Easing Fears Through Charm and Wit
Picture the scene—its Friday night, Michael has just settled down to binge-watch the new Netflix show he’s been dying to see. He’s poured himself a nice glass of red and is raising the glass to his lips. The phone rings! It’s his grandmother.
“Will I, won’t I, will I?” He answers the phone.
“What do you think of that Boris eejit and his proposal?!?” Straight into it. No hello. “Hello, grandmother dearest!” “I mean the bloody cheek of him!” Still, no hello. “He does have lovely cheeks.” “Michael! I’m serious! He wants two borders now. Two! “I don’t think it’ll come to that.” “How do you know it won’t?” “Well, I don’t, but I’m hoping reasonable minds will prevail.” “There isn’t a reasonable mind amongst them.” “The EU will reject it. Don’t worry.” “And as for Arlene!” “Ah, hear! Arlene! Really? On a Friday night? You want to talk about Arlene Foster of the DUP? On a Friday night?” She’s laughing now. “Sorry I draw the line at Arlene when I’m about to tuck into a Merlot”. “You’re right too. OK, time for the Late Late”. “Bye, gran.”
Job done. He smiles, takes a mouthful of fruity red and presses play on the remote.
Michael knows his grandmother only too well. He lives five minutes away and drops into her every other day. He knows how she likes her tea—full of milk with loads of honey. He knows she likes ‘the horses’ and has the odd flutter. He knows sometimes she pours that milky tea into her saucer to ‘take a sup’! He knows she likes a ‘bit of news’! He knows she’s all up in a heap about Brexit and the border. And he knows with a bit of charm and humour he can ease those fears until the Late Late Show comes on.
When we genuinely know people, we can connect with them on an emotional level through language and the way we use it. We know when to be serious, inject humour or offer comfort. We know their hopes, dreams and challenges. So we empathise. We ease their fears through support and advice. We offer help, encouragement and reassurance. We persuade them when we think they’re wrong. We know what to say, how to say it, and when. We know the tone of voice to use, so we adjust our cadence accordingly. We know how to do all this because we intrinsically know the person to whom we are speaking.
As a business owner, it should be your priority to know your customers as well as your closest family and friends. Imagine if you did? You’d have a basic demographic overview at your fingertips—who your customers are, where they’re from, and how old they are. You would have a psychographic profile—their backstory, traits, values, behaviours and opinions. You would know what needs they might have and how you could meet them. As a result, you create better solutions exceeding their needs. You communicate on an emotional level, use language they understand, to guide, inform and delight them. You devise marketing campaigns that work, write better copy, be persuasive. You differentiate yourself from your competitors through a brand identity that is focused on them.
In doing so, your business, service or product becomes more user-focused and attractive to the customer. More people in your target market are inspired to connect with your brand. The company is a more attractive proposition because your story is being told in a way that resonates with them. This leads to more customers, increased revenue and ultimately helps you achieve growth.
But how do you do this? How do you find out who your customers are? At Lands, this is something we help our clients with during our pre-design process. In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing some techniques and methods that we employ. We’ll talk about defining target markets, differentiation, building customers profiles and finding out who your ideal customers are and how to communicate with them.
In the meantime, if you need help discovering your perfect customer, please get in touch!
Brian Byrne is a graphic designer and founder of Lands.
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Ballynaleck
Crossabeg
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Y35 KN35
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