How do you motivate customers to buy your products or services? Do you tell them how reliable you are, how long you’ve been in business, how your product will benefit them, how many satisfied customers you have, how you have a money back guarantee?
Wait—HOW should not be the first thing. WHY needs to come first. HOW speaks to the intellect. WHY moves the heart. People make decisions with the heart. The intellect is backup.
Your WHY is your vision. It’s what inspires you in your business. Find a way to communicate that, and you’ll do more than motivate sales. You’ll inspire loyalty. “Only when the WHY is clear and when people believe what you believe can a true loyal relationship develop,” says Simon Sinek in his book, Start with Why.
A strong CRM strategy helps you grow customer loyalty by improving how you relate to each one. It will also help you identify which ones believe what you believe, as Sinek says, so you can especially invest in relationships with them.
Train your team to deal with customers as if they were on a date. For what not to do, Sinek uses the example of a man on a first date who talks about himself all through dinner – how talented, successful, well-loved, and handsome he is. He’s touting all his “benefits.” The woman thinks he’s full of himself and has no interest in a second date. If, on the other hand, he talks about why he does what he does and then truly listens to her, she’s more likely to give him a second date.
You don’t build trust by sharing facts and figures, features and benefits. That’s a sales pitch. You build trust and loyalty by sharing your WHY and listening for clues to theirs. Just be sure to record what you learn in your CRM database.
This is what we mean when we say that CRM becomes an appreciating asset as you grow a knowledge base on all your organization’s customers. With that knowledge you can make clear decisions across your organization, including which customers to invest the most in – the ones whose hearts sing with your WHY.
What is your business’s WHY?
