How can I help you? A more human-centred approach to marketing

As the year draws to a close, I’ve been reflecting on what works and what doesn’t work from the perspective of a consumer, a brand owner, a marketer and a strategy consultant. Across the retail sector, sales are happening slower and later than last year.

Yes it’s scary, but it also makes sense.

On the one hand, you’ve got the panic mentality that we must ‘sell, sell, sell’, but as Neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart scientifically states; “The way we think determines our life”. So if we’re operating in a scarcity mindset about Christmas sales, we may well be attracting less sales? 

The other thing is that if we, as business owners, are turning to more conscious products and processes in our work and lives, then we can only assume that our clients and customers are also doing the same. We’ve all become far more conscious with our consumption and where our priorities lie. But what does that mean when our livelihood relies on sales?

Like Bhutan, who measure the success of their country by Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather than Gross Domestic Product (GDP), maybe we too need to shift how to measure the success of our business beyond just economic markers. And in doing so, shift how we approach business overall.

Where big corporates are laser-focused on numbers and margins (GDP), often at the expense of the human experience (GNH), small businesses put humans at the centre: we’re focused on the needs of our staff, our needs as founders, and the needs of the humans we're serving – our customers.

Is it time to shift our Christmas sales mindset to how we can help others?

Here are some ways that you can approach this sales period with a more human-centred approach ...

A CONVERSATION ISN’T JUST TALKING, IT’S ALSO LISTENING

When I was working with I Quit Sugar, we had a new senior leadership team and with that came a huge new set of targets. We were selling our 8 week program to help people quit sugar and trying every trick in the book to sell, sell, sell and hit those numbers.

But in doing so, we forgot our people. We lost sight of what we were in the business of doing. At its core, the program taught real people around the world how to eat real food.

We had stopped listening to our customers.

Sarah called it. She was getting the itchy neck feeling. You know, that ickiness from being too salesy? So we all got in a room, my amazing customer service girls (who were naturopath and nutrition students) took us through the questions people were asking before enrolling in the program, and as a team, every single one of us stopped what we were doing, and shifted our focus to helping people.

Our tech team installed instant chat on the website so that when Emily was on customer service and a customer had been on the 8WP page for a certain period of time a little pop up said “Hi, it’s Emily here. Do you have a question about the 8WP?”

We created and repurposed content for the site, newsletter and social channels that was all focused on helping answer people’s questions about the program. 

We also did Facebook live chats (which was just via the comments on a post in those days ha!) to talk through people’s questions in real time.

You know that saying, for every one person who asks a question, there are another hundred who don’t? We put that into action. We listened to what people wanted, and turned those real insights into answers. And in doing so, we showed we understood them, we cared and we were listening.

Instead of selling to your community in one-way communication, try to find ways to listen. Find out what they need, where they’re getting stuck, and find ways to solve those problems. 

STOP SELLING TO EVERYONE

But... before you listen. You need to know who to listen to.

After spending the first half of my career working with corporate giants, my bread and butter is now working with smaller brands led by founders with passionate integrity who put their people first. Without the huge marketing and advertising budgets to broadcast marketing messages to the anonymous masses (aka “spray and pray”), these small businesses need a human approach to marketing. 

This human approach, means getting really clear on who your ideal customer is. So crystal clear, that you easily identify who you’re not for and can shun the naysayers like water off a duck’s back.

In an interview with Seth Godin about his new book ‘This Is Marketing’, he talks about this human approach to marketing and says:

"If you’re going to make it human, it means you’re going to put yourself out there and say, ‘I made this,’ and someone is going to see it and say, ‘I don’t want it.'' And it’s easy to hear that and say, ‘You don’t want me. I failed.’ But that’s not the right answer. The right answer is ‘Oh, I didn’t make this for you. I made it for someone like you who believes something different, who wants something different. Let me go find that person.’”

Having clarity on your target audience (who you are for) is paramount to your brand’s success. Your audience is the foundation of your brand and will be the cornerstone of its success or failure. But knowing who you aren’t for is just as important. 

It’s like that old ‘selling ice to eskimos’ saying – there’s absolutely no point having the best product or service, if you’re trying to sell it to the wrong people. Knowing you’re not for eskimos, is really important if you’re in the frozen ice business!

Rather than adding more noise to the incredibly noisy Christmas sales period, review who you are targeting with your marketing and ensure they are the right humans for you and your business. 

INTEGRITY MEANS MUTUAL RESPECT

One of the biggest differences between the mega brands and smaller brands, is INTEGRITY! 

In the words of Simon Sinek, “Integrity is when we say the same things publicly that we say privately.”

Brands with integrity put people, and especially their customer, first. They will know who will buy and love its product, and will create products using information about its target market to inform new development. It’s so important.

Integrity is what results in a mutual respect between brands and their audience, and builds a loyal community.

I’ve been a subscriber of Australian-made zero-waste laundry detergent, DIRT, for a while now and was on auto-pilot on a subscription. I stopped one day and realised that it wasn’t working – the clothes just weren’t smelling as fresh as they used to. I started adding eucalyptus oil to each wash, but even that wasn’t making them super fresh. I blamed the detergent and cancelled my subscription.

However, when you cancel a subscription, they ask you for a reason. So I gave them one. I told them my clothes weren’t smelling so fresh and so clean anymore. I said it was most likely that my washing line isn’t in the direct sunlight and that I would have to try something else. 

It would have been easy for them to just let it go… but they emailed me:

Hi Katie,

 I hope you don't mind me reaching out to you.

 I was wondering if you could give me a little more info about how you're washing?

 Are you washing on cold water? Our detergent is designed to wash at 40 degrees. The reason we recommend this temperature, is that 40 degrees is the optimal temperature to activate the cleaning ingredients, i.e. surfactants and enzymes. 

 Also, has your machine been put on a clean drum cycle recently? Generally, bad smells are harboured in the machine, not the clothes or detergent – so I am wondering whether maybe there's a bacteria buildup in your machine?

 Just let us know how you go? Again, thanks for letting us know and so sorry this has been your experience.

Mind blown!

I can’t believe I’m nearly 40 and didn’t know you needed to wash your machine? I instantly replied and said I’d get onto it and report back. It worked. I have clean washing once again. And now I’m telling you how good they are as a company (and that their product works).

It’s incredibly easy in our hurried states to get miffed or cast off any customers who unsubscribe or decide not to go through with a sale, and the ladies at DIRT could have very easily done the same thing. Instead they choose to be helpful and act with integrity, seeking to solve my stinky washing problem, regardless of whether I resubscribed or not.

So put your human experience firmly at the centre of your business at this time of year, and put your people first.