Until recently, I thought that people who were interested in helping the environment and fighting climate change were automatically nature-lovers.
But that changed when I heard someone talk about his interest in climate change even though he wouldn’t describe himself as a nature lover. He doesn’t mind it on occasion, but most of the time, given a choice between being in the city, perhaps at an art museum, or out on a hike, he’d take the art museum.
At the same time, he cares about climate change because he grew up in a place with poor air quality and knows first-hand how damaging it can be.
This got me thinking about how important it is to meet customers and prospects where they are, even if that’s not where you expect them to be. If you don’t do this and instead assume that you know where they’re coming from, you’re likely to misunderstand and alienate them.
If you take the time to understand their background, though, they’re more apt to find you and choose your product or service. Here are three tips to get started.
Listen and Pay Attention
Listening to your customers and prospects is important, but it has to be active listening. Talking to someone and making polite noises while you think about something else won’t work.
If you’re having a direct conversation, you need to focus on what they’re saying – but also what they’re not saying. Sometimes those omissions might be oversights, and other times they could be deliberate.
For example, say you’re talking to someone about solar power. They mention energy independence a couple of times but don’t say anything about reducing their electricity bill. This could mean that the utility payments aren’t a factor for them, or it could mean that they’re important but lower priority than getting off the grid. Either way, you’ve learned something.
You should also “listen” on social media by noticing what they’re commenting on (or not commenting on). This will give you additional insight, and it will be on a more regular basis than the one-on-one conversations.
And don’t be afraid to ask them directly for feedback, with a single open-ended question or perhaps a short survey. When you get the results, see if you can understand why they’ve replied the way they have, and if needed, ask for clarification. Customers would much rather hear back from you with a follow-up than feel like their reply has gone into a void.
Act on What You Hear
Once you’ve listened to your customers, you need to think about the best way to act on it. This might be tweaking what you offer, or it might be changing how you talk about it.
If you install heat pumps, some people might be interested in them because they want a better way to heat their homes, but some might want heat pumps because they don’t like traditional air conditioners and they can’t keep their windows open due to allergies. In both cases, the heat pump itself will be the same, but you can change how you present the information.
Or if you notice similar questions coming up from multiple people, you could put together an FAQ page for your website. If you find that many of your customers prefer videos, you could create a video with the FAQs as well as having them written.
The point is to use the information you’ve gathered in the most effective way you can.
Adjust as You Go
Of course, you might not get your approach right the first time around. That’s okay as long as you don’t get discouraged and stop there.
If what you’re doing still isn’t working, take a moment to reassess. Reach out to your customers again to see if you can get more clarification about why they’re still having problems or not feeling heard. Then adjust your approach to see if you can make things better.
Also remember that you’ll need a few different approaches for customers who are coming from different places, and it’s important to know what works for each type of person.
Customers Want to Feel Understood
All of us want to feel understood, and this goes for your customers and prospects as well. This is especially true for those who might be coming to you from a different place than you might expect.
The key to understanding and meeting people where they are is to listen closely and then act on what you’ve heard. Even if you don’t find the right response the first time around, you can still adjust to make improvements for the next conversation. If you do this, your customers and prospects will appreciate your efforts and are likely to be more engaged with you for the long-term.