How Can I Communicate Better With My Customers?

Whether you are running a WeChat shop, a blog, or an app, you need to be sure that you are communicating successfully with your customers in order to better serve them.

A few of you have contacted us to ask for a bit more help on how to communicate with any audience, so following our popular “Is Anyone Actually Reading Your Blog?” articles 1 and 2, we follow-up with some essential practical tips to help you better relate to both your existing customers and your target market.

Write Like They Talk

It makes obvious sense that we can better understand the type of  language we already speak.  Tone, voice, specific vocal and phrases -these are all things that affect how well we receive a message from those around us. If someone talks the way you do, using language that you use, then you are more likely to respond. This is part of the way our brains instinctively work.

If you want a better response with your website and other marketing efforts, learn to write like your target market speaks. In addition don’t take it for granted that just because you have spoken to your own clients, that you know what their magic language is.

A good way to test your assumptions is to survey your existing or previous customers, and then use the actual words and phrases from their responses in your own material.

Why write like they speak? The web has a largely personal feel as a  medium, and communicating with people on the web works best when your tone is informal. Make your content feel like a conversation you might actually have with a potential customer.

Empathize

As business owners we must be permanently be wearing our marketing hat around customers and clients.

A common problem that your business may face is that it focuses too much on your own solution, and not enough on the customer problem.

“Buy my solution, it’s great”. If you are an entrepreneur, part of your job is to ride the ebb and flow of confidence issues and keep ploughing on in your business. Self-belief is an important part of that. The flip side to this is that we can become a bit over-confident about our part, and forget about the “product market fit” part.

Things change, people change, markets change, and customer needs change. Don’t get caught out by forgetting this. Reviewing your communication and practices on a regular basis is what keeps you in tune with customer needs and maintaining the health of your business.

Understand Awareness

Some people are coming to your site “cold”, they don’t know you or what you do. They don’t understand your product, pricing, timescales etc. Others may be well-versed in your industry and in a more “ready to buy” state. If they’re ready to buy ( i.e. they are aware of your solution and want to pay money for it) then you need to be much more detailed about finer points and edging them into a situation where they are confident with your proposition and happy with the details of your process.

Be Nice 

It sounds obvious, I know. Being nice makes so much difference. The Godfather of marketing Seth Godin quotes talks about “Loving your customers“. That might sound a little over the top, but between feeling loved and hated, as a customer, which you choose?

At Eggplant we totally go along with the view that customer service is what keeps customers after your initial engagement. Help your clients. Again and again. Don’t be afraid to over deliver. Your satisfied customers are by far the best referral and advertising tool your business will ever have so don’t forget it.

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