Social media has certainly changed the way people do business today. It doesn’t seem to matter if you have a product or if you offer a service. If you aren’t on the web, if someone can’t Google you, then you are probably losing business. It is the buying cycle that has changed, which in turn changes the selling process. People have become aware of options to search for you, investigate you and your business, and to compare you to other businesses or products. Ultimately, consumers are searching for a reason to trust you. So many other factors being equal, the bottom line is who you are.
This is a unique perspective on marketing yourself. Once upon a time if a salesperson told you that you had to have it, well, you did. They were the experts. Right? After all, didn’t they go to school or at the very least have some training on the subject? For many people a friendly, knowledgeable salesperson’s opinion was all it took to encourage a potential customer to make a purchase. And as salespeople, we could often rely on our charm.
But the old adage that ‘people do NOT want to be sold; people LOVE to buy’ has NEVER, EVER been stronger. So, as business professionals, we have to learn to understand this new customer. Not only is it our turn to listen, but we need to trust them so that we will go to any length to find solutions to their purchasing need.
Two things stand out in all the messaging that’s been around for the past 5+ years:
1) Your customer believes that since they have done some research, they have a certain level of expertise. They believe themselves to be knowledgeable and have no trouble giving their advice to anyone willing to listen. There is no other place so noticeable than the web to test this idea. Everyone has access to so much information that it’s hard NOT to think you know something if you read it over and over again.
It’s important to listen to everything your customer says. It takes a truly great salesperson to dig a bit deeper and find out exactly what their customers’ true needs are. Only by discovering a person’s needs can you offer them a solution.
2) Customers collect bits and pieces of information and put them together to form their own solutions to their purchasing needs. In other words, they create a personalized solution. Have you heard the term End-User-Integration? It’s allowing the end user, to have the ability to personalize their product or service. How many times have companies put a new product out that the public has chosen? Right now, TODAY, if your flavor is chosen by Lays, you will win one million dollars. Click the link and check it out: https://apps.facebook.com/DoUsAFlavor/#_=_
But what really shouts out here, is how absolutely unique everyone can be! I may LOVE frozen yogurt, but I don’t want to be told what my toppings need to be. Luckily, I can go to a frozen yogurt bar where all the toppings are in an area where I can make my own sundae. Perhaps this accounts for the pages and pages of frozen yogurt bars on Google. Of course, this is pretty simplified example, but hopefully you get my drift. When a a customer is part of the creative process they will be more apt to engage in what they are buying.
If people are told they have to accept only one solution, they will probably bolt!
Now, here comes the fun part. Learning how to cater to your customer is simple. Ask them what they need. Seriously, it’s that easy. We are no longer in competition against a fierce competitor. We are in competition with ourselves to be better than we’ve ever been. At a time when everything seems to be going a million miles an hour, this is the perfect time to step back and ask yourself if you are doing the best job you can. If not, don’t lose heart. We have some great tools here that can help simplify things. A simple social media plan, effective mail campaigns, QR Codes with a great offer or coupon. Call us anytime, we are at your service!
