This is the sixth article in a series of six for companies that wish to implement an effective and positive form of communication into their organization and to enhance employee training for sales and meeting situations.
Many of the articles in this series are about how you communicate with other people. Both the ones you work with on an everyday basis, and the ones you try to sell your services to – your customers.
To talk appropriately with another person it is a good thing to know something about them in advance. When you talk to your colleagues, there is a real good chance that you already know many things about them. It is much harder with the ones you are trying to make a sale to – especially if it’s over the phone.
What can I do to get to know my customers?
It is important to know your customer well, or else you can’t help them meet their needs the best possible way. Therefore it is smart to make personas, that resembles your customers and are based on customer data and research.
Your customer persona is a fictional representation of your customer, that paints an ideal picture, of who you are selling to. Among other things, it tells you, what they want and needs. Thus, personas should be in the center of every marketing activity.
This is how you make your customer persona
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Start with the most basic demographics: Where do they live? What do they do for a living? How much do they earn? Are they female or male? How old are they?
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Then it is time to dig a little deeper and get to know them a little better. Research on sales data and make use of your social channels. Make focus groups and interviews to paint a more detailed picture of your customers.
Good questions to ask to your focus group or during interviews: How do you use social media? What challenges do you meet at work and at home? What media do you use most often? What bad experiences have you had most recently? What keeps you up at night? What motivates and demotivates you?
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Share all knowledge about the customer personas with your colleagues. Make personas that are easy to remember, using illustrations or icons, so everyone understands who “Alice” is when you talk about her on the joint meetings. Ideally, you shouldn’t think of the name as just a bunch of facts, but as a real living person – in that way, you feel more connected to the customer. Customer personas change over time, so remember to pay them a visit once in awhile.
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Learn how to speak their language. Your company might have different types of customers, and that’s why, it is important, that you can talk to each group differently. Make various content to the different ways of contacting them, so they appeal to each persona in the best way.
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