The best way to sell to customers is to speak their language
I don’t know or have a desire to know what a DOHC is on a car - I want to know if the car is reliable.
I don’t care what an inner coil spring made with titanium is – I want to know I am getting a comfortable night’s sleep.
I don’t care what psychographics are – I want to know & understand how my customers think.
I see many businesses promoting their products and services using trade specific language to talk to their customers, and I see customers with puzzled stares and glazed over eyes trying to work out how to or even if they should spend their money.
To connect and engage with your customers you must speak directly to them in their language.
A customers language and understanding is made up from how they view the world, their values and their beliefs which are formed from a variety of sources that are meaningful to them. Primarily their family, friends, education, up-bringing, work enviroment, past experiences etc.
To really connect with your customers you must have some understanding of what these values and beliefs are; what is most important to them?
Here’s an example of how it works in my business:
I have been sending out an electronic newsletter to my customers and the people I meet for just on ten years now, there are a growing percentage of people who receive the newsletter that always print it out to read it. So I produce a percentage of printed newsletters to send to these people, now I don’t always know who the people that print it out are and I have been adding the ones to my print list as I discover who they are.
Which is a bit of a hit and miss approach, there are clearly people on that list that prefer and (importantly value reading printed materials rather than electronic ones) to receive a printed copy so to respond to the needs and understand the values of my customers and contacts I’m about to survey the entire list.
This will assist me to see who would prefer to receive it via hard copy so that I can engage with my customers and contacts the way they want to be engaged with not in the way that is easiest for me!
Do you really understand who your customer is or do you have a generalised approach?
Take 10 minutes out of your day now to write down the three things your customers value the most and initiate change into your business to meet the needs of your customers.
Have a great day!
Sue Henry
