Is the glass half full or half empty? Is the best singer on the Voice the winner? Is $3.01 a fair price for a bottle of water at the airport? Your answers reflect how you see it. Are you right? Hard to say. If I am the singer who won or the water vendor at the airport the answer seems clear. It works for them. But what if it doesn’t work for you or me?
If we didn’t like the winner of the Voice chances are we won’t buy their music. If we think $3.01 is outrageous for a bottle of water at the airport, we will bring an empty bottle and fill it up at the water fountain once through security (yes, you can do that). We vote with our money. Usually, the wrong answer sorts itself out in the marketplace. If too many people don’t buy the water chances are, eventually, they will have to offer more value or lower the price.
We all get caught up in what we know. How hard we work, how important something is to us, the nuances we think are valuable. We see things from our own perspective. However the market doesn’t really care how we see it. What matters is how “they” see it (your customers). Do they care how hard you worked. how important it is to you, or the subtle nuances you think makes your product better? Maybe, maybe not. If you are looking to be successful in the marketplace, at the end of the day you have to care more about what “they” think then what you think, even if you know alot more about it then they do. Put yourself in their shoes and walk around a bit. Now how do you see it?