Greetings from the Ritz Carlton Resort in Naples, Florida, where I am currently attending the Glossy Future of Fashion & Luxury conference! I am learning so much here, some of which I’ll be sharing with you as we continue the Customer Journey.

Right now, though, I want to collectively address the responses I’ve gotten from people who have no clue where to start with last month’s questions.  Since I crossed my heart and pinky swore, I will not be revealing who said what. However, you’re all perfectly welcomed to be vain and think this article is about you.

Let’s start with my first question: why should a customer purchase from you?

If you were sitting across from me and asked me this, I would begin with my process.  And that process begins with you as a company.

You see, before you graced me with your physical presence, I have already scoured the internet for your digital presence. I will arrive to our meeting knowing already why you wanted to meet with me. By the time our meeting concluded, you’d be convinced you need me by your side. Not because of my vast experience and success with other companies, but because you feel like I get you and understand your company.

You would buy from me because I make you feel special. I make you feel understood.  I make you feel heard.

How are you making your customers feel special, understood and heard?

Answering this question well is how you capture the hearts, minds and loyalty of luxury consumers. It’s what makes customers purchase from you. But this is a broader discussion for a future article.

In this article, know that I’m trying to trick you.

Yes, this is a trick question, because I know your mind is immediately going towards how you think your customers feel about your brand.

Let me make an utterly shocking revelation: it really isn’t about your customers. It comes back to you.

I personally enjoy helping people. I’ve always been like this. In college, when students were having problems with a particular department or teacher, they came to me. I relished in my Marlon Brando/Godfather moment as I told them exactly how to fix the problem, while imparting upon them that on a day that may never come, I may call upon them to do a service for me.  If I ever did call in that service, it was usually to help someone else.

I’ve always enjoyed helping. If I could pay my rent, my Amex card and my bi-annual international travels with gratitude, I would probably work for free. So when I meet with you, and make you feel special, understood and heard, it’s because nothing brings ME more joy than being able to help. It’s why I write this column.

Your customers are connecting with your brand not because you have the best customer service, or the highest quality product or blah, blah, blah snooze. No!

When you as a designer sat down to create those drop-dead gorgeous drop earrings, your design inspiration came first and foremost from wanting to create something to make the person who wears them feel exceptional.

This desire, YOUR desire, is what makes a customer buy from you.

So go back to why you started your business. Don’t be lazy and tell me you wanted to help people.

Ahem. That’s my thing.

Actually, my thing is that I feel a deep sense of purpose when I help people, and more spectacularly, when I see the results of my work for them.

Whether you’re a jewelry brand or a jewelry store, something motivated you to start your company.  That motivation is what has kept you in business and it’s also what got you your first set of customers.

I find most clients have long buried this motivation under a pile of STUFF.  STUFF includes the challenges of building a business, the headaches, the long nights, the P&L statements and balance sheets, and employee manuals, and lions, and tigers and bears, oh my!

STUFF blinds us to our original reason, our original motivation and subsequently makes us forget we were really on to something when we started. If you hadn’t been, you wouldn’t now be here, reading this column.

So, I ask you again, why should someone buy from you?

Let’s do a couple of fill in the blanks.

I decided to start this company because:

While there are already so many jewelry designers or stores in existence, I felt they were missing:

This missing piece is what I took into creating the company. I proved my concept and was able to grow my business to this point because my original vision yielded these specific results within the first year:

Since then, I’ve had to tweak my original vision in these ways to meet market demands:

When I look back at where I started, what I created, and how customers have responded to my vision, I realize people buy from me because:

Insert prayer emoji here.

As in, I’m praying for you to have screamed YAHTZEE after completing that last statement.

For the YAHTZEE screamers, we’ll pick back up with another confounding question in the next column.