{"id":1608,"date":"2020-08-28T12:04:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T11:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev-socialmatrix.co.uk\/sbsoriginal\/?post_type=blog-post&#038;p=627"},"modified":"2021-02-09T20:44:09","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T20:44:09","slug":"why-empathy-marketing-is-important-for-your-post-lockdown-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/why-empathy-marketing-is-important-for-your-post-lockdown-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Empathy-Marketing is Important for your Post-Lockdown Business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">Even pre-COVID our local businesses were changing. People were doing more online, over the internet and via instant messages or emails. There was a reduction in face-to-face interaction in many businesses. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">Then COVID-19 hit, and we were all in lockdown. The internet became a lifesaver for many businesses as it enabled them to continue to operate to some extent at least when their physical premises had to close. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">In this post-lockdown world, we are seeing many people returning to an in-person approach. Having been starved of contact, forced to do everything online, they are looking for personal interaction once more. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"s7\"><span class=\"s6\">Bringing empathy into your business<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">But what does this mean for businesses, especially local ones like ours?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s8\"><span class=\"s5\">You can sum it up by saying we need to bring more empathy into our businesses by talking and marketing to our customers a little differently. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s8\"><span class=\"s5\">You need to show that you understand where they are coming from and that you share their challenges and concerns. This could be the key to business survival going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"s7\"><span class=\"s6\">Help people first, sell second<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">Perhaps the biggest way to bring empathy into your business is with your own mindset. We know we need to sell to make money, to keep our business in operation and pay our bills. &nbsp;But at the outset, if we approach the sales process intending to help our customers THEN make a sale, we are likely to see better results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">The old days of intrusion marketing are thankfully behind us. Rather than TV ads that badger people into buying, we have <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dev-socialmatrix.co.uk\/sbsoriginal\/business-product\/flyers-leaflets\/\"><span class=\"s9\">helpful leaflets<\/span><\/a><span class=\"s5\"> that tell them about our services and how they can help them. Rather than phoning customers to pester them with follow up, we send emails or leaflets with a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dev-socialmatrix.co.uk\/sbsoriginal\/business-product\/business-cards\/\"><span class=\"s9\">business card<\/span><\/a><span class=\"s5\"> attached, maybe even including a personal note with some tips they\u2019ll find useful. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"s7\"><span class=\"s6\">Understanding their fears<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">Another way to bring empathy into your business is to realise that many people are still worried about catching COVID-19 when they step out of the door. This applies even to B2B businesses because business owners are people too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">A great way to help with this is to have <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dev-socialmatrix.co.uk\/sbsoriginal\/business-product\/banners-large-format\/\"><span class=\"s9\">signage around your shop<\/span><\/a><span class=\"s5\"> or premises that tells people what to do. It also highlights the steps you have taken to protect them while and reassures them that you understand their worries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">You can even do a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dev-socialmatrix.co.uk\/sbsoriginal\/business-product\/flyers-leaflets\/\"><span class=\"s9\">leaflet drop<\/span><\/a><span class=\"s5\"> to tell your customers that you are open and the safety measures you have in place. This isn\u2019t so much about selling as letting them know you are protecting them as much as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"s7\"><span class=\"s6\">Being empathetic in business<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">Bringing empathy into your business might sound like buzzword and not so relevant for a local business. But in these difficult times, it\u2019s more important than ever to show you understand your customer\u2019s challenges. Because people connect with businesses that show empathy for their feelings. And they buy from businesses they connect with. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s4\"><span class=\"s5\">Let\u2019s help each other to kickstart out local businesses. Contact us for advice about printing and marketing. We\u2019d love to help.<a href=\"http:\/\/dev-socialmatrix.co.uk\/sbsoriginal\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">We\u2019d love to help.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even pre-COVID our local businesses were changing. People were doing more online, over the internet and via instant messages or emails. There was a reduction in face-to-face interaction in many businesses. Then COVID-19 hit, and we were all in lockdown. The internet became a lifesaver for many businesses as it enabled them to continue to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":24,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1642,"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608\/revisions\/1642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbsprinters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}