Tales from the Crypt of Online Marketing – Vol. 6

How to differentiate yourself as a business leader in today’s economy

My dad was, and still is, a practical man. While he was growing up, he would often give me odd jobs to do around the farm that seemed pretty unrealistic to pull off, at least to my 10 year old self!

He didn’t give me these jobs to toughen me up or help me develop my character. No. They had to be done. I was available Label, I was to make them.

One summer our lawn mower broke down and the front lawn was getting long. In Dad’s infinite wisdom, he put me to the test by delegating me to “mow” the lawn.

With a hand scythe.

Being the dutiful daughter that I was and trying to hide the incredulous look I desperately wanted to give her, I took this curved monstrosity from her hands and went to work.

It didn’t go so well.

When my dad got home from work, my left hand was full of nicks and cuts from the blade. It was not a pretty sight, and he was angry.

As he was standing at the sink cleaning himself up, he asked what happened. I told him what seemed obvious enough to me: that the scythe was heavy and the grass too short, leaving little room for error in cutting the leaves.

Your answer?

“Well, be more careful next time.”

Like I said, he was a practical man.

I remember feeling completely hopeless at the total lack of compassion I was receiving.

Where was the empathy? Where was the concern for my well-being?

I’m sure it was there; he just missed the part about expressing it to me and sent me back to the front lawn in the morning.

I wonder if you’ve ever been in a situation as a consumer where you expected more compassion and less practicality.

Think about how you felt. Angry. Frustrated. Not heard.

Now reverse that and think about a situation as a business owner where a customer has come to you with a problem, concern, or complaint.

Did you respond with compassion or practicality?

Although my story happened when I was 10 years old, it doesn’t matter how old or what year it is. Everyone wants to be heard, understood and treated as if they are important.

So when it comes to your marketing message, does it need to be tweaked to let your audience know that you are empathetic to their needs?

They don’t care that you need the sale.

What they need is for you to understand what they are going through and to care.

This is what will create a sustainable business in the long run. It’s not the over-the-top, in-your-face style of marketing that we’ve now outgrown.

They are not the “ignore and place” tactics that many service-based companies use when it comes to addressing the needs of their customers.

I know that in my industry this is a rampant problem.

I have lost count of how many new clients come to me feeling beyond frustrated that their website or marketing person has misled them. Missing. They didn’t respond to emails (or if they did, it was weeks later), didn’t answer their phone, or completely dismissed and ignored their urgent needs.

They were so glad they found me because we helped them right away and continue to be quick to respond to all their needs.

As for my efforts to handle the scythe, my dad finally told me to stop mowing the lawn and fixed the lawn mower. At the rate I was going, it would have been Christmas before the lawn was finished!

But on the bright side: the bunnies were given plenty of freshly cut grass every day for that week.

My lesson from this story? Being an empathetic business leader is what will set him apart from so many others, just as he has set me and my business apart.

By putting yourself in the shoes of your customers, your referral rate will skyrocket and your business will thrive!

For the success of your business,

Suzanne

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

1. Empathy-based marketing isn’t just the right thing to do, your customers expect it. Read 3 Ways to Use Empathic Content Marketing: The Importance of Empathy-Based Marketing

2. The best way to engage your audience on social media and increase your social media reach is by using the empathic marketing model. Read how: How to use empathic marketing in your social media strategy

3. Take advantage of what your customers want in a website. Read these 3 Ways to Make Your Ecommerce Site Focus on Your Customers, Not You: 3 Ways to Make a Website for Your Target Market

4. Book: The New Psychology of Selling Sales Equalizer: How Very High Performers Harness Sales-Specific Emotional Intelligence to Close Complex Deals

5. Mark W. Schaefer’s book Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins