This post sequence encourages you to explore relational marketing in-depth. It builds into a questionnaire to help coaches, consultants and freelancers prepare their relational marketing strategy. This focus here is empathy in marketing.
Relational Marketing.
In the last three posts, I asked questions of your business about vision, market and promise. If your vision includes genuine help for others (and why are you coaching if it doesn’t?) then you must understand your market so you make a promise that really helps.
Empathy is where you stand in someone else’s shoes and see the world from their perspective. It is not easy. For example, you may need wealthy clients who can pay for your high-end services. How do they see the world and understand money? But your next prospect may not be so affluent and may need the same service. How can you help both? Or do you aim to help only one?
In some ways the prospects furthest from you may be easiest to understand. Their difference, forces you to build a world different from the one you know. Someone who’s worldview is close to yours can be more difficult because you may overlook their differences.
Empathy in Your Business
- Think of a real person, maybe a client or prospect, whose worldview is like yours. Where do your worldviews differ?
- How many reasons can you think of why understanding affluent people helps your business?
- Consider people who would benefit from your promise, occupy your niche but do not share your worldview? Would you find it difficult to work with them? Why? Which worldviews do you find particularly difficult?
Bridging the Gap
Are worldviews important? There will always be major differences beneath the surface. None of us are immune to this. We may not and should not change our views for a contract but we can keep track of our own behaviour.
When you listen to clients and prospects, keep an eye on your response to what they are saying. Is it awakening strong feelings and if so, how do you deal with them? You can’t avoid these issues coming up but you can learn a more empathic stance.
This is the fourth post in this sequence. Sign up below to make sure you don’t miss any. You get a weekly round-up of my posts and a pdf about how to make sure you charge what your business is worth. Most weeks you receive an email with helpful news or pointers to how you can tackle these questions.
