I am touting some well-known belief, but it’s worth repeating.
A Harvard Business School study says people will respond to warmth as a measure of trustworthiness. Meet its happy cousins: empathy and authority.
Here’s how it goes:
- Empathy is simply good listening. We’ve all been there in those challenging times where our plans for growth don’t yield the results we need. It’s not BS; we’ve all experienced this frustration.
- Authority is not just a list of what you do. It’s the experience you have serving the missions we’ve all signed on for in our business life. In fact, that experience makes us capable of solving problems because we have the coveted “view from the outside.” There is no replacement for perspective and experience.
Empathy is simply good listening.
Crafting marketing and sales messaging that demonstrates empathy and authority can be a chore--it’s hard not to sound kitschy or salesy. But, with the right tools you can help your prospects in ways they haven’t imagined.
Here are a few tips:
- The customer is the hero. Not you
- When talking through the challenges your prospects encounter, you don't have to sound like a doomsday messenger. Empathetic insights are relatable, not whiney
- Get to the point. Your plan is the way out of the dungeon of indecision and anxiety. Get to it, and make it simple
- Don't be overly clever. Business challenges aren't funny. They keep us up at night. Solve, don't lecture. Resolve, don't create more to think about
I realize trust and empathy and authority can turn into buzz words. Here we mean them to be authentic tools for connecting in a meaningful way.
