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  • Multi Channel Outreach – The Digital Selling Model to Generate Leads for your customers

    Multi Channel Outreach – The Digital Selling Model to Generate Leads for your customers

    Allbound – Multichannel Outreach refers to a marketing and sales strategy that involves using multiple channels to reach and engage with potential customers. This approach recognizes that people consume information and interact with brands differently, so it’s important to have a diverse range of channels to reach them.

    A methodology integrates Inbound Sales, Outbound Sales and in some cases Account Based Marketing strategies with the purpose of reaching your customers through multi channels that may include email marketing, social media, paid advertising, direct mail, SMS, Chat, Runions Presencial, Events and much more. By using a combination of channels, companies can increase their chances of getting their message out to potential customers and providing a more personalized experience.

    Multichannel reach in Business Development allows sales teams to engage with potential customers, increasing the likelihood of getting your message across and building relationships. An approach involves using multiple communication channels to reach potential customers and guide them through the sales process. This means that the company is not limited to using just one channel, such as telephone or email, but uses a channel combination, such as social networks, online chat, email marketing, text messages, among others.

    The goal of the multichannel cadence is to reach the customer more effectively, taking advantage of the customer’s preference for different channels and preventing them from feeling overwhelmed or ignored. For example, a potential customer may prefer to communicate via text message rather than email, or they may prefer to receive information about a product through social media rather than over the phone.customizing the approach according to customer preferences.

    Currently, with the various regulations on access to sensitive data and permissions, a potential customer may be more likely to respond to an Inmail on Linkedin than a phone call or prefer to engage with your company through social media. Using a variety of channels increases the likelihood of obtaining communication consent, and sales teams can cater to each prospect’s preferences, increasing the likelihood of engagement and ultimately conversion rates.

    However, it is extremely important to remember that the multichannel cadence must be well planned and executed carefully to avoid overwhelming customers with too many different messages and channels, as well as respect the laws current data protection (LGPD in Brazil and GDPR in Europe) which can be detrimental to the customer experience and company reputation.

    Overall, multichannel outreach is a powerful tool for sales teams in today’s competitive market. By using a diverse range of channels, sales teams can increase engagement with prospects, build stronger relationships, and ultimately generate more sales.

  • A CFO’s perspective on Sales Outsourcing

    A CFO’s perspective on Sales Outsourcing

    Many organizations are new to outsourcing and are understandably hesitant to relinquish control over vital operations. Sometimes the CFO is called upon to review contracts, calculate the numbers and, in general, give an opinion on whether outsourcing would be a solid business decision, in the short and long term. For this reason, I write this article to clarify some points that go beyond the financial perspective.

    PRICE

    Cost reduction is one of the main benefits of outsourcing, and the first area must be evaluated. In addition to salary and benefits, it’s important to add in all the HR costs associated with hiring, recruiting, and training a new employee. These costs can be nebulous for many organizations, spread across multiple expense categories. When added together, the cost of a single sales rep is typically double their base salary.

    Depending on the partner, outsourcing can represent a significant price reduction (although I would caution you against choosing a partner based solely on the lowest price). The goal is to reduce overall costs while maintaining quality, as well as simplifying the accounts payable process with a single invoice instead of dozens across multiple departments.

    REVENUE PREDICTABILITY

    When outsourcing a function like sales, you need to consider the significant impact of revenue forecasting. When do you need salespeople to become productive to meet revenue goals? If that deadline is sooner rather than later, outsourcing is likely the more attractive route because the ramp time can be 66% shorter. You can also expect scaling to be faster and easier when working with an Outsource partner, as they can add resources to your account in a matter of days or weeks, compared to recruiting cycles that last months.

    When making predictions, it is preferable to deal with facts rather than assumptions. While Outsource sometimes promises higher quality than your in-house team, you need to use your existing sales reps and their productivity as a benchmark. If my vendors are bringing in 10 leads per month each, and we assume the Outsourcing reps can meet those numbers within a month or two of Onboarding. If it surpasses these numbers, it will be a welcome surprise.

    CONTRACT

    Contract terms are extremely important when deciding between different outsourcing providers. One of the first things you should look at is the success rate or performance. How does it compare to our internal variable compensation and how does it affect the third-party provider’s overall cost? Is the outsourcing company looking for a success rate for every meeting scheduled or for every deal closed? The next items to be evaluated are the contract end date and renewal terms. Is it something you need to plan for 3 months, 6 months or a year? When can you give notice? Do any of the terms change upon renewal?

    Sales Outsource agencies can vary significantly when it comes to contract terms, and there are likely details that you didn’t have a chance to discuss during the sales process. Make sure you’re comfortable with the final product before jumping in, even if it pushes your start date back a week or two.

    Outsourcing, when worked with the right partner, can provide incredible value to organizations across a wide range of industries. For organizations considering outsourcing for the first time or deciding between vendors, schedule a consultation with our team to learn more about our approach and our client success stories.

  • Facing the false stigmas of Sales Outsourcing.

    Facing the false stigmas of Sales Outsourcing.

    Technology companies are familiar with the idea of ​​outsourcing aspects of their business. There are many Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies that provide back-office functions like HR, accounting and finance, as well as front-office functions like customer service. The benefits of Business Development Representative (BDR) Outsourcing are also well documented, as companies can leverage experts who have built businesses around these specific processes (and who can often provide them at lower costs), allowing them to focus on improving what makes your business great.

    Although the idea of ​​Outsourcing is not new, many companies are reluctant to hire third-party sales providers, especially in Business Development. There are many reasons for this, however, companies could be missing out on a great opportunity.

    Brand Reputation

    A sales development representative is often the first point of human interaction a prospect will have with your brand, and the importance of representing your brand in the right way is paramount. For this reason, it’s understandable that companies might be a little hesitant about entrusting such an important role to a third party. As we said above, one bad interaction with a BDR and the credibility you’ve worked so hard to build can crumble.

    That said, many of the same companies are comfortable working with creative marketing agencies or public relations (PR) firms to help define and represent their brand. These agencies draw on decades of experience and are experts in designing and executing your brand strategy. This partnership also allows companies to leverage larger teams on demand rather than maintaining large numbers of employees in the creative department.

    The same can be true with the right Sales Development partner. Experts in the Sales Development space draw on years of experience building and managing teams in many different markets. As a result, guidance on how to represent your brand and the appropriate channels to do so comes from a wealth of knowledge that may not exist internally.

    Security and control

    One of the reasons a technology company might think twice about outsourcing its SDR function is security concerns and a lack of overall control. Why would you give a third party access and control over extremely sensitive customer and prospect data? This seems like a huge risk, which leads many companies to keep the function in-house and their data under their supervision.

    That said, companies are now so accustomed to the SaaS model and its benefits that it’s hard to imagine doing business any other way. Imagine maintaining infrastructure, software updates, and huge IT closets full of servers. So 1990!

    The flexibility and scalability of the SaaS model far outweigh any perceived security-related risks.

    The same is true when working with a quality outsourced service provider. With a proper contract structure, the security risks of working with an outsourced vendor will generally be minimal compared to an in-house team.

    Cost-Benefits of Business Development Outsourcing

    When you hear about a company outsourcing a function like a call center or IT development, it usually evokes two assumptions: it will cost less and the quality will be lower than an in-house team. And that may still be true – it all depends on the company you end up working with and the expectations you have regarding the cost you pay.

    With the right company, outsourcing a BDR team will cost less than building it in-house (as shown above), and quality can really increase with the right training and experience. These are all things you can (and should) discuss with a company before entering into any type of contract. Transparency around pricing and expectations will eliminate any gray areas around the assembled team.

    It’s time to abandon the stigma associated with outsourcing your sales development team and start realizing the many benefits that business development outsourcing offers.

    Finally, yours is a technology company, not a new business development company – BDR. Leave new business development to the experts.

  • The 7 attributes of the most effective sales leaders

    The 7 attributes of the most effective sales leaders

    I read this article on two occasions, during the Executive Master in Leadership & Development at Universidade Católica Portugues and during the Strategic Sales Management program at Harvard. And every time I read it I have new insights. For this reason, I share some notes I made about the article.

    In the article “The 7 Attributes of the Most Effective Sales Leaders” by Steve W. Martin, the author highlights the characteristics of the most successful sales leaders. These leaders are able to lead their teams to achieve goals and results, and have a deep understanding of the sales process and customer needs.

    The first attribute is customer focus. Effective sales leaders are highly customer-focused and understand their needs, wants and challenges. They strive to build lasting relationships with their customers and are able to meet their needs effectively.

    The second attribute is results orientation. Effective sales leaders are always focused on achieving results and achieving goals. They set challenging goals for their teams and motivate their salespeople to achieve them.

    The third attribute is leadership ability. Effective sales leaders have exceptional leadership skills and are able to inspire and motivate their teams. They create a collaborative work culture and encourage innovation and creativity.

    The fourth attribute is coaching ability. They have exceptional coaching skills and are able to help their salespeople improve their sales skills. They offer constructive feedback and create action plans to help their sellers improve.

    The fifth attribute is sales knowledge. They have in-depth knowledge of the sales process and are able to apply this knowledge across their sales and teams. They stay up to date with market trends and use this knowledge to make informed decisions.

    The sixth attribute is adaptability. They are able to quickly adapt to changes in the market and sales industry. They are flexible and willing to change their sales approach to suit market needs.

    The seventh attribute is integrity. They are trustworthy and ethical in all of their sales interactions and negotiations. They value honesty and transparency and are committed to building long-term relationships with their customers.

    In summary, the most effective sales leaders are customer-focused, results-oriented, have exceptional leadership and coaching skills, in-depth sales knowledge, are adaptable, and have integrity. These characteristics make them capable of leading their teams to achieve significant results and build lasting relationships with their clients.

    And you Leader, how are you developing in these attributes? Read the full article in this link.

    Source: https://hbr.org/2015/09/the-7-attributes-of-the-most-effective-sales-leaders

  • Sales Development Team – Total Cost

    Sales Development Team – Total Cost

    Having a Sales/Business Development team to generate qualified leads is a proven method of generating predictable and sustainable revenue.

    However, the cost of creating such a team can easily be miscalculated. When deciding whether to build an in-house team or outsource the function, it is important to consider the total cost of hiring, training, managing and hiring this team.

    Next, we compare that of building an internal team with the cost of an outsourced team. The cost of each component required for an effective team of representatives is listed and explained.

    • Sales Tools
    • Additional Hiring Costs
    • Salaries (Sales Manager)
    • Sales Development Salaries
    • Business Development Salaries

    How does outsourcing offer cost-benefit?

    • Recruitment and Training:

    Attract the best talent It’s harder than ever. Building a recruiting pipeline is expensive and the interview process is time-consuming. Additionally, developing a highly effective and repeatable training program is resource-intensive.

    These costs fall on the outsourced company, which systematized these processes as part of your core business, in order to minimize recruitment and onboarding costs. Digital Selling also uses its own established training program to develop highly qualified professionals and maximize results.

    • Management:

    Companies generally have two options for managing their business development team:

    1. Hire an inside sales manager to provide ongoing support and maximize results for the business development team.
    2. Using the (expensive) time of a Director or VP to freely manage staff between regular duties.

    As an outsourcing company, Digital Selling is able to substantially decrease this cost by scaling with in-house sales managers who can manage multiple groups of projects.

    • Employee costs:

    Employment taxes, employee health benefits, payroll costs, work space, computers and phones are all expenses that an in-house team would need to add, but with outsourced companies it is built into the design.

    • Sales tools and enablement CRM platforms, high-quality data services, prospecting aids, and sales aids are necessary tools for effective business development teams. They are easily scaled by third-party companies, and Digital Selling uses best-in-class for each component of the lead generation and qualification process.

    THE TRUE COST of your SDR team

    Benefits of SDR Outsourcing to Consider When Creating the SDR Role

    💡 According to the article“How much does an employee cost?” by Joe Hadzima There are a handful of unforeseen costs that come with hiring an employee. He quotes Basic Salary, Recruitment Expenses, Taxes, Benefits, Space and Equipment as the main external factors to consider when hiring an employee. Each comes with its own challenges and associated costs to consider during your employee search.

    The costs mentioned in this article are often overlooked, resulting in an erroneous assessment of value.

    Below, we discuss expenses to consider when building a team of SDRs and how much you must expect to spend if you create the function internally.

    Sales Representatives: Salary

    One obvious cost of an SDR team that everyone recognizes – you have to pay your reps! And it’s not just base salary, but also on-target earnings (OTE). This value includes extra costs like your commissions, contest winnings, incentive programs… it can add up quickly, especially if you have a good reputation (which you want – it’s expensive to hire bad talent!).

    Manager/Coordinator Salary:

    Most of the time, companies have two options when it comes to managing their SDR team. They can:

    1) Hire an Inside Sales Manager to provide ongoing support and maximize results for the SDR team, or

    2) Use the (much more expensive) time of a VP or Director to manage the team in addition to their broad responsibilities.

    Whether hired or promoted from within, hiring a manager is a necessary cost to maximize the success of your SDR team.

    Human Resources:Hiring costs (~40% of salary):

    Employment taxes, health benefits, payroll costs, workspace, computers, phones – these are difficult costs of an SDR team that are unavoidable when hiring.

    Plus, attracting the right talent to your organization is no small cost. Recruitment expenses, along with the lengthy interview process, can be expensive. Considering that it is still necessary to train these new representatives means paying for a training program and taking time away from current employees to train new SDRs.

    Sales tools:

    Modern sales tools are packed with technology: CRM platforms, high-quality data services, outreach tools, sales intelligence technology… all are necessary expenses when building an SDR team.

    If you want your reps to succeed, you need to give them the tools to do so.

    Office costs: (space, hardware, supplies)

    Space:

    Renting office space is expensive, but it can be difficult to measure the impact an individual employee has on rent. Fortunately, shared office spaces can give us a better idea of ​​how much cost we can associate with a desk in a given location.

    Hardware: 

    For most companies, hardware costs are built into the internal hiring process, but as your company continues to grow, the need for cost-effective solutions becomes a necessity. Until laptops start growing on trees, this is something you’ll have to provide.

    Supplies:

    Finally, you have to deal with the increasing amount of office supplies your SDR requires. Besides the obvious – like a table and chair – they will use your notebooks, pens, paper towels, kitchen utensils, etc… and this can add up significantly over time.

    All of these costs of an SDR team add up quickly. You can expect some clash between budgeted vs accomplished – especially when you may have initially budgeted X to build your team. Hidden expenses like workspace/equipment, manager salary, sales enablement tools, etc. actually increase that number.

    Often you are choosing between spending real money (buying tools, equipment, hiring a manager) or the opportunity cost of existing resources – using current employees to train new hires, giving managers double duty.

    Alternatively, a standard three sales rep program – Sales Development with Digital Selling costs below $ 36.000,00/year. Over 40% of the economy with immediate effect, organizations can reallocate funds to improve their products/solutions and catalyze growth. Cutting overhead costs (and the headaches that accompany them) through outsourcing can be a viable and healthy alternative.

  • Golden Circle & Ikigai in Sales Pitch?

    Golden Circle & Ikigai in Sales Pitch?

    That’s right, to impact your customers in prospecting you need to align the company’s Purpose with its purpose and the customer’s challenges. See below how it is possible.

    What is the Golden Circle?

    Golden Circle is a concept created by Simon Sinek, an American author and speaker, to help individuals and companies better realize and communicate the purpose of their actions. The concept is based on three fundamental questions that every company or organization must be able to answer:

    • Why do we do what we do?(Why)
    • How do we do what we do?(How)
    • What do we do?(What)

    According to Sinek, many companies and individuals focus their communication on what they do (the third question), leaving aside the other two questions. He argues that by first focusing on the question “Why do we do what we do?” Companies and individuals can create a connection emotionally with your customers or target audience, creating long-term loyalty and commitment.

    The Golden Circle is represented as three concentric circles, with the question “Why?” in the inner circle, followed by the question “How?” in the second circle and, finally, the question “What?” in the outer circle.

    And what is Ikigai?

    Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means “reason for being” or “purpose in life”. It represents the search for meaning and happiness in life by combining a person’s passions, skills, mission and personal values.

    According to the concept of Ikigai, happiness and fulfillment in life are achieved when a person finds an activity that they love, that they are good at doing, that is important to the world and that can be monetized.It is the intersection of these four elements that represents a person’s Ikigai.

    Ikigai is considered a philosophy of life, which encourages people to discover what motivates them and work to achieve their goals and purposes in life. It is an approach that emphasizes the importance of living with meaning and purpose, seeking personal and collective happiness and well-being.

    But is it possible to connect IKIGAI & GOLDEN CIRCLE in the sales approach?

    Yes, it is possible to incorporate Ikigai and Golden Circle concepts into a sales approach to improve communication and commitment with the target audience.

    The Golden Circle can help establish message structure and order, starting with the question “Why?” to convey the company’s purpose and mission, followed by “How?” to explain how the company achieves its goals and, finally, “What?” to present the solutions they offer. This helps to create an emotional connection with the target audience and highlight the company’s purpose, which can be the difference in gaining the public’s attention.

    The concept of Ikigai can be applied to define the target audience and present the benefits and value of your solution. By understanding the target audience’s passions, skills, mission and values, it is possible to create a more personalized sales pitch focused on the audience’s needs and desires, creating an emotional connection and showing how the product or service can help improve lives and help them achieve their personal goals.

    In short, incorporating Ikigai and Golden Circle concepts into your sales pitch can help create a more impactful and personalized message, increasing the chances of success in selling products or services.

    HOW TO INTEGRATE IKIGAI AND GOLDEN CIRCLE?

    Integrating Ikigai and Golden Circle can help establish a clearer strategy focused on the company’s mission, purpose and value. Here are some suggestions on how to integrate these two concepts:

    1. Identify the company’s purpose: The first step is to identify the company’s purpose, which should answer the question “Why do we do what we do?” of the Golden Circle. This can be done through deep reflection on the company’s values, mission and vision.
    2. Finding the company’s Ikigai: After identifying the company’s purpose, it is important to identify the intersection of the four elements of Ikigai – passion, skill, mission and value – to find the company’s reason for being. This can help identify the areas where the company is strongest and where it can add the most value.
    3. Define the target audience: Based on the company’s purpose and Ikigai, it is important to identify the target audience that the company intends to serve. This can be done through an analysis of the target audience’s needs, wants and values ​​and how the company can help them achieve their goals.
    4. Develop the Golden Circle message: With the purpose, Ikigai and target audience identified, it is possible to develop the Golden Circle message that conveys the company’s mission and purpose, how it achieves its goals and what products or services it offers. It’s important to focus on the emotional connection with the target audience and show how the company can help them achieve their goals.
    5. Personalize the message with Ikigai: To make the message even more impactful, it is possible to personalize it with the company’s Ikigai. This can be done by highlighting how the company’s products or services align with its reason for being, how the company can add more value, and how it can help the target audience achieve their personal goals.

    Therefore, Integrating Ikigai and Golden Circle can help create a clearer strategy focused on the company’s purpose and mission, making it more impactful and relevant to the target audience, especially in the development of messages on Linkedin and Cold E-mail 2.0 for a multi-channel strategy.

  • Business vs Personal Values For you

    Business vs Personal Values For you

    Many B2B purchasing decisions are complex. On the one hand, your product or service must solve real problems for an organization. On the other hand, it must meet the personal needs of the people involved in the purchase process. It gets even more complex when you realize that there are several people involved in the purchase decision and their personal needs are often different.

    As individuals, we are exposed to many technology products and services in our personal lives. Consumer companies are much better at providing a great customer experience and creating products we love to use. Indeed, the consumer market drives our expectations when it comes to business purchases. We cannot easily turn off our high expectations in a work-related environment. Nor should we. Our personal expectations and preferences affect how we evaluate products and services for our companies.

    How can we build solutions that meet organizational needs as well as fulfill individual values? This is what sets iconic B2B companies apart from everyone else.

    What I’ve noticed is that B2B companies often communicate surprisingly similar values ​​to potential customers: ease of use, time savings, cost reduction, revenue growth, risk reduction, and so on. Some variations of these values ​​are reported by almost all B2B companies. What’s difficult is seeing a company proactively address the needs of individuals within an organization.

    The most useful work on the intersection of corporate and individual values ​​in B2B markets comes from research conducted by Bain & Company. In an HBR article, Eric Almquist, Jamie Cleghorn, and Lori Sherer summarize and categorize 40 distinct values ​​in B2B offerings, categorized into 5 levels.

    Source: B2B Value Pyramid

    This Value Pyramid helps you understand how B2B offerings can fulfill both objective organizational values ​​and individual and personal values. When designing an ideal customer profile, you want to outline how customers perceive your business and personal values. Listen carefully as they describe the benefits your product or service offers and what they get beyond the features and functionality.

    Business values ​​are easy to measure because they are usually based on metrics, reasoning, and logic that are somewhat objective. Personal values ​​are much harder to identify and communicate. That’s why you need to develop empathy for your customers.

     

  • Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Customer Acquisition Process

    Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Customer Acquisition Process

    Let’s be clear, the customer acquisition process doesn’t end when a customer signs the contract. You should analyze the buying process starting with how your prospects identify their pain and begin researching options and continue through the time they are using your offer and possibly making subsequent purchases. Before buying, you need to sell prospects on the values ​​and needs your product or service solves. After purchase, you must reduce friction when it comes to implementation, integration, and adoption.

    After your customers buy, they need to implement your product or service. Your company needs an implementation plan for more complex solutions or a customer onboarding process for simpler solutions. You want to design for the Aha moment that provides initial value. The Aha moment answers the question: How will the customer experience value first?

    Your ideal customer profile will not be complete without a clear understanding of how your customers purchase your solution. By learning how your typical customer buys, you can create a buying process that improves the experience and accelerates the purchase decision. Your team can anticipate obstacles and proactively resolve them.

    Sales teams can be trained to ask appropriate questions that will help them deliver a better shopping experience. Marketing teams can create content to address typical objections, implementation concerns, or risks associated with purchasing and using your product or service. Development teams can design better onboarding processes that align with how customers shop. And customer success teams can train customers on how to use the product or service.

    When creating your ideal customer profile (ICP), spend time researching how your customers buy. This will help you design better shopping experiences and improve the overall customer experience.

    According to the Fogg Behavior Model, for a sale to take place, the customer needs motivation and the ability to buy, as well as a prompt. And all three elements need to be in place at the same time.

    It’s important to understand what motivates and enables someone to make a purchase and to use that information to provide an effective stimulus or trigger to make the sale.

    Motivation:

    • What will they search for when they need your solution?
    • What questions will your prospects have before they even know they need your solution?
    • What objections do they have to your solution?

    Capability: Does

    Does your target customer have the authority to make a purchase below a certain price? For more expensive or complicated products, there are often multiple stakeholders and approval steps.

    • What is the purchasing power of your target customer?
    • What information do they need to get approval for the sale?

    It’s not enough to make your customers want your solution. You have to make your offer easy to buy. Designing a frictionless shopping experience is just as important as designing the solution itself. The easier it is for a customer to buy your solution, the more satisfied they will be with your company and offerings. 

     

  • Who do you want your Customers to Become?

    Who do you want your Customers to Become?

    The purpose of every business is to create customers, as Peter Drucker said. Notice, he said “create” customers, not identify or find. Great companies not only solve customer pain points but also change how their customers think, what they do, and how they feel. Successful products significantly change people’s lives in significant ways.

    The best way to create a customer and change your life is to think ahead. Michael Schrage, a research fellow at the Center for Digital Business at the MIT Sloan School, wrote for the Harvard Business Review: “The better we know and understand who customers want to become, the better we can invest in and develop the innovations needed to get them there. ”

    This future perspective is not just about creating better products, it’s also about creating better messages. You need to be able to describe the vision and promised land to customers so they can join you.

    Product design and sales teams can be myopic when they focus too much on the current customer problem and ignore their long-term goals. Can you help them achieve these goals? You can think as idealistically as you like, as long as you have practical messages, accurate data, and real solutions to back up your claims.

    When researching your ideal customers, describe exactly how you want them to act, think, and feel like your customers. How do you want to change their lives? How will their lives change because of your product or service? How will your customers’ actions change with your product or service? When developing your Ideal Client Profile, it is important to think about this topic to have better results. 

     

  • Empathy: What Customers Say, Think, Feel, and Do

    Empathy: What Customers Say, Think, Feel, and Do

    We often see the B2B sales process as a cold analysis of the customer’s pain points, values, and goals. We forget that people buy business products. And whenever people are involved, we are dealing with feelings and emotions that drive purchase decisions. We are not as rational as we believe when it comes to making decisions (as Dan Ariely points out in the book “Predictably Irrational”).  

    Empathy helps build trust with your customers. It shows that your goal is not just to sell something, but to improve their lives. When creating your ideal customer profile, understand what your customers say, think, feel, and do to develop that empathy. Understanding what they say, think, feel, and do helps you figure out how to motivate them to act/make a purchase, break out of inertia and take action.

    What is clear to me is that you cannot blindly trust what customers say. You need to hear how they feel, what they do, and how they think. Don’t wait for them to tell you the solution to your problems. Instead, pay attention to noticing subtle feelings and thoughts that paint a clearer picture of your day-to-day situation and activities. When we ask someone directly there is a filter and people tend to misrepresent and report when asked directly. In other words, often what we say and do are not in sync.

    My journey to find a systematic approach to learning about customer feelings led me to discover the empathy map that UX/UI designers and researchers use to gather customer feedback. The most sophisticated product teams regularly show customers new features and product updates before launch and use an empathy map to rank their input. Startups can use this process to showcase and test product features before developing them.

    However, customer development is not just for startups. Even established companies will benefit from showing and discussing product launches and features before committing large resources to build them. The customer development process never stops. Creating an ideal customer profile and conducting a customer discovery process are two sides of the same coin.

    By driving customer development and gathering feedback, you refine your understanding of the ideal customer profile. At the same time, by researching your ideal customers, you can find better ideas and strategies to improve your product and drive customer development.

    Here are some questions to help you get started with an empathy map:

    • What are the customers thinking and feeling? What are some of your concerns and aspirations?
    • What are your friends, colleagues, and leadership likely to say while the user is using our product? What would the customer hear in these scenarios?
    • What would the user see when using our product in their environment?
    • What might the user be saying and/or doing while using our product? How would that change in a public or private setting?
    • What are some user pain points or fears when using our product?
    • What gains can the user have when using our product?

    Source: Empathy mapping helps you better understand your customers: nngroup.com

    Your product and brand should strive to change how people feel about their responsibilities and themselves. Designing your solution to evoke feelings is a powerful way to connect with your customers. You first want to identify how your customers feel about their current broken or complicated process or unresolved issue. So you want to find out what they will feel after resolving these pains – including how they will feel afterward.