endless roster of customers to survey who benefited either…
Even startups and solopreneurs could profit from my saucy spreadsheets’ hidden charms:
A new B2B startup got detail-rich insights from just 50 of their most engaged customers about the impact on their businesses of using their salon booking & management service.
We learned not just that it had changed biz-owners’ lives in its first year, but exactly HOW and WHY…
Which led directly to new sales copy focusing on these specific benefits, painting a more accurate picture of what we now KNEW their target market really wanted.
That meant the startup could stop ‘guesstimating’ in their messaging, and instead quote their best customers directly – using empathetic, natural language that doesn’t sound like marketing (and connects more deeply with like-minded prospects).
All in all, it’s been a pretty whirlwind affair…
But I’m pleased to say it’s blossomed into a steady relationship between me and my (many) lovely spreadsheets.
Even better:
I’d like to invite you to fall in love with a spreadsheet too…
You can uncover a bunch of data-driven insights into YOUR ideal customers and use them to create more targeted, empathy-filled messaging that builds trust and converts more sales.
I can show you exactly how it works – for free, in just 20 minutes – right here.
