1. Speak to your customers in their own language
Without speaking to them in a way they understand, or can directly translate into a lexicon that’s of use to them, you’re missing the point. Actionable, easy-to-digest nuggets will always have a greater impact that begins a relationship worth nurturing.
2. Don’t sell – people don’t want to be sold to or bombarded with product information
To begin a relationship, you need to demonstrate that you’re competent and know what you’re talking about – that’s all. There are many routes to achieving this, but if all you’re interested in doing is selling, nobody will care.
3. Understand what they’re looking for – it’s all about relevance
If you’re not relevant, you’ll never make an emotional connection, instead, you’ll just be another one of the plethora of ‘also-rans’ out there. Speak to their drivers and their immediate needs.
4. Make sure your relationships evolve
Even if you have a great piece of high-funnel content that generates a pile of leads, you’ll be nothing more than a fleeting dalliance if you’re unable to take that initial spark and enable it to evolve.
5. Take advantage of your team’s insight
Every person in your organisation will have a different view of the customer, from account managers right through to the receptionist. Each member of your team will come into contact with the customer at one point or another and it’s critical they’re in a position to action whatever it is they’re after in the best way possible. This produces positive sentiment.
6. Remember the brands mapping out the customer journey best are the ones that have taken the time to find out about you
Spending time developing personas for each of your customer types, as well as their influencers (both up and across), is critical if you’re to develop a journey that appeals to your customers. Understanding their drivers and painpoints is central to that; only then can you start mapping out a user journey and the sort of content you’re going to serve to them (as well as how and through which channels).
7. The secret to building the ultimate customer persona is research
Speak to everyone involved in the customer journey, from support through to sales, as every touchpoint will have something worthy to add. It’s also critical that you don’t just rely on insights from within your organisation. You need to get external, third-party research done that’s able to cut through the niceties and get to what they really think about you – you’ll never be able to truly get that from your account managers.
8. Don’t focus too much on what other companies are doing
It’s easy to look elsewhere, say: ‘We want that’ and try to replicate it in your business. For long-term success, however, it’s more important to look at your customers and what’s possible with your budget. In doing so, you’ll be able to act on insights in the right way now, while giving yourself the best chance to be proactive in the future.