Hi there, how have you been? It looks like we are slowly emerging out of lockdown here in the UK, and there’s a bit more hope on the horizon..
Our Fe went back to school last week, hubby and I are getting our first jab next Friday - that’s it, the cat’s out of the bag, we’re both over 50 😁!
As for Mother Nature, well it’s also a turning point, as we celebrate the Spring Equinox today.
On this 20 March 2021, the day is as long as the night, in perfect balance.
This point in time inspired me to write this piece. I had the idea for a while in my mind, actually the germ of an idea last Autumn, when Strictly was back on the TV screens. Had I written it then, the title would have been something like ‘It Takes Two To Tango’!
I’m ready to share it with you now, and it feels even better as you know that my business Holisto has been deeply inspired by the way Mother Nature taught us.
So what is it all about??
I wanted to give you my perspective on what’s going on with all this stuff around marketing these days - how suddenly you will get so many clients and so much more money if you automate, if you build a funnel, if you have a lead magnet etc etc etc.
Sure, it’s vital to keep up with technology and the platforms available to your business to engage with existing and prospective customers. Yet noise levels online have gone bezerk since lockdown and it would be fair to say that the increase in online usage has got everyone in a spin and Zoom/FB live fatigue is creeping in!
So what do you do?? How about going back to the basics for a change?
When people talk about customer relationships, they completely gloss over the meaning of the word ‘relationship’. Here’s Oxford dictionary’s definition:
‘noun. /rɪˈleɪʃnˌʃɪp/ the way in which two people, groups, or countries behave toward each other or deal with each other’.
The ‘each other’ is the important bit here, the notion of an exchange between both sides.
At its most basic level, the relationship created by a business and its customers is a transactional one: the business exchanges a product or service with its customers in return for money.
As our consumer societies grew, the dynamics between businesses and customers evolved. There was a time when the balance between demand and supply was very much in favour of the supply side, and businesses could flog their stuff with some advertising that would make you cringe today. I loved watching Mad Men and the making of ads in those days, it’s amazing how much things have changed in such a relatively little time!
Fast forward a few decades, supply has multiplied, competition has intensified, consumers have become super savvy and businesses - big or small - are often scratching their heads to find an edge.
Granted, it’s a good thing that understanding customer needs is now front of mind for the majority of businesses. How on earth can you get people to know, like and trust you to buy your product or services if you don’t show them that you understand what makes them tick, and what pain point you will address with your offering?
Yet in the midst of all this, I believe that not enough emphasis has been made yet on this side of the relationship: yourself. As many of you know already, I strongly believe that business owners project themselves - consciously or unconsciously - in their business and their brand.
So if you don’t know who you really are deep down and what you stand for, how can you find your tribe, the people you want to serve with your business?
You might be tempted by one group of customers, because on paper they’re the source of a promising revenue, or because they happen to be featured heavily in the media at the moment, or because another business that you admire has a lot of them buying their stuff.
But what if you’re not the best placed to serve them because at the end of the day, no matter hard you try, the type of brand/business that attracts them will never be you?
That is why I built my brand framework the way I did, so that your brand is rooted in YOUR vision, in YOUR beliefs, in YOUR values, in YOUR personality.
In doing so, you build a brand that is authentically aligned with you, and you get far better chances to connect with customers that YOU want to serve and YOU will make them tick.
Interested in restoring the balance in the relationship between your business and your customers? Then drop me a line and we’ll take it from there.
Until then, happy Spring equinox, enjoy watching Mother Nature coming back to life!
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