In our lives and in our business endeavors, it is easier than ever to take cover behind a screen, a tech tool or any varietal of non-human interaction. Trust me when I say, that I am a top fan of tech tools that save me time and streamline both my professional and personal life. In fact, I embrace them and could be characterized as an early adopter. I do, however, know that sometimes the only way to power up a relationship is to power down. Now when I say power down, I mean it in a symbolic way (don’t panic)! You may still be tapping into cutting-edge technology to garner a deeper connection with your network, but it’s going to feel a lot more personal. Let’s start by taking a deeper dive into what connection means to human beings. You know – the people on the other end of the internet connection.

• Get Real – Connections are driven by keeping it real. If we are not vulnerable to our customers, real connections will be forever challenging. Brene Brown, popular storyteller and researcher, says it best in her TedTalk, where she says, “to truly connect, we have to allow ourselves to be seen.”
• Emotions Rule – It is most likely, whether we realize it or not, that our emotions will guide nearly all decisions we make.
• Numbers Don’t Lie – The Harvard Business Review recently researched the topic of customer emotions and the results, although they varied across industry, customer demographics and marketing channel, overwhelmingly showed that the emotionally-connected customer changed the bottom line of the company he/she felt connected to.

Check Out 4 Ways To Create Deeper Customer Connections:

• Personalize it. Yes, technology can help you connect at a deeper level with your customers, especially in this area of personalization. Top CMOs around the world are listing customer connection throughout the customer journey as a top focus for their marketing efforts, moving it from the 2.0 wishlist to the must-have in any good marketer’s toolkit. From chatbots on your website to targeted content that renders on your homepage to integration between call centers and marketing campaigns – no part of your marketing should operate in a silo that doesn’t speak directly and accurately to the customer.
• Start a two-way conversation. Social media, chatbots and even old-fashioned telephones facilitate the opportunity to speak with customers. Many businesses make the mistake of ignoring the wealth of information received in these engagements and, even worse, missing the opportunity to connect directly and more deeply with their customers while they have their attention.
• Always be listening. Social media engagement is the holy grail metric that marketers want but can’t always get. Likes and shares are, of course, great if they are trending up on a regular basis, but even more important are the real comments, questions and even complaints your business received in these channels. It’s important that you are focused on those elements of your social campaigns (in addition to the viral cat videos).
• Understand your inner circle. It’s very likely that you have a sliver of your customer base that loves you. They may even account for a large chunk of your overall revenue. They may be repeat customers and/or spend the largest amount. This is the group that you should be most connected with for a couple of reasons:
  • You want to retain them. 
  • You want to understand them well enough to look for more of them.’
  • If they love you so much, they might tell their network about you.

Making deeper customer connections in a digital world is not impossible. In fact, there are many more tools at our disposal to make it happen. With the unlimited amount of competition for a second of our customers’ attention, it is more important than ever for them to feel connected to us.

Need help creating deeper connections with your current or prospective customers? I can help with that!