Good morning!
I hope you had a great weekend and all is going well.
As you know, I have been going through the A to Z of Success and looking at one letter each week!
Last week’s Thought for the Week was “J is for Judgement” and I hope you got some more nuggets from it!
I have been giving a lot of thought again to this week’s because it’s another interesting one for us business owners and leaders!
This week is all about “K for KNOWLEDGE” – what does ‘knowledge mean to you?
How often do hear; “Knowledge is Power”?
For me, knowledge is much richer than just soaking up information and knowing about things …
Prior to Covid, I was exploring how to take my business online, as well as face-to-face, and I really started getting into the science of it – because that is what I have found it to be – a science!
Then Covid hit us and I thought; “OK, I am going to up the ante now and get this done”
And I realised that having an online business is a totally different world to a physical one – as I am sure many of you have found too!
When we network locally or in our industry, people have got to know us to varying degrees and they have a sense of what we stand for.
They already know whether they know, like and trust you.
However, online, people don’t know anything about us and because there is just so much noise online and people just don’t have much time to research you … unless you tickle their curiosity and they are inspired to find out more about you!
So, I realised that this is a whole new world – and it takes time to build that up!
And we have to personalise what we do far more in our communication and marketing messaging.
All of the ‘gurus’ out there who have already succeeded tell us that we should do this and do that – some things they say are consistent and others are not.
So, we are left to work it out for ourselves aren’t we!
I invested in a course that I believed would help me and I learned a lot.
What was missing for me though was that piece around how I actually apply what I learned to my own business and, more importantly for me; how did this align with my personal values, life goals and what I stand for?
How many of you can relate to that?
So, I took some time out and reflected on all of this new-found knowledge and how that fits in with what I stand for.
And that is the key here – what we STAND for in our business and our role.
You will know from my strap line “Business With Heart” that I stand for doing business in a way that connects with like-minded people, supports communities and the entre chain up and down an organisation.
This is KEY to the wellbeing of everyone throughout that chain and ultimately the business itself.
So, my point is this …
- Having knowledge is a positive thing – it is very much in our HEAD though.
- How about that inner knowing that comes from our HEART?
- And how do we connect the two and communicate that in what we do?
- Why would we do that?
Well, here is an example …
- How much do you KNOW about what your customers actually want and /or need?
- How do your KNOW that and what do you base this knowledge on?
- Some of you will have asked them either directly or through Market Research.
- Some of you may base this knowledge on buying behaviours and or trends.
- Some of you may not have thought about this very much and take a more scattergun approach hoping that something will stick and people will contact you – and of course some will.
How well are any of these strategies working for you?
If you get 5% success, what would make that 20%, 50% or even higher?
Things are changing so much in our World as we all know only too well.
Now, people buy through EXPERIENCE and how they FEEL about things.
So, what happens if we try to communicate with them though head-thinking, logic and showing them how much we believe we know about them?
There is a disconnect there because we have to connect with their hearts!
So, yes, having knowledge is great …
And then; how do you communicate heart to heart with potential and existing clients?
I found an interesting article on Forbes that talks about Knowing What Your Customers Want and they are talking about marketing and brands …
“The brands that win the hearts, minds and wallets of their customers don’t do it with traditional marketing messages that make people think only about the brand. Instead, the brands that win make customers think about themselves”.
This powerful concept comes from Brent Adamson, vice president and “chief storyteller” at Gartner. Adamson.
His point is that if you want to build a relationship with your customers, one that goes beyond just simple one-at-a-time transactions, your marketing messages need to target the customer instead of the brand. How do you do that?”
Brent Adamson suggests marketing messages that are focused on the customer and so many are all about the company, their knowledge, experience etc.
Of course, you want to sell what you do and succeed at it!
So, here are a few ways to start communicating heart to heart …
Personalise your messages like you are talking to that individual, e.g., you can mention their favourite purchases and preferences etc.
The sales part of emails, letters, social media posts etc. can be secondary to a message that is truly customer-focussed, i.e., what are their biggest challenges? What are they struggling with etc?
It needs to be helpful to your customer, or potential customers, like they feel like you really get them and are speaking to them personally.
These are your ideal customers because they will resonate with what you stand for.
Make all of your communications valuable and helpful.
Ensure this all continues on your after-sales experience by thinking of ways you can continue to offer support as needed.
For instance, sending them a “Happy Birthday” message, perhaps with a birthday coupon isn’t enough. Because your database automates this and people are so switched on now and they realise this.
Whereas, personalised, helpful messages that validate their choice to do business with you because you genuinely care more than just getting them to spend money with you.
Connecting with people in this way – this “care” – connects heart-to-heart and people like doing business with a company that cares about them.
Gartner, the Research Company, have valued this is terms of spend …
“64% of customers will spend more versus only 14% if there is a low brand connection. It pays to be helpful. It pays to care”.
This is REAL KNOWLEDGE!
I would love to hear what you think about this! Just drop me a line if you wish.
If you would like my help with this then I invite you to book your FREE CLARITY SESSION with me HERE.
Have a great week!
With very best wishes for your success.
Korinne