Customer Communication: Talk Don’t Sell

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At Cox Marketing Solutions, we love the challenge of finding the perfect marketing strategies to work for every client. It’s our passion.

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How to Talk to Customers: Talk Don’t Sell!

Today’s consumers are bombarded with sales messaging. These messages appear on their phones, in the corners of their social media accounts, in the podcasts they listen to, and in their email inbox. Many of these messages speak to the attributes of the company’s products, never addressing the pain point of the consumer. Consumers ‘see’ what speaks to them.

  • Does it matter that you have a great selection of items if their concern is for one specific thing?
  • If I have eczema, am I concerned with price or packaging, or do I need to know your product will deliver relief in less than 2 weeks?

Customers make buying decisions to address a need or desire, not because you tell them something that doesn’t matter to them. The difference? Are you selling or talking to your customers?  Let’s look into customer communication strategies that work.

Become a Trusted Source.

  • Use your social media accounts and customer communications to share articles from industry experts in support of your product or service.
  • How about a gift guide? Curate a list of items you offer categorized by the reason people purchase, rather than the brand. For example, gifts for Mom, gifts for Dad, or gifts for your dog.
  • Offer a give-a-way in support of a cause. Find a cause that matters to your customers. Free reusable grocery bags because your customers are environmentally conscious. A portion of sale proceeds donated to a local Breast Cancer Awareness group because you’ve learned that some of your customers are survivors. Free information cards about home repairs because your customers are DIY’ers.

There is tremendous value in conveying a mindset of “I understand you and empathize with you.” Talk to the reason why your customer purchases. How?

Your customers will see you in a new light providing more than a store or product. You understand them and are speaking to them.

Sell, Sell, Sell? No, build customer loyalty first.

You are on your way to building customer loyalty and in turn securing and building your customer base. The sales will come from these loyal customers. They will remain customers and will be ambassadors in the community for your products and services. Customer experience is another customer communication strategy. Businesses can no longer afford to ignore the value of the experience they provide customers. Good customer experiences generate revenue, bad experiences can be devastating. Yet few are providing great experiences and many value marketing or advertising more. The sale will come, we promise.

Your need does not equal customer value.

Don’t make your customers decipher your message. Speak to them in theirs. Let’s face it. We can all be slightly self-focused. When looking for a product or service, it is about the customer and their need. Your need to clear your shelves of Valentine’s Day items does not translate into customer purchasing behavior. Instead of promoting a deal on Valentine’s Day items, try offering a special on Mother’s Day items and placing Valentine’s Day items in a location people will see when they visit your store.

How do you talk to your customers and not sell?

Are you still thinking, I don’t know how to talk not sell? No worries. It is quite simple:

  1. Don’t think about what you are selling. Think about why the customer would buy it. Talk to them about the pain point the product would solve for them.
  2. Trust your customers. They are smart, savvy and will see your intent.

We can help you talk.

Still not confident about creating customer communications based on their needs, not yours? Let’s work together to create a marketing strategy addressing your messaging from the eyes of your customers and prospects. Give us 30 minutes of your time and soon you will be talking, not selling.

We speak Customer.

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