I,Business: Why Your Business Should Hone Its Human Side

Working with business bots is never fun. Think of the last time you called your credit card company. The automated system that answers your call speaks to you in a machine voice. You respond but if you don’t say the right words, the machine won’t know why you are calling. Conversations with machines have directed me to connect to the service department that tells me I need to talk to the billing department that tells me I need to talk to the mailing department and so on.

So many times I wished that I could just interact with the same business I saw in advertisements when I first decided to have the credit card. Where is that business? I want to talk to them! But instead I am confronted with literal machines. And beyond that, the bureaucracy machine. If there were a credit card company that I could relate to and communicate with, I would switch in a heartbeat.

When it comes to business, be sure to welcome customers with open human arms and not a robotic arms because….

People run your business, not machines

Early in my career, I worked in customer service for a major credit card company. I answered hundreds of calls a day. I had strict rules to follow with each customer interaction, and many scripts that I had to read verbatim. Customers hated it. I didn’t blame them. They finally made it through the automated call system, got a human on the line, and the human won’t communicate outside of call scripts. I have been on both sides of this phone call and it isn’t easy for anyone involved. That’s because humans are the ones who actually run a business.

Even if you are of the school of thought that a business should run like a machine and the people just move the wheels and pulleys that make your machine deliver a product, you can’t deny the human element. No matter what, you have to count on people to meet your consumer needs.

If you allow your people to be human, you will foster a more productive workforce who can better connect to your consumers. Looking back on my call center days, I would have had the flexibility to better meet customer needs if I didn’t have to stick to a script. Moreover, I would have had the flexibility to use my human skillsets and expand beyond my role and solve more complex issues. If business keep their people grid-ironed by structure, they limit the possibility of people solving a key issue, rising above the call of duty, or even building relationships.

Relationships Sell

Think of the last time you made an impulse purchase and you didn’t know why you even decided to buy it. Was a salesperson involved? If you answered yes, that is probably because the salesperson built a relationship with you in the short amount of time it took them to sell you the product. When a seller relates to you on a human level first, then you are more likely to engage in a buyer-seller relationship next.

But if you are a savvy consumer who is beyond relationship selling, you still need that human connection if you are going to be persuaded to make a purchase. The salesperson has to find what key information is going to relates to your lifestyle and how this product impacts it. If your business depends on sales, the only way to meet your consumers needs is to show that you understand those needs.

Authenticity Builds Brand Loyalty

Any entrepreneur can take a business plan and replicate it to turn a profit. But if you are looking to build a legacy like Apple, or Google, then a copy/pasted brand is not going to suffice. What gives these companies that extra edge? They are authentic.

Authenticity is undeniably a human trait. When your business exhibits this human element, it connects your product to your target audience and keeps consumers returning for more. Think of Apple consumers. They will wait in line all night for a new product release. They won’t consider androids as viable phone options. They often have a suite of products such as a mac computer, apple tv, ipad, and iphone. Apple consumers are the picture of brand loyalty. Now look at Apple’s brand. Their releases are always televised events where the CEO connects directly with consumers. And the consumers respond by purchasing the product consistently and recommending it to their peers.

TLDR

Your consumers are tired of interacting with businesses that feel like machines because:

• Humans are running your business. Let the humans be themselves so they have the flexibility to go above and beyond to meet consumer needs
• Relationships sell. Let your business meet consumers on their level to truly understand how your product can benefit their lives.
• Authenticity builds brand loyalty. Your business has to behave like a human to connect to human consumers.

It is time to bring the human element to the forefront so that your business can reach its full potential. Are you interested in bringing the human element of your brand forward? Let dopplepop help! Check out our services and let us take your brand from robot to human.