Human Centric Lead Generation

What is human-centric CRM?

These are just some of the things that CRM is not:

• It is not a piece of software or a database
• It is not a Sales system that helps you monitor what salespeople are doing
• It is not a data marketing tool

It can involve all of these things, but above all, CRM is a way of doing business focused on Managing the Relationships you have with your Clients and those you hope to be your clients. That is important for these three key reasons:

• If you don’t have Clients, you have a hobby, not a business or charity.
• The success of your organization depends on the success of your Relationships with them.
•  So, it makes sense to Manage those relationships as effectively as possible.

There is no reason in a minimal setting why you can’t manage these relationships without any system. However, researchers tell us you cannot truly know more than 150 people. So, if you have more than 150 leads and contacts, you will need some tools to help you manage them. These tools could be CRM software like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho, which are designed to help you manage and nurture your client relationships effectively. 

What Makes CRM Human-Centric

What makes all of that human-centric is when clients and prospects feel that you, as an organization or business, are treating them as Human Beings. Clients and Prospects don’t want an emotional “Relationship” with the people they buy services or products from. But they do want a human one where they are treated as people through:

• Acknowledgment – To be acknowledged as important to you
• Respect – Their needs are respected.
• Trust – They can trust you to have their interests at heart.

(John McKean, Customers are People  – The Human Touch, John Wiley, 2003)

So, how can you build ART (Acknowledgement, Respect, and Trust) from the start when you are prospecting for business? That is the subject of this Blog.

Acknowledge your Prospects as People first.

Acknowledging prospects as people means valuing them as individuals, not just as data points on a spreadsheet or CRM Database. This approach, unlike email blasts, shows respect and consideration for their unique needs. While mass emails may work in rare cases, the response rate is usually less than 1%, and only a small fraction of these prospects become clients.

Rumor has it that you are a person. How does it feel to be approached by a salesperson who, within seconds, knows enough to tell you what you need, and what you need just happens to be what they want to sell? Don’t you scream inside, “SO YOU SAY?” It doesn’t matter whether this is in an email, networking event, or trade show.

As a person, you want to be listened to as the expert about you, whether you are buying for a business or yourself. You don’t want them to give you the solution they want to sell you. You want to find the solution that’s right for you. All you need is their help to do that.

Forty years in sales has taught me that if you acknowledge prospects as people when you approach them, they treat you as a person right back. That was true knocking on doors back in the day, and it is true of email marketing, telemarketing, networking, trade shows, and social media today.

Respect your Prospects as People

It’s easy to forget that, sad as it might be, your fantastic product and service are not at the front of the prospect’s mind except in exceptional circumstances. When you offer what they are thinking about at the first contact, it is “happy days.” We used to call these Blue Birds because of their rarity. These are the prospects who are actively looking for a solution that your product or service can provide. They are usually busy with their lives, and you have just interrupted them, often when they would much rather be doing something else.

There is no point in talking to someone in depth when they are thinking about something else because they will not listen, no matter what they say or how excellent your sales proposition is. They need to be prepared to give you time; that is all you can sell when meeting them for the first time. While eCommerce and retail for small-ticket items may differ, this is true regardless of your channel in business-to-business and complex consumer markets.

You also need to respect their right as a person to say no.

Build Trust through the Prospect Journey

How would you feel if someone walked into your favorite bar or restaurant while you were with your friends, interrupted you, and tried to sell you something you needed? Would you buy it? Well, perhaps if you were desperate and couldn’t find it elsewhere. But what if there was advertising blurb all over the walls trying to sell you the same thing?

If, however, you found out they knew about what you were looking for, would you find an opportunity to ask them about it? And if they showed they were knowledgeable and gave you good advice, would you be more or less likely to buy from them than phone up one of the companies advertising on the wall?

Instead of pushing a product or service on first contact, focus on building trust. This is the time to show your expertise and establish a connection. Remember, people buy from people they trust, not from companies that bombard them with sales pitches.

How can CRM Systems make you more human-centric?

A CRM System sensitively configured can support the ART of human-centric prospecting (Acknowledgment, Respect, and Trust). Firstly, you can use it to capture and acknowledge what the prospect is telling you about themselves so that you can acknowledge and treat them as people with needs. Secondly, because you are capturing this data, you can more easily nurture a lead over time, so you don’t need to sell on the first contact and can respect that their time is as valuable as yours. And thirdly, you can build trust through this nurturing process by always doing what you promise (task management) and demonstrate your care for them as a person.

If you care about every prospect as a person and want to have the tools to make that a reality, perhaps we should talk – 07983 784816