Ask what you can do for your customers.
When John F Kennedy posed that original question to the country in his 1960 Inaugural Address it turned everyone’s focus right around.
(“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”)
The old focus: Why don’t they help me? My family and I need so many things…
New focus: What can I DO for my country?
When in need, it’s easy to look elsewhere, from the government to your prospects, to save you.
But customers are like countries: if no one creates anything that benefits the country, and everyone just has their hand out, the cookie jar will soon be empty.
Whenever you imagine contacting a customer, ask yourself the JFK question:
What can I do for my customer?
Do you know what one man did for his customers, so that they’d wait in line to buy their car from him rather than buy from another salesman standing right there?
P.S. In today’s marketplace customers are often referred to as communities. If that’s you, replace customers with community throughout.