In today’s climate, especially during a pandemic, it can be difficult to step back and look at the bigger picture. The bigger picture being -- how a company should operate during a time of upheaval. There are many ways to go about it, but a good place to start is how you want your message conveyed to your audience.

The usual tactics of selling are changing, and probably will continue to change for a while. Having a deeper awareness of your customer’s emotions and experiences during this time, versus just focusing on the typical transactional behaviors, is imperative for several reasons.

Let's Get to the Bottom of What Customers are Really Asking For

Decision-makers are increasingly relying on brands to help them make an informed purchase decision and looking for insight as to how your product can help solve their problem. Trust is a big factor for those decision-makers, as they want to be able to rely on your expertise -- especially during a time when uncertainty is rampant.

Finding ways to adjust your content to meet your audience’s current emotional needs is one of the best ways to meet your customers where they’re at currently. Look no further than your own emotions, too, in this process. Sure, factors such as achievement, pride, and relatedness play a role in our ongoing emotions. But recent studies have also shown that certain factors such as reassurance, uncertainty, safety, risk, and fear are more amplified due to the COVID pandemic.

It’s more important than ever to hone in on these concerns, as customers are looking for insights as to how they can make sound decisions during a time of uncertainty. If we take a step back and look at the benefits of the products we sell, and if we approach our customers from a shared truth perspective by creating stories where the customer is the hero, empathy will inevitably shine through.

Be a Positive Force and Provide a Clear Path

Between Zoom calls, company meetings, and crisis management, people are feeling pinched. The more you can provide a clear path for recovery by being a guide to solve a problem, the better. Helping your customers find new opportunities and boosting their confidence will not only help them feel better, but it will also ultimately help put things into perspective for your own business as well. 

Be an Empathetic Partner 

It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of day-to-day operations. But if we take a step back and consider our client’s personal priorities and not just their business ones, then we can open up new avenues of lending a helping hand. Emotional intelligence can come from understanding your client’s career advancement goals, helping them feel pride in their work, or even just helping your client better demonstrate their value to their own teams are just a few ways this can be achieved. 

One Step At A Time

Change doesn’t happen overnight. And in fact, in this day and age, taking baby steps one day at a time is more important than making major sweeping changes. Create content around things your customers can achieve now. Breaking content into stages and making adjustments over time is more important than coming up with elaborate plans that can be daunting to customers and decision-makers.

Now is the time to put ourselves in our customer’s shoes and show a new level of empathy that is both helpful and trusting. Consider how your content can help create a brand of significance. It all starts with building a story that personally resonates around your customer’s needs and concerns and creating a truly meaningful partnership that helps unlock the power of personal connection -- which is something that we all need during this time. 

The usual tactics of selling are changing and we're here to help. We'd love to discuss your content goals and see how we can help during this time. Take a look at our free Inbound Marketing Cookbook today.