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The smartphone has rewired our perceptions, blurring the line between personal and work. This collective rewiring means businesses must rethink what they’re selling, and not just products or professional services but also values and intangible experiences. Brands of all types need to be humanized.
Today, we are not just using the same device for everything; we are also thinking about work and life as extensions of one another. What does this change mean for marketers? It no longer matters if you’re selling $10 watches or $10 million wind turbines because every buyer is moving from one digital task to another. Within a matter of minutes, they’re emailing coworkers, texting significant others and checking social feeds for personal and work-related content. Business-to-consumer brands and B-to-B sellers need to wake up to this reality.
Earning trust with relevance
Too many businesses look at the highly personalized experiences provided by Amazon and Apple and say, “We don’t compete with them because they’re selling different things to different people. We don’t need to offer the experience they do.” That belief is entirely wrong. Every company that’s attempting to engage with a person is competing against Amazon and Apple.
Smart executives know that, like the tech giants, they must earn a customer’s time. They understand they’re going head-to-head with mobile apps, social media and other digital channels. They’re approaching the experiences they provide from the buyer’s point of view, inspiring trust in commercial relationships.
Even as businesses digitize, they’re increasingly held to the standards of behavior one would expect from a colleague or friend. Businesses must become more human to meet these expectations and demonstrate accountability, transparency and empathy.
Bringing narratives alive with data
Businesses that sell to other businesses often undervalue employing narratives to build emotional connections with audiences, focusing instead on cold, sales-oriented bullet points. That’s not the case with IBM, which has done a fantastic job of using data to create compelling nonfiction around its artificial intelligence platform known as Watson.
At Wimbledon in July, Watson delivered millions of data points throughout the tournament to television viewers and in-stadium onlookers. With that data, Watson analyzed each match in terms of points, players’ emotions and movements and levels of crowd noise. Watson’s data provided the punditry that a broadcaster could not offer while making the viewing experience more human. The data’s allure was beautifully captured in a TV spot called “The English Garden,” featuring Wimbledon legend Roger Federer.
Making customers’ lives easier
Translating storytelling into sales means businesses need data to play a lead role in customer service. More and more, buyers want a seller to use technology to personalize their experience and offer human assistance when called upon to take care of the buyer step by step.
TurboTax, for instance, offers a superb combination of high-tech and human touch by giving customers the ability to video chat with a tax professional within its online experience. For $50, tax preparers have instant access to a CPA-level advisor and can find new exemptions. This digital and human approach saves taxpayers thousands of dollars and helps them believe the company actually cares.
Becoming people-first
Companies that have spent the last few years becoming digital-first must pivot and become people-first. Attempts at developing customer relationships too often resemble online badgering, where companies follow consumers for days on end with ads. People don’t like that experience, as 84 percent of customers say being treated like a human being, not a number, is crucial to winning their business.
At the same time, marketers should use data to consider people’s needs before and after they buy. Achieving this balance entails going beyond the transaction to be that person’s trusted partner, treating them as a good friend and ultimately earning repeat business.
The second version of the iPhone set us on this course a decade ago, bringing the personal and the professional into the same realm. Our approach to business has become more human, yet too many companies act like they never got the memo.
