It’s true… at least for 99% of wannabe entrepreneurs and their businesses. Customers don’t really give a s*** about you, your product or your business.

The good news? It doesn’t have to be that way and the alternative means better retention, more sales, raving fans and big profits.

Creating caring customers doesn’t have to be hard. Today I’m sharing the psychological secret that can systematically turn crowds of strangers into hordes of loving clients. Here’s how to make it happen…

Imagine building a business where your customers genuinely care about you. They care so much they open every email you send, look forward to any phone calls and act on any recommendation you make. In other words, they’re infatuated and they consider their relationship with your business a top priority.

Sound like the kind of client you want? Then you’ll need to make it happen with:

The psychological recipe

1. Sell a product that transforms people (and the way they think)
2. Require a significant commitment (i.e. make it “expensive”)
3. Turn away prospects who don’t want “transformation”

Here’s an example:

Last week I was invited to give a talk to an insurance & investment company. These are big corporate players – but the same principals apply, even for solopreneurs.

In the past, this firm has successfully sold savings products (per-week contributions) to people by picking a price point so low that no one could be bothered to say no.

Make something cheap enough and salesperson will have no trouble selling it. The prospect simply thinks:

“Thats peanuts! Whatever… I’ll do it.”

The bad news: These customers had terrible retention or “lifetime value” – they were dropping off and canceling their savings plans (as easy as just not paying) like crazy!

Why?… Because they just didn’t care. They didn’t care about the company OR what the investment they’ve signed up for.

The solution?

My job was to help the sales people at this company realise that they weren’t in the business of selling investments… They’re in the business of selling transformation.

They’re selling a transformation of the way you (the customer) think about your personal finances, savings and investment. They’re transforming consumer debt, stress and worry into security, foresight and optimism.

Second, I encouraged them to raise the price of their sales. Encouraging prospects to contribute significant dollars towards a savings plan would help the product be perceived as significant. The client would consider it as a serious investment and stick with the commitment to save.

Finally, the company had to turn away the prospects who would only contribute pocket change to their savings… They’d have to choose only to do business with people committed to transforming their finances.

What does this mean for you?

Psychology tells us that the more people care about a product, the more they’re willing to pay for it.

The most expensive consumer products are produced by companies people feel enormously passionate about.

As entrepreneurs, this is the position we need to be in. When we sell things for lots of money… we win! Better customer retention helps too.

The secret to creating customers “who care” is to sell them a transformation. To do this, we must turn away the lame prospects who don’t want to transform… they’ll end up being more trouble than they’re worth anyway.

• Blogger Johnny B. Truant does it by transforming the way people think about doing business on the internet.
• Ferrari do it, by transforming the way people think about driving from A to B (and how cool they look while in-transit).
• Micro-lending Kiva does it by transforming the way entrepreneurs think about fighting poverty.
• The best health clubs, airlines, cell phones, chiropractors and restaurants all do it.

You can do it too.

Sell transformation, have your customers make a significant investment and turn away everyone who isn’t committed.

I try to sell transformation to all of my clients, my consulting work costs more than piano lessons (but it sure is worth it). I also refuse to work with people who aren’t willing to radically shift the way they approach business.

What transformation could you offer? Let me know my leaving a comment below…