What does it mean – to “Touch” your customer?

So in this day and age of multiple marketing messages and complex positioning strategies – what does it mean to “Touch” your customer?

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary (in an extensive definition that runs more than half-way down the page) offers as a first definition:

to bring a bodily part into contact with, esp. so as to perceive through the tactile sense; handle or feel gently usually with the intent to understand or appreciate.

Well – that definition gives us a lot to consider in a marketing impact sense!

First, we note that the concept of touching is not limited to the usual conceptual aspect of marketing. Touching involves more than just thinking. It involves feeling.

Touch is realized through an impact of the senses.

The powerful aspect of the senses is that they are directly wired into the brain – senses shortcut the usual processes of logic and thought. The points where you Touch your customers can be where you energize their emotions and feelings.

These emotional interactions – of course – can be positive or negative. And as emotions, they are often extreme (and therefore very motivating) in their intensity. So your customers can love you (just as your detractors can literally hate you) as a provider of products and/or services.

So the key is this: To understand *each* Touchpoint in the context of the consumer’s overall experience of your product/service brand. As the impact of a Touchpoint is powerful and complex – so is the requirement for marketers to understand their full array of Touchpoint interactions with the consumer marketplace.

Of Tribes and Touchpoints

Book: Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us

Author: Seth Godin

Summary: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us explores the idea that humans have always joined tribes, and the Internet now makes tribe assembly easier than ever. The business application here is that by providing opportunities for your customers to engage with your product or service, while giving employees the freedom to accomplish amazing things, you potentially set up a platform for a conversation – even a tribe – to form around your organization.

You’ll love this book if: You are open to encouraging employees and customers to openly and passionately dialogue about your organization – and learning from this experience.

You’ll hate this book if: You are not interested in creating a customer experience worth talking about, and you think it’s OK for your employees to be bored with their jobs.

Words of Wisdom:

The business world has a long history of conservatives tribes, of groups of people who relish the status quo. The big news is that this has changes. People yearn for change, they relish being part of a movement, and they talk about things that are remarkable, not boring.

Why we think this book is important: Engaged employees translate into engaged (and profitable) customers.

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Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us is another scrumptious Seth Godin nugget, easily consumed in one sitting (or curl-up). In tribe-driven world, anyone can be a leader and thanks to the Internet, it is easier than ever for tribes to assemble.

So what is a “tribe”?

A clear definition of tribe is right there on the inside flap of the book jacket. So clear, so compelling – you are practically dared not to open the book and learn more.

A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have joined tribes, be they religious, ethnic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads).

What does this idea of a tribe have to do with business?

Um, everything.

You see, your customers are bored. They’re not listening to you. Why should they? If you’re like most organizations, you’re more interested in maintaining the same old, same old than creating something exceptional – something your customers will want to talk about.

Something that will compel your customers to form a tribe around your product or service.

The business world has a long history of conservative tribes, of groups of people who relish the status quo. The big news is that this has changed. People yearn for change, they relish being part of a movement, and they talk about things that remarkable, not boring.

And guess what – if your employees are bored, your customers are bored, too.

How sheepwalking damages the customer relationship lifecycle

Godin defines sheepwalking as

The outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them brain-dead jobs and enough fear to keep them in line.

If it is common knowledge these days that engaged employees translate into engaged (and profitable) customers, why do organizations continue the practice of sheepwalking?

And many organizations go out of their way to hire people who color inside the lines, who demonstrate consistency and compliance. And then these organizations give these people jobs where they are managed via fear. Which leads to sheepwalking (“I might get fired!”).

Here is what it’s like for your customers when sheepwalking and touchpoints collide:

• That’s not my job
• I’m off work in 5 minutes; you’ll have to call back tomorrow
• I can’t go out of my way to help you without my boss’s permission

OK, you get it. But what are you going to do about it?

When you hire amazing people and give them freedom, they do amazing stuff. And the sheepwalkers and their bosses watch and shake their heads, certain that this is an exception and that it is way too risky for their industry or their customer base.

Which tribe are you leading?

As you consider the relationship of your employees, your customers and the touchpoints along the customer relationship lifecycle, stop and ask yourself: “Do I want to continue as a leader of sheepwalking or do I want to lead the way for my company to do something remarkable?”

Leading a tribe? Share your experience with us – we’d love to hear from you!

Let’s talk about … books: Discover Your Sales Strengths

Book: Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers

Author: Benson Smith & Tony Rutigliano

Summary: Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers is a wonderfully counterintuitive exploration of developing star salespeople. The book’s premise is the idea that focusing on a person’s strengths will allow them to perform at an exceptional level, while focusing on weaknesses merely produces average results.

You’ll love this book if: You want to try a new strategy for improving your sales results, and the results of your sales team.

You’ll hate this book if: You are steeped in “old school” sales training, such as “working to improve” people’s weaknesses.

Words of Wisdom:

Focusing energy on weaknesses might improve performance somewhat, but – contrary to conventional wisdom – great performance comes from strengths. Knowing your talents, understanding them thoroughly, building them into strengths, and seeing how you can put your strengths to work every day isa key to greatness and, our research would attest, the surer path to success.

Why we think this book is important: Your salespeople are quite possibly your organization’s most important customer touchpoint.

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The book Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers is a wonderfully counterintuitive exploration of developing star salespeople. The book’s premise is the idea that focusing on a person’s strengths will allow them to perform at an exceptional level, while focusing on weaknesses merely produces average results.

What is a strength?

A strength, as defined here, is a capacity for near-perfect performance on a consistent basis. To fully grasp the significance of this, you are well-advised take the companion online assessment, StrengthsFinder. A unique ID number is located on the inside cover of the book and you will use it to complete your own StrengthsFinder assessment.

StrengthFinder measures the presence of talent within the thirty-four themes we have discovered are most indicative of success.

Discover your Sales Strengths does a beautiful job of debunking the prevailing sales training and sales management techniques:

The myth that we grow fastest by paying attention to our weaknesses is incredibly damaging. Sadly, some company development programs are build around this destructive myth, which usually comes disguised as career help.

Ouch! But wait, there’s more:

“What did I do wrong?” This is the curse of the average performer, always trying to improve a weakness. It is a never-ending task. Great performers follow a different tack. They figure out what they do right – and do more of it!

In the section entitled The Manager Effect, the Q12 concept is presented. The Q12 is a list of twelve key questions that affect on important business outcomes, including customer loyalty.

I will divulge only one of the Q12 items:

At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, your sales force is a crucial touchpoint.

Your assignment

• Read Discover your Sales Strengths .
• Give a copy to each of your sales people so they can take the StrengthsFinder assessment.
• Put the findings into action.
• Prepare for the exciting change ahead.