It All Begins with Empathy.

Tips & Tricks

Dec 1

Imagine you’re at an office party. It’s a relatively professional affair to which select clients and vendors have been invited. You’re almost ready to make a third visit to the appetizer table when a figure approaches you from the side, effectively trapping you in the corner and separating you from the rest of the event.

Without even bothering to get your name, he shoves a business card in your direction before launching into a well-rehearsed pitch about his company. For a full twenty minutes, he raves about his life and accomplishments before switching topics to the wonderful and innovative new product he has developed. You can’t live without it. There’s nothing else like it anywhere. At least according to him.

Then he goes one step too far. He starts to project his impression of you and your needs. Remember, this is someone who still doesn’t know your name, but that doesn’t stop him from assuming he understands everything about you. He isn’t even aware of how intimidated you feel in your current situation. In terms of both diction and body language he looms over you, making you feel more inferior with every passing second before ending with, ‘So, how many can I put you down for?’

How would you feel? Annoyed, frustrated, scared? He has positioned himself in the role of hero, leader and guardian; as if every road to success must pass directly through him. Without his product or service, you or your company are insufficient - or irrelevant. This is, without a doubt, the worst type of sales pitch anyone can make.

Unfortunately, many companies are making this simple marketing mistake every single day.

To put things into perspective, the true hero is the one who pays the bills. As a business owner, it is important to recognize that your clients are the true heroes of the story. It doesn’t matter how well you’ve got your sales pitch down - if customers don’t buy what you’re selling, you’re not going to be a hero for long. From a financial standpoint, they are the ones saving you.

Now that we’ve established this, how can you as a business owner go about attracting new clients to your company? Start with empathy.

Don’t tell your client what their problem is. Instead, begin by empathizing with the problems they already know they have - and this comes from listening to their needs. Empathy comes from understanding, so try to figure out what their story is. From hopes and dreams to pain points, it’s amazing what you can learn about your clients by building this connection on a human level. By allowing them to feel seen and heard, you are taking on the role of mentor instead of hero, and the knowledge you gain can then be used to build a marketing strategy that engages them on every possible level.

The hero is the one character in the story who determines how the story will unfold. Therefore it is the hero who will ultimately make the choice to purchase your product or service and, as a result, guide their story towards a more positive ending. Giving customers that feeling of empowerment will inspire a strong vendor-client relationship that is based on respect, trust, and loyalty. The more a client respects and trusts a vendor, the more loyal they will be in purchasing from you now and in the future.

Are you starting to think about how you’ve positioned your own company’s marketing? The Freshly Pressed team are experts at positioning businesses like yours to be valued mentors for their clients. If you would like to learn more about weaving your customer’s story into your marketing strategy, please reach out to Freshly Pressed today.