One of my writing buddies
is thinking about
switching niches.
She asked her newsletter subscribers
if they would follow her
to the new niche.
Almost all of them
said they would.
In reality,
I doubt more than a dozen readers
(customers)
will buy her book
in the new niche.
Why did they lie?
Because they THINK
of themselves
as people who read
all sorts of books.
That’s part of their self identity.
It isn’t a truthful part
but many of us
are less than honest with ourselves
about who we are.
Years ago,
while I was working
for a quick service restaurant
in new product development,
we surveyed patrons
as they left a restaurant.
We could SEE
they ate fries.
We KNEW they ate them.
Yet almost all of the patrons
claimed they didn’t eat fries.
Why?
Because fries are ‘bad’
and they saw themselves
as healthy eaters.
When looking at
customer surveys,
keep in mind
how many of your customers
see themselves.
That will influence results.