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In order to be successful, there are certain things that more or less every business needs to get right, essentially regardless of the industry they may be operating within.
One of the most consistent and significant of these points is the need to communicate clearly and effectively, whether via marketing materials and campaigns, through newsletters for existing customers and clients, or via landing page content on the company website.
Although a business might well have the most dynamic and high-quality service or product range on offer, it will do them little if any good if they are unable to properly express and convey the benefits of that product or service to their prospective customer base, in a way that grabs their attention and convinces them to move forward with a purchase.
Here are a handful of tips for communicating more effectively with customers.
Get to the core of things instead of overwhelming your audience with information
One of the key reasons why you might feel motivated to hire a video production company when looking for ways to communicate effectively with your customers, is because of the fact that skilled videographers know how to condense a core message and brand identity into a short and accessible visual format.
One of the hallmarks of effective communication is the ability to get to the heart of things as concisely as possible, instead of overwhelming your audience with excessive information.
If your website features thousands of words of verbose text on the landing page, for example, the odds that anyone is actually going to stick around to read through all of that content and digest it is minimal.
Instead, you need to be able to quickly and directly express your core points to your prospective customer or client. If they are intrigued by what they see, then they may well look for your brochure or some other source of more in-depth information, so make sure that you have worked with someone like this company offering brochure printing in Santa Fe, NM and/or have a digital copy of it on your website so that this can be accessed or sent to customers on request.
Where possible, “show, don’t tell”
Among fiction authors and screenwriters, there is a very popular guideline that often gets repeated: “Show, don’t tell.”
The basic point of this advice is that It is always best, wherever possible, to demonstrate things for the audience rather than simply explaining or describing them.
In a novel or film, for example, showing a character engaging in evil actions is a lot more effective and sophisticated than having other characters repeat over and over again “that guy is very evil” in order to convince the viewer or reader.
In the context of communicating effectively on the behalf of your business, this principle can mean that you should show videos and images of live demonstrations, feature customer reviews and testimonials, and take whatever other steps you can to show your audience what it is you can offer them, as opposed to just describing what you can offer.
For the most part, people tend to be significantly more influenced by things that they can observe or experience directly, than by things that they just hear about.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes, rather than your own
Whenever you are trying to communicate effectively with your prospective customers, it’s important to remind yourself to put yourself in your customers shoes, rather than speaking purely from your own perspective.
As a representative of your business, the stuff that’s forefront in your mind may include the technical specifications of different products, the product price range, and so on. For your customers, these things are only going to be significant in terms of the direct benefits to the customer.
Every time you’re going to describe a technical feature, for example, you should immediately link it to a particular benefit that the customer can enjoy. “A shorter working day,” “cheaper production costs than the competition, meaning you can invest more in innovation” and so on.
Always emphasise clarity, and work to reduce barriers to understanding
Clarity is always of the utmost importance whenever you are trying to communicate effectively with anyone, but it may be particularly important in a professional context, when you are trying to communicate clearly and effectively with your prospective customer base.
If you utilise a lot of jargon, or allow technical issues to get in the way of clear communication – such as an unwieldy website, where your would-be customers have to click on a bunch of different tabs or hyperlinks in order to find out more – many people will automatically be put off.
Even in the case of prospective customers who know the industry quite well, and who are quite motivated to use your services, doing what you can to reduce barriers to understanding has the potential to result in significantly higher engagement.
Bonus Tip: Provide them with plenty of different ways to communicate with you.
We all have different styles of communication. For example, while some people love talking over the phone, others may favor less direct methods, such as email correspondence. As a result, to ensure that your communication style always aligns with customer preferences, you should provide them with plenty of different ways to get in touch with you. This could include:
A customer service helpline. (Telephone number)
Social media direct messages.
A customer service email (Separate from the email you use to communicate with employees).
Postal address or PO Box.
A contact section on your website.
Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to provide your customers with access to this information. For example, you could work with a Foil Printing Company to design professional business cards that you can hand out at networking events or within your store/offices. This way, your customer will have various options to choose from when they decide to reach out. In addition to opening up new methods of communication between yourself and your clients, business cards are also an effective marketing tool. This is because they will instantly make your company appear more professional.