5 Tips for Tapping into Your Customers’ Mindsets

In today’s ultra-competitive business environment, the pursuit of sales growth is of vital importance. However, aggressively going after sales without understanding customer needs and desires is a pitfall to avoid. In the rush to build sales, you may alienate customers who feel you do not have their best interests in mind.

The following are 5 tips for tapping into your customers’ mindsets to effectively build your business:

1. Listen more, talk less

It’s essential, as a businessperson, to get your clear message out to your target audience. It’s tempting to bombard customers and potential customers alike with your sales literature, pitches, videos and more. The desire from your end is to give them lots of information to promote your products and services.

Focusing solely on this approach has its downside. In essence, you’re doing all the talking. You may not be giving your customers the chance to say anything.

That’s why listening is an important element of the sales process. Only by listening do you learn from your customers. Diligent listening helps you understand what they expect from your business and all it offers.

2. Engage in-store

You can properly tap into your customers’ mindsets through engaging them in-store. Your goal is to promote interaction with them. In this way, you learn more about their motivations for seeking out your company and the solutions you provide. You want to understand the reasons why they chose to visit your establishment in the first place.

In-store, engage your customers via face-to-face pleasant conversations. Train your staff in making customers feel at ease in your store. Encourage questions from them without “pushing” for a quick sale.

You can also engage customers through interactive displays that encourage them to try a product sample. Furthermore, promote contests in-store that require customers’ conversing with you on specific requirements of the contest. It’s all about dialog with your niche market.

3. Engage online

Online engagement is a must in 21st century marketing. People expect to learn more about businesses, and your business, online. They expect you to have a dynamic website, blog, and eCommerce platform where they can effortlessly conduct business.

Your web portals are avenues to engage customers. Interact with your audience through allowing them to make comments on your blog. Ask them to fill out a survey on your site.

This is their online opportunity to offer opinions on what they desire from your enterprise. Include a call-to-action to encourage visitors to opt-in to receive your newsletter. You can then communicate with them via email regularly and engage them further.

4. Invite

Sometimes it only takes a simple invitation to learn more about what your customers are thinking. Plan a special event at your place of business and invite people to attend. This should be more than just a sales event; it should involve learning.

Make the event an information-gathering occasion. Let customers gain value through you providing them useful information that solves their problems. This can be through detailed product or service demonstrations targeted at customers most common concerns.

Provide useful reports, brochures, case studies and the like to take home. This can help them further digest the solutions you’re offering them. Armed with relevant knowledge, they will be more comfortable down the road in choosing your business as their go-to place for products and services.

5. Visit

You can tap into customers’ mindsets through being where your customers are - when they’re not at your place of business. This means visiting online with people in specialty forums of, or related to, your niche. Converse with potential customers on these portals.

Additionally, use the popular social networking sites to visit with customers. Moreover, visit with customers and potential customers’ in-person through trade shows and other marketing events. This could include Chamber 0f Commerce initiatives in your city or region.

Tapping into your customers’ mindsets using the above tips can help you build your business successfully. Employing the above suggestions allows you to see your business from your customers’ perspectives. It’s the best way to consistently build sales because you’re approaching people with their interests in mind.