Process, Stories
Selling Experiences
Just as quickly as the internet connects us, it works to disconnect us.
Communication is brief and underwhelming, emails are much more common than phone calls, and it is becoming easier every day to avoid connecting with each other at a deep level.
And yet, we crave deep connection. We crave meaning. We crave community.
What are you doing to leverage this desire in the marketing of your products and services?
What are you doing to engage your customers’ emotions? Have you shifted from simply selling products to providing memorable experiences?
Memorable experiences include the moments when a disgruntled shopper is able to reach customer support quickly and easily, that time your team quickly and graciously provided a solution, and the way you show your customers that you understand more than just their immediate needs…you understand who they are and why the important things are important.
But why wait for those moments? Let your existing, and your future customers know what you’re about before they ever know they need you.
In Brandon Carter’s article, The Connection Between Customer Loyalty and Emotional Engagement, he says, “What matters is having a brand that matches the values of your top customers… And that requires the cessation of marketing and a focus on relationship building.”
Brandon argues that, today, even selling toilet paper requires relationship-building.
Jeremy Ellens’ article, Effective Marketing Appeals to Emotions Instead of Reason, appeared in Entrepreneur.com, and provides three main marketing concepts to leverage your audience’s emotions for increased engagement. The ‘reader’s digest’ version is…
- Establish deeper value.
- Alleviate psychological pain.
- Eliminate regret.
…but you should check out the full article for all the details.
The evidence is clear – the payoff is huge when you engage your audience at a deeper level. Just check out The New Science of Customer Emotions in the HBR. It’s full of stats about businesses who went from big losses to doubling and tripling their sales, simply by creating and inspiring emotional connections.
How do you show your customer you care about building relationships before you’ve even met?
If you’re selling furniture and your target market is young, affluent families, your team might ask questions like this:
- Are they outfitting a house for the first time, and if so, is this their first home together as a family?
- Do they plan on having children or do they have children already?
- If they have children, how important is easy care, cleaning, and safety?
- Are they looking for the ‘now’ piece or the ‘forever’ piece?
- Do they want to project an image of hip, fashion forward, and in the moment, or that of a conservative, considerate shopper?
- What kind of people do they want their friends to believe they are?
- Is family approval important to them when making big purchases like a new bedroom suite? Will the buyer bring along a family member to help them make the right decision?
- Who is the primary decision maker in the family, and what’s the tie-breaker – price, aesthetic, or functionality?
If you want to connect more deeply with your customer base, and build long-lasting relationships, getting to know your customer requires more than stats and demographics studies. It requires compassion, empathy, and foresight.
And if you want help from the pros to get on track and establish yourself as a compassionate and high-performing brand, an agency like ours is the perfect one to help you ask the right questions, because we’re…
Parents, children, community-members, athletes, craftspeople, hobbyists, gamers, nature-lovers, caretakers, and so much more.
We know your customers, because we’re them, so get in touch!
