The days of nameless, faceless customers are over.
With the advent of social media and technology, it’s clear that we need to focus on our customers more, not less. The technology is a tool to enable that focus, but so many businesses forget how important people are.
They forget that people are their customers and that people have feelings, emotions, desires, wants and needs and it’s not all about the bottom line. But, how you treat people will definitely affect your bottom line.
- Train Your People Correctly
Whether it’s contractors or employees, it’s important that you give the right training to everyone who will be promoting your products and services. In the training, include information about how to place all the focus on the people rather than the money.
- Educate Your Audience
Take the time with your content marketing to educate your audience on what you offer. Remember, when you are educating the audience you need to focus on them, including what they want to know and why they need to know it.
- Keep Studying Your Audience
While the demographics of your audience will often stay the same for years, their values do change over time. Therefore, it’s imperative that you keep studying your audience so that you can be aware of what’s changing for them.
- Motivate Your Team
When you focus on people, that includes your team. Whether they’re employees, contractors, affiliates or colleagues, motivating them to put people first is as easy as showing them how it feels to be first.
- Concentrate on Repeat Sales
When you already have a customer it’s a lot easier getting them to buy something else; or if you have consumable products, to buy again and again. All you have to do is focus on them and their needs, and be there for them. Tell them about what you have to offer them.
- Understand Your Product from the Customer’s Perspective
If you’re not in your audience, it can be difficult to “get it.” But, you can do it by surveying your customers to find out how they feel about your product. It’s important to ask them and listen to them. Don’t forget to really listen to your vocal customers, even if they complain.
- Use Video
One way to really connect to people is to let them see you via video. If you don’t want them to see “you” you can hire spokespeople to do the videos for you. But, if it’s just you running your business it has to be you. You can do short videos that let them feel like they know you more because they saw your face and “looked into your eyes.”
- Use Stories to Resonate and Empathize with Your Audience
Collect success stories from your customers. Use stories of others who used a similar solution if you don’t have any of your own. Tell your story if you’re a customer of your own products.
- Concentrate on User Experience
This is another issue you need to survey customers on. But, you can also try to put yourself in their shoes as you go through the entire process. Sign up for your own lists and go through your own checkout process. Ask people how they feel going through the checkout process, and what they think when they visit your site. You can also use advanced analytics to find out what people do once they get to your site.
- Remove Risk
Like most things in life, we don’t want to do anything that is risky. If you can remove risk from your audience by offering a 30, 60, or 90-day return policy, you’re going to help them make the purchase. You can be more generous with returns if your product is digital.
Focusing on people to boost sales simply requires you to know your audience, keep studying your audience, and try to put yourself in their shoes. If you’re not sure what they think, ask them.