While we inherently know this, we need to better understand our customers if we want to inspire and persuade them.
This requires us to speak their language.
Too often, my clients come to me to revamp their brand story and messaging and my initial diagnosis is usually the same: They are talking in a way that doesn’t resonate or connect with their customers.
The messaging is full of jargon. They use terms only analysts like, but that a real customer never expresses. It’s complicated. It’s robotic. It’s not something anyone can emotionally connect to. Because of fear, they use the words everyone else in their industry is using and they wonder why no one stands out.
SEO is important – but it’s not everything.
To speak your customers’ language, you must take the time to LISTEN TO THEM with empathy.
Ask them about the challenges they face, how your solution solves their problems, what they love most about working with your company or product. Develop empathy for your customers, instead of viewing them like “they don’t know any better” (Yes, I have seen this disdain for customers from marketing leadership before!)
And then – this is the hard part: Don’t ignore it.
I conduct qualitative customer interviews for my corporate clients. And some clients love getting all this rich insight – only to ignore peppering their story with the very words their customers use. They say “The analysts don’t like that term” or “It sounds too folksy.”
You will never connect with a customer, prospect, audience, or human if you don’t speak a language they can understand. If you don’t tell a story they can relate to./strong>(TWEET THIS!)
It’s time to set aside ego. It’s time to take a chance. It’s time to listen to your customers and tweak your story.
Are you ready to revamp your story for more connection, engagement, and loyalty? Let’s talk about my brand strategy packages and how we can help your brand shine!
Have you ever gotten an email from customer service or an answer from a sales rep that left you feeling hopelessly misunderstood?
This seems to happen to me more as I get older, and while I completely admit that the common denominator is me, nine times out of ten, it is a result of a brand representative not truly listening to me or “getting” the real issue.
When an eCommerce site screwed up the card on an order I had sent a client, they simply threw a gift card at me, without truly understanding the impact to my business reputation. As a result, their attempt to make amends was seen as performative and like I was a nuisance.
But…when a cable company representative told me how she completely understood my surprise at an increase in my bill and admitted, “I would feel the exact same way if that had happened to me!” in an unscripted and authentic manner, that changed the tenor of our phone call to one of constructive problem solving.
A world of painful and unnecessarily contentious communication awaits you if you don’t intimately understand your customers. If you don’t appreciate what they are thinking and most importantly, feeling. If you can’t see miles down the road to anticipate what would most delight them or make their lives/work easier.
Without empathetic customer insights, you can never offer a standout experience that gets customers talking and keeps them for life. (Tweet This!)
Here are three customer communication pitfalls that can be avoided with more effective – and empathetic – customer insights:
Make it right! When a customer has a bad experience, it’s not about blame in that moment. It’s about taking responsibility and working to solve the problem. If indeed your company’s products or services are responsible, you may not be able to undo the damage you caused by blowing their big client presentation, not delivering that dream outfit for their big date in time, or putting them on the wrong technology platform. But you can acknowledge the issues, sit side by side with them in empathy, and attempt to make it right, make amends, or improve for next time – whatever is most suitable.. The hard part: The action you take needs to be tailored to the situation they have faced. You can’t go back in time, but what can you provide for them going forward? Top tip: Free gift cards or future discounts can work sometimes, but not all the time!
Don’t confuse responsibility with accountability and humanity: You may legally not want to “admit” anything was your fault- and perhaps it wasn’t. But you can take on accountability for them as your customers. As someone who’s success you care about. As a human being. You can say you’re sorry for them experiencing this, you can empathize with how much it sucks. You can problem solve together on a path forward. But the minute you find yourself wanting to utter, “You didn’t fill out______” as an excuse, check yourself because that is not what’s required at that pivotal moment. When you understand your customer’s world, you can better find connection with what they are feeling and take effective action.
Address the emotion behind the scenes: It doesn’t matter if you sell clothing or consulting or software. Customers buy because of both logic and emotion. They want to belong, they want the choices they make to say something about them. Yes, even if the sale is B2B! So when communicating with customers, remember the emotions that may be guiding their decisions. This is why ideal client personas are so important. If you know your audience tends to be risk averse, you need to instill confidence, gain trust, and showcase how your offering helps them gradually make change. If you know your customers are edgy and love taking risks, talk to them about how they can transform their organization/life or which other disruptive leaders have blazed a trail with you and found success.
Know your customer. As a human with complex motivations and emotions. And serve them by speaking to their logic and emotions when things go wrong and you need to make them right. Empathy will truly make your business stand out from the crowd.
Tune in to The Empathy Edge podcast to learn from other great leaders and marketers on how empathy helps them create better customer experiences.
These false environments place target customers in a room where they are asked a series of questions about what they think of products, services, or ad campaigns.
We pay them to be there, get them in a room where they feel under pressure to offer an opinion or make one up, and to consider products or services in an artificial context that doesn’t at all mimic how they truly make decisions. We’ve all heard the stories of focus groupthink, where people collectively feed off of each other even, or they don’t tell the truth about how they feel because they know they are being judged, or the loudest person in the room steers the conversation in one direction.
It’s not that focus groups in and of themselves are horrible. In the past, I oversaw focus groups with HR Managers and did get useful nuggets form focus groups where we asked them about their everyday jobs, challenges, and wins, rather than about a specific product, feature or ad campaign. The intent was to understand their industry, not test a product or message idea. So it worked well.
Data is great and can validate assumptions or strategies. But you have to understand how the data is collected and where it can be biased – and what stories you may be missing behind the data. You also have to know when it’s time to stop collecting data and start gathering insights.
Yes, data and insights are two different things.
If you want to know how your customers think or what challenges they face, you don’t have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fake environments that won’t give you real answers.
Go beyond data collection. Have real, messy, organic conversation so you can get to know your customers as people. (TWEET THIS!)
One on one. In a non-biased environment. In a way that fosters active listening.
Meeting up with customers in their own environment, in the place where they use your products or make buying decisions.
Qualitative interviews can be time-consuming, But honestly, they yield better insights. Yes, you might not have a pretty chart full of data points that cannot be disputed. You won’t be able to impress the board with reams of graphs and pie charts.
But you can uncover motives, aspirations, goals, challenges. You can discover the right words to use, the emotions behind their decisions. You may stumble on an unexpected motivating angle or use case that you never even thought to ask about in a multiple choice survey.
Take the time to get to know your customers as people. This is the best way to appeal to both their intellect and emotion when building solutions that resonate with them.
More great insights on going beyond the data, on The Empathy Edge podcast:
Setting boundaries is key to getting more done. When you know who you are, and what needs doing, you can focus. And that means saying no to the wrong opportunities, clients, relationships that don’t serve your purpose.
Setting boundaries enables you to go after the life you want.
But….we also can’t let boundaries box us in!
Setting a boundary that cars can’t cross the double yellow lines in traffic saves lives.
But, setting a boundary that you can’t go talk to that VP you really admire because that’s just not the way we do things around here helps no one.
To make change, invent, or ignite, we have to question certain boundaries. We have to cross them and see what’s on the other side. It could be better. If boundaries exist around people, or your work, or heck, your dreams – you owe it to yourself to step through.
How do we reconcile setting boundaries with smashing them?
We must ask: Is it a healthy boundary? If I set my schedule to get offline at 4 pm so I can pick up my son from school and spend time with him, that serves me. That is something that energizes me, gives me quality family time, and enables me to come back stronger and recharhed for my clients the next day.
But if I put up a boundary around becoming friends with my clients, who does that serve? I want to work with people I enjoy, and people I enjoy often become friends. You can dance the line between work and personal if you’re just open and honest. This also is true for corporate types. Some say, “Keep your personal life out of your work.” Which is true, to some extent, but it doesn’t mean we have to keep your humanity out of your work! You don’t park it at the door.
Get to know your work colleagues. Understand their lives. Check in. Then, when it comes time to collaborate, innovate, or invent, there is trust there. There is mutual understanding of each other’s lives outside of work. You can understand where someone is coming from, and build from there. It doesn’t serve you to set this boundary because it stops you from collaborating and effectively with and trusting each other.
When I was in corporate, I did my best work with a team of people I was close to. People I would work with all day and then go out for drinks with at night. We trusted each other. We could brainstorm crazy ideas without fear and create amazing marketing campaigns. We could adapt quickly when things went wrong during a global roadshow and trust each other to get someone to the airport on a moment’s notice. We had each other’s backs. We got each other through and delivered amazing work.
When you are pulled into creating a boundary, be sure it’s one that serves you. (Tweet This!)
As a business owner, or even just a busy executive or changemaker, the best skill you can master is prioritization. Since you can’t clone yourself and you do need to sleep (and perhaps see your spouse every once in a while), the art of saying no is a powerful tool in your arsenal.
Work and life are all about choices. You can say yes to more of the right things–the right projects, clients, people–ONLY IF you say no to others.
As an organization, your brand strategy can be a great compass to keep you on the right path and not get distracted by inefficient investments, bad advertising opportunities, new social media platforms, or other shiny objects.
Further, your organization’s (or personal) mission, vision and values can keep you focused and moving forward.
Learning to say no is just as important as saying yes. But be sure you’re saying NO in a positive way.(TWEET THIS!)
I’ve seen many entrepreneurs in recent years swing so far the other way down the “learn to say no” track, that they make it impossible (and frankly, unpleasant) to do business with them.
You can say no with respect. Offer them a path forward if possible.“Wow, that sounds like an amazing project and opportunity. Unfortunately, I’m unable to help with it right now. Here are some other folks who might be able to work and I’m happy to make an introduction.”
You can say no with empathy: Some rules can be broken because…life. It’s not “making exceptions” – it’s being understanding. “My usual policy is that meetings cancelled with less than 24 hours notice require payment in full. But that is terrible about your daughter being ill. I hope she’s doing okay. You’ve definitely got a lot on your plate. Why don’t we go ahead and reschedule this for free this time- but I won’t be able to squeeze this in for another month. Does that work for you?”
You can say no with kindness and collaboration, rather than assuming ill intent or that someone is trying to take advantage of you. Not everyone is your mortal enemy so take it down a notch. Instead of:
(Huffing) “Well, it’s my policy and you did sign the contract so you knew this was an issue!”
Don’t confuse being unreasonable and aggressive with being professional.
How about: “What can we do together to remedy the situation while still staying true to the contract terms in Section 1B?” (and then go make sure that section of the contract is bolded and requires initials in the future!)
And if you decide to say no with this phrase “Nothing personal.” there are kind tones and aggressive tones. Remember, only 7% of your communication comes from the words you say. Non-verbal communication is everything, and that includes your tone of voice. As my mother used to scold, “It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it.” Usually before sending me to my room.
It’s super important to have boundaries, clarity, and conviction. You definitely don’t want to say yes if something is not the right fit, you don’t have time to do your best work, or you run yourself ragged. That’s not fair to the other person who needs you to be all-in. But…show some grace when you say no and you’ll not only still be able to prioritize or stick to your values, but you will also create a positive personal brand for yourself.
Try not to take “setting boundaries” so dangerously far that you build a wall around yourself that no one can–or wants to– scale.(TWEET THIS!)
“Niche is rich” so some people say. But why do they say this? I mean, it seems counterintuitive to limit your market size, doesn’t it? You want to sell to as many people who will buy your product or service, don’t you?
A few clarifications to help you make better marketing and sales decisions:
Your niche is about outbound, not who can buy from you
Defining your niche helps you focus your marketing and outbound efforts. Where will you spend your valuable time, resources, and energy? Unless you’ve got billions of dollars to spend and can target multiple segments effectively it’s wiser to pick your lane and own it. Don’t spread yourself so thin that you waste effort trying to be everywhere and don’t have enough presence to be effective anywhere.
That said,you can certainly sell to anyone who wants to buy from you! Anyone for whom your message resonates. You’re not going to tell them, “Sorry, you don’t fit my ideal client profile!” You’ll gladly take their check and serve them well if you decide you want to when they show up at your door.
Your niche leads to smarter, more effective branding decisions
When you are clearly not trying to be all things to all people, you resonate more fully with specific people. Those people will pay attention. Defining your niche ensures the verbal, visual, and experiential aspects of your brand are speaking to just the right people. When you create content, you will be talking to a specific type of person, with specific needs and aspirations.
Always remember: When you try to be all things to all people, you end up being nothing to no one!(TWEET THIS!)
Find the right niche
Of course, you can’t pick a niche of only ten possible buyers in the known universe. That’s not sustainable. Pick a niche with a healthy amount of people in it. My niche for my fast-growth corporate clients are those that value marketing and brand and have a team ready to support and implement change. I’m not interested in helping every company out there, or trying to convince people why brand matters to their bottom line.
Targeting women entrepreneurs is specific but healthy enough to make a living. Targeting adrenaline junkies or home businesses are also specific but broad. Your software may be able to do “all the things” for every possible industry out there but don’t confuse people or make them figure out where you play. Define where you play and clearly explain why you are the best option in that space. There should be plenty of opportunity for you there if you choose wisely!
Your market is not necessarily all the people who’ve need what you have to offer. Honda and Porsche both sell cars but they definitely do not sell to the same people buying a car for the same reasons!
Use your niche to differentiate. If you become the go-to expert for small local brick and mortar businesses, or mompreneurs, or SaaS software companies, that’s the first step to stand out from your competition.
Need guidance to a niche that is profitable and sustainable? Not sure how to craft your ideal customer profiles so that your marketing instantly engages the right people? Let’s talk!
Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™
With the global spread of Coronavirus and most business (and personal lives) at a standstill, what’s an entrepreneur to do to keep her business going to weather to storm?
This blog post was originally going to be about when to collaborate from an “outsourcing” point of view. Collaborating to ensure you don’t try to do all the things yourself, but value your time and talent in a more strategic way. When does it make sense to pay a designer, virtual assistant, or CRM consultant versus spending all that valuable time trying to do it all yourself?
Of course, we need to value our time from a revenue perspective. What is your hourly labor cost for your time (not your mark up) and would the time be better spent on revenue-generating activities versus formatting PowerPoint slides?
But the world has changed.
As of this post, we don’t know when quarantines will end. We don’t know which businesses will survive the economic paralysis we’re experiencing right now. And we don’t know if our business will live or die.
But collaboration is still the key to success. Even in current times.
If business has dried up for you, if you’re worried about projects evaporating or revenue looking bleak, it’s time to reach out and collaborate. While collaboration is good for you right now, it’s also a wonderful way to support other business owners in similar circumstances.
Let me say this first: Right now, you must pivot. No getting around it. So if you’re used to certain revenue streams or always going it alone, you need to rethink things. My corporate projects rely on companies spending money and doing a live brand workshop. Ain’t happening right now! That’s not what my ideal clients are worried about right now Now is the time to address where you customers are mentally and financially, get creative, and pivot how you can help them. That includes your messaging, but also HOW you deliver your offerings – and which offerings you have.
Here are 3 ways to collaborate so your business thrives:
Create a new offer with a partner: If your current offerings are at a standstill, now is the time to create a new course or offering that immediately addresses what your customers need and want. Inject more “oomph” into that offering by collaborating with a complementary partner to not only make the deal even more irresistible, but tap into the collective marketing power of both of your audiences.
Continue to value your time by hiring others: It’s not time to try to handle your website, design needs, etc. all on your own. While tempting, that is just more time that takes you from revenue-generating activity. If you’re able to, it’s still a good idea to hire contractors to help you with all the little things so you can focus extra hard on opportunity creation and demand generation. And you can help keep those businesses afloat, too. If you need to cut budget, do it in fluffy areas of the business, like cutting any extra subscriptions you don’t need.
Keep your network active: How you show up right now says a lot about your brand and your business. Now is not the time to go into hiding! Continue to create valuable content and network on social media. While you may not be able to meet in person, schedule those coffee dates virtually. Check in with clients and prospects. Remind people you are still there and ready to serve.
Collaboration will not only help you survive, it will help you thrive. (TWEET THIS!)
Here’s a free resource for you to better collaborate and network virtually right now: It’s a lesson from my MOMENTUM coaching program, the Playbook titled Socially Connect and Thrive. Enjoy, with my compliments!
And if you like it and want more Playbooks to master your marketing, articulate your value or build your audience, you might want to check out MOMENTUM Pro at a special $100 off.
Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™
Your mission statement is meant to be a brand tool that informs your decisions on a daily basis.
It describes what you do on a daily basis as an organization in pursuit of your larger vision.
But as a leader, how do you ensure your team is aligned on mission? And most importantly, how can you ensure they are living it out on a daily basis?
The first challenge requires communication and education. The second challenge requires empowerment and a strong operational structure.
First, how to ensure your team is aligned on mission?
This starts in the recruiting process. Does HR understand what the mission means, truly means, to the business everyday? Are you screening for people who embrace the mission and are passionate about it….or are they just looking for a job?
Does everyone in the organization even know what it is and apply it to their daily work?
But further back, how was the mission created? Was it just a great idea in the head of the founder? Sure, it probably starts out that way, but as you scale, you have to bring in other voices and perspectives to contribute to what they believe the mission of the company to be. From where they sit, what is most important? How do they view the work?
This doesn’t mean you have to poll every person in the company every six months to provide input and (shudder) Frankenstein a mission statement that appeases everyone. It means when you go through a brand messaging exercise, mission and vision should be a part of that, as they are the top of the brand messaging pyramid, and everything else trickles out from there to support them.
If people don’t at least have a say, they won’t buy in.
An effective mission is not dictated from the top-down without any input or diverse perspectives. It needs to be more than a poster on the wall. It should impact daily work. (Tweet this!)
(I’ve developed a proven brand workshop process so that different voices have a say, but then a final decision can be made with buy-in from everyone. Yes, it works. Really. We’ve successfully wrangled the most errant cats, and even got a team to consensus and excitement after they had tried FOUR times before to craft brand messaging. But I digress….)
To the second challenge, of ensuring they live it out on a daily basis: This is trickier. But not impossible.
As with anything, you get what you reward. Have you developed a mission statement that can guide decisions making on a daily basis? And if so, how do you promote or reward those who exemplify living out the mission?
What’s that? You don’t. Well, there’s your issue right there.
You get the behavior you reward. If you want your people to truly live the mission, you have to make it show up for them in performance reviews, promotion discussions, and rewards.
As I share in my book, The Empathy Edge, technology company NextJump bases everything they do on their core values, one of which is humility. They issue an annual Avengers Award to the person voted by their peers to help others the most, by however they define it: “The Avengers Award is focused on the trait of ‘service for others’ and recognizes the Next Jumper who most exemplifies steward-leadership….It is an annual peer-nominated award.” (Read the book to find out what the winners get (it will blow your mind!)
Next Jump makes the stakes very high to ensure people live out their values. It shows commitment that the company is not messing around when it says it values humility.
You can do the same for your mission. Attach rewards, accountability, and attention to your mission. Invite employees to articulate how their daily activity supports the mission and to reframe their work toward that higher purpose. Challenge each other to take a step back and think about the mission when making important decisions.
This is how you energize your employees to adopt a particular mindset and live out the mission.
PS:
Aligning on your mission statement is not merely a nice-to-have. It
ensures everyone is in pursuit of the same goal, which makes decisions
easier. Learn how REI’s strong alignment around mission led to one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history, the #OptOutside campaign, which results in the stores being closed on Black Friday. Where, you ask?! Check out my newest book, The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success (A Playbook for Brands, Leaders, and Teams)
Clients get all tangled up in using words they’d never actually say and lofty statements that sound amazing but have nothing to do with their product or service. “Our mission is to empower women to be their best selves.” Um, you sell hosiery.
Or they make it so generic: “Our mission is to help people.” Help them do what?
Yes, some my favorite mission statements could fall into one of these categories. I adore JetBlue’s “Inspiring Humanity” but you may wonder, what the heck does that have to do with air travel?
A good mission statement is one that:
Inspires
Delights
Informs what you do every day, at a high level, in support of your larger vision
Has legs and room to grow
Can be used to make decisions on a daily basis.
Let’s break this out.
The first two are pretty self-explanatory. If the statement is not going to send a little tingle up your spine, it’s not going to inspire employees or customers, which is what it is designed to do. A mission should encapsulate your brand strategy and support your reason for being.
But what about the other factors?
Your vision is your desired future state. What is the change you seek to make in the world with your work? If your vision was achieved, your organization might not be necessary anymore. So what is that large lofty world you imagine?
As I’ve said before, not every solopreneur needs a vision statement. But you DO need a mission statement.
Your mission communicates what you do every day in pursuit of your vision. But it needs to leave room for your whole suite of current and future products or services, not just one specific scenario.
Therefore, you must be able to use your mission statement, to some extent, when making daily decisions about product, direction, content, and priorities. “Does this decision help us achieve our mission?” If yes, do it. If not, rethink it. (Tweet This!)
We came up with some great mission statement options for clients this year (which I can’t reveal because rebranding is still pending!) What I loved is that all of my clients understood how to use this mission as a decision-making tool, not just as a cool poster on the wall.
That is how you use your Mission in your brand. You use it to communicate a higher purpose, a focus, and even the tone of your brand voice in how you write it. Your employees should know it from memory, not because they’ve been forced to, but because it’s used to guide the customer experience every day. They should be asking themselves in all decision-making meetings if what they propose is in pursuit of this mission or not.
This maintains a consistent experience across all touchpoints so that customers understand exactly what you do, what value you offer, and what you stand for.
And that, after all, is at the heart of what “brand” really is.
PS:
Aligning on your mission statement is not merely a nice-to-have. It
ensures everyone is in pursuit of the same goal, which makes decisions
easier. Learn how REI’s strong alignment around mission led to one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history, the #OptOutside campaign, which results in the stores being closed on Black Friday. Where, you ask?! Check out my newest book, The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success (A Playbook for Brands, Leaders, and Teams)
“Hi, nice to meet you! You’ve never heard of me before but please click this button/take my business card and spend over $1000 on my products or services.”
The underappreciated skill of marketing is to take a customer on journey. One where they get to know you, assess your approach/values, evaluate how you can solve their needs and compare you against the alternatives. This sales cycle can happen in 5 minutes (rarely, unless you are chewing gum at the checkout line: a low-risk, low investment impulse purchase) or more likely, if you sell high-value goods or services, anywhere from one to six months. For some enterprise software firms with deals worth more than $500,000, this could take even longer.
I know, I wish it could be easier, believe me. You write a clever social media post, create a slick sales page or run one compelling ad and…BAM! New buyer.
Please stop proposing on the first date! Prospects need time to learn about you, know, like and trust you before they are going to invest their money and time.(TWEET THIS!)
Most of you don’t sell $5 items, but more expensive products or professional services.
When was the last time you parted with more than $100 when you met a brand for the first time?
To take a prospects on the journey, you need to build a marketing funnel. Or as I like to call it, do some good ole’ fashioned wooing and create a courtship plan.
Here are 5 ways to build a sales funnel so prospects can get to know, like and trust you before they buy:
Offer a safe, no risk way for them to get to know what you are all about: an easily digestible free guide, white paper, or short video. This should be packed with value and not immediately lead to a hard sell, as they are still getting to know you. You are welcoming them to your world, so make them feel comfortable. Dating analogy: Don’t talk about how many kids you want or ask someone to meet you parents on the first date.
Make each call to action or next step crystal clear: While the next call to action from #1 should not necessarily be BUY NOW, what other step should they take in the journey to get closer to a purchase? Perhaps ask them to invest some more time at a webinar or an event. Or ask them to sign up for your email list so you can deliver valuable content on a consistent basis and prove your expertise. Dating analogy: Plan some fun dates and keep things breezy and casual for a while…but make your intentions known that you are serious about building a long-term relationship.
Offer multiple touch points: Building an automated follow-up funnel and getting them on your regular emails is great, but make sure you also have air cover (also known as brand marketing!) Are you posting regularly to social media? Are you doing a few ads every now and then so you stay top of mind? Are you booking speaking engagements or media? Combining your lead funnel “ground game” with the “air cover” of brand is a winning combination for prospects to start getting more comfortable. Dating analogy: Know any friends who can talk you up to your new crush? Or how about sending some flowers, an article you think they might like, or a “thinking of you” text so you stay top of mind between dates.
Follow-up: Don’t leave people hanging. I can’t tell you how many vendors I wanted to spend money with, but I got busy and they never followed up. If you had a conversation or they attended a webinar and asked a lot of questions, be sure to promptly follow up and ask what they thought, what specific challenges they face, why they attended your training or downloaded your guide. You can automate this with emails or if you have strong analytics and can segment out the really interested folks, reach out directly with a personal email or call. Dating analogy: If you say you’re going to call the next day after your date, CALL!
Make it easy for them to buy: When you get to the purchase phase, tell them what to do to seal the deal. Offer options. Ask for the sale (gracefully). Clients want to be led and they need to know what to do to say yes. Make sure your directives are clear: What button to press, where to click, what the contract process looks like. Dating analogy: When we are ready to commit to someone, what do we do? We pop the question: Will you marry me, or will you move in with me? Don’t assume they know that’s what you want!
For more advice on this topic, you may enjoy these past articles:
And did you know? Sales funnels that effectively use video marketing can greatly increase your customer conversion. Check out this article on How to use videos in a sales funnel for high conversion from Studiotale, to know more about employing videos in your sales funnel.
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