The Importance of Creating A Day in The Life of Your Customer Story & Customer Avatars
The most successful companies in the world are not characterized by the best products in the world but by redefining expectations.
The best brands address our emotional and social needs. Strong businesses define a brand character that reflects our values and our personality.
Organizations must not let relationships become mere transactions because customers will stay loyal to brands that make them feel alive.
How do we do this?
Defining the Problem More Dangerous Than the Pandemic
Social isolation has hardened people and made them less engaging. Having spent more than a year in social isolation, we almost have to re-learn our people skills. Social isolation causes segregation. The less we get out, the more we are only surrounded by people like us. Even worse, we lose our empathy.
Another thing that’s contributing to social isolation besides this current pandemic is social media which has become the tobacco company of today. Social media is one of the fastest-growing segments in business over the last decade. This rise of the solopreneurs means more people have fewer interactions with co-workers.
This is not just a result of the all-virtual world. Businesses all around are building contactless experiences. Drive-thru delivery, self-kiosks, and digital channels are exploding all around us. However, this emotional detachment has a cost: brand loyalty from both your customers and employees.
As a business, you want to create a culture of empathy and compassion. Here are two ways to connect with your customers and your employees:
1. Have a day in the life of your customer video.
Businesses that have a day in the life of a customer have the biggest increase in employee service aptitude and empathy for their customers. It’s a great reminder and great tool businesses can use and share with their team on an ongoing basis. You could even start your monthly or quarterly meetings that way.
The great thing about this is you’re always going to see something a little bit different in the video. Every time you watch the video, something’s going to resonate with you more than it did the last time. It’s a constant reminder for employees to have empathy and compassion. You never know what someone’s going through personally or professionally and the highs and lows of it. We are all unaware of not only the bad things that happened but also the positive things that happened in our customers’ days.
We’re all people at the end of the day and this is a great way to connect.
2. Create your customer personas or avatars.
Customer personas or avatars are customer categories. Within them, you define and break down the different types of customers and the different touchpoints. Understand that the different customer types also have different sets of concerns and needs. Therefore, you must develop specific solutions according to their needs.
For more information and resources on a day in the life of the customer story and avatar, check out The Customer Service Revolution podcast. If you’d like to listen, head over to Episode 039: The Importance of Creating A Day in The Life of Your Customer Story & Customer Avatars.
