Customer apathy is a common challenge for many businesses, especially when the customer sees no need for the product or service they offer. Customer apathy can lead to low engagement, loyalty, and retention, hurting the business’s growth and profitability.
For salespeople/businesses to overcome customer apathy, they must create value, differentiate themselves, and communicate effectively with their customers. Here are six ways to do that:
- Understand your customer’s needs and pain points. The first step to overcoming customer apathy is to understand what your customer wants, needs, and struggles with. You can conduct market research, surveys, interviews, or focus groups and ask questions in the sales conversations.
Understanding your customer’s needs, pain points, and aspirations is key to connecting your product or service features and benefits in a way so customers see how your product meets their needs.
- Develop a Market Dominating Position (MDP). MDP is a statement that summarizes why a customer should buy from you and not from your competitors. Describe the benefits, features, and advantages of your product that your customers will find relevant and compelling.
Your MDP can help you stand out and attract your customers' attention and interest.
- Use storytelling and emotion. Storytelling is a powerful way to emotionally connect with your customer. Stories can help you illustrate how your product or service can improve your customer’s life, evoke positive emotions, and inspire action.
You can use them to showcase your brand personality, values, and mission and share customer testimonials, case studies, or success stories.
- Leverage social proof and referrals. Social proof is when people follow the actions or opinions of others they trust or respect. Have you collected reviews on Google or Facebook or posted them on your website?
You can use social proof to overcome customer apathy by showing them how other customers have benefited from your product or service, how famous or reputable your brand is, or how satisfied your existing customers are.
Additionally, you may ask your happy customers to refer their friends or family to your business since word-of-mouth marketing is one of the best ways to generate new customers and revenue.
If you have these and share them in your sales conversations, it supports you and is an aid in moving your prospect away from their no-need perspective.
- Offer incentives and rewards. Incentives and rewards are another way to motivate your customers to take action. You can offer discounts, coupons, free trials, samples, gifts, loyalty programs, or contests to entice your customers to try your product or service, make a purchase, or repeat a purchase. Incentives and rewards can also help you create a sense of urgency, scarcity, or exclusivity that triggers your customers’ fear of missing out.
- Make it easy and convenient. Finally, make it easy and convenient for your customers to do business with you. You can do this by simplifying your processes, reducing friction points, providing multiple options, enhancing accessibility, and improving customer service. Ensure that your customers have an enjoyable experience with your brand at every touchpoint.
Knowing What You Now Know…
These are some powerful ways to help you to overcome customer apathy. Now that you’re armed with this knowledge, what will you do to position your product or service as the perfect solution for your prospects’ pain?
-Courtesy of Phil Gilkes
