As a business leader, you’re always looking for ways to improve your customers’ experience with your products or services. When you show them empathy before authority in your marketing efforts by identifying with their emotions and problems, you can do just that!
Focusing on your audience’s wants, needs, and situations will help you better connect with them and come across as a more relatable business. Read on to get three helpful tips for empathizing with customers:
1. Don’t just talk about yourself.
While it sounds harsh, people don’t really care about your business until they know how you can help them solve a problem or address a certain emotion. You can still talk about your products or services, but in a way that shows you understand your customers and care about their needs.
For example, if you sell jewelry to young professional women, use marketing messages that show how you know your audience is tired of cheap pieces that won’t last — and they’re ready for a quality bracelet or necklace they can wear for years to come. This speaks to their problem of wanting better quality jewelry and their feelings of frustration with cheaply made pieces that aren’t suitable for the office or a friend’s formal wedding.
Once you’ve related to your target audience and addressed the problem they’re dealing with, then you can talk about your company’s durable yet beautiful jewelry that will work for young women in any setting or occasion.
2. Make a connection with them.
If you only see customers as sales and transaction opportunities, they’ll probably be able to tell, and they’ll be much less likely to trust your business. But if you see prospects as people with whom you can build a meaningful relationship by solving their challenges or making them happy, you’ll have a better chance at forming a genuine connection with them — and possibly encouraging them to choose your product or service).
Customers are more likely to buy from — and stay loyal to — companies they connect with. That’s why it’s so critical to show empathy (genuine care for your customer and their problem) before authority (facts and statistics about why your company is a great one). Think about the last time you were on a website where all the content was talking about why their business or product is the best. That was probably annoying, and you likely felt as if you were being sold to. As marketers, we need to understand that nobody likes to feel like they are being sold to. The customer wants to feel like they are making a buying decision.
But what if that same website was written in a way that actually spoke to the challenges you were dealing with? What if the marketing message was more along the lines of “We know XZY can be frustrating because of ABC”? You’d probably appreciate that they took the time to empathize with how you felt about Problem XYZ. You’d also be more likely to willingly scroll through their site to learn more because you experienced a connection. This is because their content showed genuine interest in your challenges and wanted to help you find the best solution for your needs.
People simply want to be heard and understood before being sold to. Your customers are no different!
3. Use genuine empathy statements.
Whether your customer is considering a product, happy with their purchase, or hoping to have a better experience next time, you’ll want to ensure their every interaction with you is a positive one. You can do this by using genuine empathy statements such as:
- Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today about your frustration with finding the right solution to manage your social media.
- I’ve listened to your challenges regarding your limited time, budget, and frustration with other vendors.
- If I were in your shoes, I’d be frustrated, too.
- I know how frustrating it is when vendors don’t do what they say they will do.
- I want to make your experience with our company as convenient as possible.
These statements can serve as a guide in your initial marketing messages, follow-up conversations with current customers, and everything in between.
Don’t say anything that’s not true, as this can come off as two-faced. For example, if a customer has been rude and demanding, you shouldn’t say, “Thank you for your patience.” But you can still show customers that you value their feelings and situation by making an effort to relate to their pain points and frustrations, then helping them find a solution that works for them. Remember, always go back to reminding them of their challenges or why they were seeking out your business or services before telling them how amazing your solutions are.
When you’re empathizing with customers, you can stop focusing on transactions and form genuine connections instead. And the funny thing is, when you don’t obsess over your bottom line and concentrate on helping customers overcome their obstacles — that’s when you’ll see sales and customer loyalty increase.
Our proven marketing protocol helps companies make more money, free up time, and plan an effective strategy.
Treefrog Marketing is an agency in Lafayette, Indiana focused on small business. We specialize in strategic marketing and advertising, graphic design, web design, social media, SEO, and more. For more information, visit our website and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.