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Can you say confidently that 100% of your customers know about all of your products and services? You know exactly what their purchasing history is, thanks to strong CRM systems, but even if they’ve professed total satisfaction with your company, how do you know your customers can’t benefit from other products?
Customers can’t buy something they’re not aware of.
Customer awareness of your complete offerings is an initiative every company needs to undertake. It should be a conversation you have with your sales staff so that every representative is not only involved but can also contribute to making it happen.
There are both passive ways and active ways to make people aware of all you can offer.
The most obvious way is to make sure your website describes all of your products and services. A clean design and intuitive navigation system are important, and you should approach your site from the perspective of a prospect. Would a prospect that lands on your site have a solid idea of everything you do? Your site is a key part of your online presence, and it’s the best “passive” way to shape your brand.
However, taking active steps to ensure your customers are aware of all you can offer is recommended. And the most meaningful method of sharing information with your customers is face to face. Sitting down and chatting with your customers yields fruitful results and deepens the bonds you’ve already built. It offers the chance for you to listen to customers. You’ll learn what’s changed (and changing) in their business, what challenges they might be experiencing, and what would make their jobs easier and more successful.
The interpersonal relationships you build with customers through brainstorming are mutually beneficial. Real conversations often reveal additional ways for you to help. Together, you devise a solution for a need or a challenge that was unknown before you took the time to talk. Such discovery cannot happen unless you create an environment where it can surface.
How would you structure these important conversations with your customers? These three steps might help.
- Prepare your own team. They must be fully aware of your complete offerings and able to comfortably discuss them. If sales reps don’t understand the technology behind one of your products, for example, they won’t be comfortable telling customers about it.
- Approach these conversations as two-way. You’re not meeting customers to deliver a monologue about your offerings; you’re sitting down to have a dialogue about ways in which their business might grow – and your business could help them.
- Make sure you’re asking the right questions to allow you to create solutions for your customers. Get beyond the purely transactional conversations to uncover how their business is growing, what their market is seeking, and how you can increase your value to them as a business partner.
We all like to think we do a great job of shaping our brand, but often it’s not the case. Customers tend to pigeonhole companies by past purchasing history – unless you help stimulate ideas through meaningful conversations.
By focusing on deepening relationships with Cooley clients, we’ve been able to share valuable information that stimulates new ideas. It’s where we shine.
How are you shaping your brand? Think about moving beyond your comfort zone. Look for opportunities to expand your clients’ horizons.
