As a business owner, your function is to provide a product or service that a potential buyer wants. In an article for Entrepreneur, Michael Port writes “all sales start with a simple conversation” where trust can be built. According to Port, the path to that trust is being able to answer these questions:
Who is your target customer?
What are they looking for?
Where do they look for you?
When do they look for you?
Why should they choose you?
How do you want them to engage with you?
This is the how you make a connection to your potential buyer, but research has shown that there’s something deeper that will create a bond and loyalty that all businesses yearn for: an emotional connection. When you connect to a person’s emotions, that want becomes a need. Harvard Business Review did a study across dozens of categories and hundreds of brands for the article, The New Science of Customer Emotions. Here is a sampling of the more significant emotional motivators that affected customer value:
So how do you make that emotional connection? If you make it a priority to allot part of your budget towards marketing, you could hire a consultant to help you create a plan. If you have a vision for your message, you can hire a company to produce a professional video to show on social media, in your place of business or trade shows and street fairs.
If you feel you’re not ready to invest in the previous suggestions yet, there are many simple ways to start reaching your potential buyers. Start a business Facebook page or Instagram account to show what you have to offer, inform about deals and sales and regularly remind potential buyers that what you provide can trigger those emotional motivators in the list above.
All of these practices take a serious investment of time. You really need to reflect on Who, What, Where, When, Why and How before you can begin building your approach. There are many offerings online to help you from Marie Forleo to Chris Brogan, courses on Creative Live to Udemy.
The simplest way to connect is from your interactions with a real focus on listening and not relying on techniques from a playbook. A salesman for home improvements was trying to engage with me while I was shopping. When he noticed the concert shirt I was wearing, he tried to connect by saying his father liked the musician. I didn’t think I was that much older than him, but mentioning his father as opposed to him liking the musician gave me the impression he thought I was “old” which was a turnoff, connection FAIL!
Now watch this explanation of how engagement was done right to make a connection with this Executive Vice President and Managing Partner of West Paces Consulting, Leonardo Inghilleri:
Like I mentioned in my blog, A New Season, a Renewed Blog to Serve You, “It’s not about you, it’s about them.” It’s about you in the sales conversation to answer, “Why should they choose you?” but when you make it about them and how what you offer will benefit them as an individual, then they will not just want, but need. This leads to repeat business, referrals and more business for you.
