Marketing has always been about building relationships with customers in the same way that advertising has always been about building market awareness. Sometimes, the marketing role may be misinterpreted as having similar responsibilities as sales, especially with the emergence of marketing automation, sales automation, and online stores. But in the end, sales people sell (and they build relationships - but more on that another day). Marketers should build a customer relationships.
(As an aside, online stores should be created by a team that includes technologists, sales people, product managers, and marketers. Marketers shouldn’t build a sales site alone.)
The problem that I think many organization have with marketing building relationships is how do you measure it (building relationships, that is)? That partially explains why marketing often focuses on online selling - selling is measureable. Honestly, it’s easier to demonstrate contributions and value through a click than it is to understand a perception, an emotion, affinity, and connection.
Rather than write about emotions and theory, I figured I'd explore how to make measuring successful relationships more practical.
How are relationships built in general?
- You build awareness
- You educate consumers about who and what the company is, the products that they offer, and the value they provide
- You create a sense of trust
- You determine if there is a match between needs and solutions, what’s in common, if there is a connection
- You start to build a relationship by understanding how to best work together
You build awareness
If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to see are hear it, does it really fall?
The same is true with products. I hate the expression "if you make it they will come.” It's absolute rubbish. If anything, it’s overconfidence and arrogance at its best. Most people in the world aren’t waiting at the edge of their seats to get any company's product. Believe it or not, it's true for Apple too (ever notice how Apple builds hype before a product launch? How there are "leaks"? Or they have a big announcement? Or let you know something's coming?) Prospects may not even know they have the problem a company is solving. They need someone to reach out and tell them about their problem and its solution, introducing the ideas to them in some way.
This is where PR, television ads, online articles, social media advertising and more happen. As a marketer, you reach out to your prospective audience/customers where they are. You get them to the forest to witness the tree fall.
This is true even in real-life relationships. You can’t make friends with someone if you haven't met him yet. To take this further, you can meet a lot of people but to find people you can be friends with takes finding the right people, or people who share similar values.
Measurements for awareness:
This is where I think the problem happened with marketing - tracking the influence of an activity to a sale. Sure, there is a relationship between marketing activities and sales, but this isn’t a one-to-one relationship. There are many activities and interactions that lead to a sale. The key measurement for success, though, is to determine if you are reaching the right audience.
This is why personas matter. You can have many people liking your social media posts, reposting them, and more, but if you aren’t reaching the right audience, then you gathered a bunch of witnesses who saw the tree fall but can't share that news with others (they couldn't get to the right forest).
The best way to measure awareness isn't just getting someone's attention. It's about getting the right person’s attention.
You educate consumers about who and what the company is, the products that they offer, and the value they provide
What do you really sell? To answer that question, you need to ask yourself what is the problem your company is really solving? That’s what your prospects and customers care about.
The product you sell isn’t all that you sell. Sure, someone gives you money to own it, but you are selling value that the product will give them in their lives. You are selling what that product or service can do for someone, how it can improve their life or make life easier.
And that’s the catch. Value is personal and hard to define. A device can provide value to someone by saving them time, energy, money - a number of things. But you need to balance that with what it means to your customer. What is their benefit with this value? What are the gains - and how will they use those gains?
Saving money can mean using that same money for something else (a hobby, a trip, clothing). Saving time could be put towards time with family or hobbies. Saving personal energy could be used for other projects. And the list goes on.
Your prospect needs to understand the value your company provides, the problem your product/service solves, what you do, and why you do it. And they need to understand all of this before considering having a deeper conversation about how this directly applies to them and purchasing.
And this works in real-life with friends too. You may choose a friend candidate from a pool of acquaintances, but if you discover that your candidate has very different personal values than you do, he or she may not be a match after all, right?
Measurement for education:
A success metric at this step is determining if a member of the target persona has a second, third, or more engagement with the company. The person returns to read the Web site, a white paper, the blog, another social media post. Achievements at this stage focus around a customer or prospect returning to the business to learn more. By returning to the site or blog, the prospect/customer is providing the company an opportunity to build rapport with them.
What emerges from this step is a customer/prospect starting to see the company as a helpful expert. They should be starting to see the value the company can offer them.
Create a sense of trust
Trust is key to building any type of relationship. I have written a number of pieces on this. If a prospect doesn’t trust you, you won’t go far.
Stephen Covey's analogy of the bank of trust/emotional bank account is completely accurate and applicable in all situations, especially between customers and prospects.
To sum up what the emotional bank account represents is sharing experiences with someone else to learn about who they are. People can tell you who they are, but nothing beats learning who someone is by observing and witnessing their actions. Can you share a confidence with them? Can you have difficult conversations? Different perspectives? Respect the similarities and differences?
How can you build trust with a prospective customer?
- Let customers get to know your company through reviews - the good and the bad. People like to know how others experienced your company, how they see you and know you. Product and company reviews are a great way to get information and insights quickly.
- Get certified! Certifications are important. Certifications build credibility with customers. They provide that someone else besides you (and your mother) thinking your product is a solid solution that offers great value.
- Consistent communication. Stay on point in your company's messaging and information. Being inconsistent in your message about what you sell, what your product does, and who you are doesn’t help a customer get to know you or trust you. Consistency builds trust.
- Stay squeaky clean in the media. Have a positive reputation and image. What does the media have to say about your company and product? That makes a difference. That reflects your actions, which is also who you are. People also watch to see if you clear negative perceptions quickly and how you do it. It's not just the what - it's the how. How people and company do things tells you who they are.
- Take opportunities for shared experiences. Always. Always try to interact with customers directly.
Measurement for trust:
How people in the world perceive you is a measurement of trust. When people call customer support and services, do they give your company the benefit of the doubt? Or is it accusatory? Do callers micromanage your staff? Or are they open to be updated?
What are their sentiments of your company on social media? In reviews? Does your company have many positive reviews?
What are the articles about your company in the media saying? Is it about corporate achievements? Or is it about failings?
There are ways to measure trust. Trust may be an ooey-gooey sentiment, but you can find a way to show that your company is trusted by prospects and customers by measuring how they see you.
You determine if there is a match between needs and solutions, what’s in common, if there is a connection
Does what the company sell solve customer and prospect problem? Does it improve their lives? Does your customer or prospect even want to solve that problem?
Those are the questions that can determine if there is a match between the needs of a prospect or customer and your company. Both sides, especially the customer side, need to see and acknowledge the match. The customer needs to understand that they indeed have a problem, that the company's solution is necessary for their life to improve.
This is where the initial stages of a partnership happen. And a partnership isn't only about a sale - it's how the company can help another company or person be successful.
In real life, you determine if there is a match with a prospective friend. You determine if you have shared values, if you share interests, if you share perspectives. Over time, you share experiences to get to know each other. Over time, these experiences determine if there is a connection, or a connection will build.
How do you measure a connection?
We have officially reached the step between a prospect and customer and a company - lead gen! This step is less about a prospect/customer understanding what you sell. It's a realization that your company can help them solve their problem, that the company can help them improve their life, and the company can provide value to them in some way. At this step, the prospect/customer is admitting that they have a problem and they need help.
You start to build a relationship by understanding how to best work together
When both sides realize that there is a match, they find a way to make it work. This happens during the sales discussion when both sides determine how the customer can best use the product. It’s at this step that someone wants to trial use your product, see how it works in their systems, see how it benefits them. This is the step right before the sale - and right after.
In real-life, this is the step where a friendship and relationship really builds. It's when both sides come together and see that they can create something bigger than themselves.
A relationship is something bigger than its parts. This is true for a corporate partnership, a marriage, a friendship. But how do you measure this?
Case studies and stories - the stories can be from employee wins as well as corporate wins. Relationships are about collaborations that push people forward. That's how you measure success.
And failures? What about them? Well, there are really no failures. There are learnings. There are areas for improvement.
As long as value is perceived, there is success, and people want to know about it.
In the new world where the lines between online and offline experiences are blurred, we'll be returning to building customer relationships like we did long ago. It's so important to build a relationship with your customer. Even if that customer or prospect doesn't become a lead, that person could refer others to your company and solution. A sale is a result of a relationship, and given that relationships aren't linear, who knows where any relationship will lead. Well, we do know - relationships always lead to success in some way.
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