Every business I’ve come across regardless of their product or service can be commoditised. And that’s ok. The one common denominator, however, in every business is people. We live in a digital age and peoples attention has shifted. Yet with all the upside that this brings to us, it is also dehumanising us at the same time.
Walk into a restaurant, and people sit together at a table enjoying a meal together… with one eye (or hand) firmly on their phone checking updates, emails, Facebook etc. We occupy the same space at the same time together but have allowed ourselves to create an environment where just being there is enough. Is this the beginning of the end? As people is this really the way we want to ‘interact’?
As human beings we are social creatures – family, friends, workplace and we all have the same basic needs. We want to be happy, we want to share experiences, we want growth, we want connectedness, we want to contribute to something greater than ourselves and we want to have sustainable relationships in all facets of our life.
What does any of this have to do with business? Whatever your company sells it’s people that buy it and it’s people that sell it. We’ve all seen the changes with sales methodologies over time. Some have been innovative and others, well the less said the better.
There is common thread among most of the better ones that can be simplified into three key pillars – people will deal with people they LIKE, RESPECT & TRUST.
For the most part these 3 key elements are driven emotionally. Why is that important? In general terms they are processed by a part of the brain that does not understand language. It’s responsible for our feelings and intuition. If we are trying to develop key relationships to encourage clients and prospects to WANT do business with us and continue to do so, then there needs to be an investment of time, energy and in some cases $$ to personalise your brand and develop those relationships on a deeper level.
So if you’re talking features, benefits, facts, figures, cost etc a lot of your customers are probably thinking SO WHAT? This doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t do business with you but what it will guarantee is that the conversations and interactions you do have with them are going to driven by those factors as opposed to the emotive. Without that connection it’s a difficult proposition to build loyalty because if a similar product or service becomes available through a competitor at a better price then why would that client continue to do business with you?
In this day and age, people talk about being time poor so we choose to communicate in a way that is convenient and what is perceived as productive. Text, email, social media. But in doing this we are removing the emotional and the sensory connection that we as human beings all crave.
Results directly impact your bottom line but it’s the relationships you’re able to develop with a long term mindset that drive results. The quality of the relationships you create, nurture and sustain over time will no doubt allow your business to win in the short, medium and long term. The recipe for success – take the sales out of it.
Nathan Bouquet
National Sales Manager
With over 10 years experience in the corporate events industry, Nathan specialises in marquee events across Australia, NZ and parts of Asia including all major sporting events, concerts and cultural events. He started with eventpod in early 2016 as National Sales Manager after having worked closely with Adam in previous roles. Nathan has a collaborative approach and will tailor solutions for each client based upon their individual needs.