I’m cutting through this week’s work like Buzz Sawyer back in the day of unhinged wrestling. Hope you are too. On tap this morning is a Feature Story about speaking your customers’ language — way harder than you think. Then, get a heavy dose of insights in the following sections:

• Knowledge Base (includes storytelling tool)

• Self Help (one less smoker)

• Facts & Stats  

• Get Hacking (be understood online)

Alright, let’s see where most brands go illiterate when trying to “speak” to their customers.

Voice of the Customer

Marketing is all about being clear. Hard to achieve that when you don’t speak the same language as your customers, correcto?

Even slight differences between the voice of the customer (VoC) and your brand’s messaging can make the customer choose another brand over yours.

I’ll drop some examples of the voice of the customer I’ve seen in my half-century on this rock (36 years working) but...

First, I’ll tell you upfront

There’s no easy way to learn the exact language your customers speak. It takes time to do this hardcore research (Unless you’re an enormous corporation like Intel that can afford to lose 1.6 billion dollars in one quarter. Those corps can pay for deep research.) 

The good news is hard work pays off. 

The marketer willing to do what other marketers aren’t willing to do will win more customers. 

Now, if you have deep pockets or mountains of data, use the following to hone in on the voice of the customer:

• Surveys

• Focus groups

• Customer service reps

Still, even successful companies fail to invest time in the customers’ language.

Voice of the Customer Examples

My buddy took a sales job pimping some industrial thingies.

I say thingies because he couldn’t explain to me what he sold - and the word “thingies” tickles me.

See, the owner of this successful company knew the voice of the customers they serve but didn’t take time to teach my buddy that language. 

They assumed since he was a people-person and a likable BSer, he could sell their products. 

He could not. He was lost. So he quit. 

Had they taken one week to tell him exactly how their customers talked about the hassles, headaches, and hiccups they deal with, my friend woulda been equipped to connect with the prospects. 

Prospects loved chatting with him about football and fishing, but when it came to their work — their language, he was on a 3rd-grade reading level.

Another VoC Example

My dad did not train workers for his house painting business. He only hired experienced painters who could hit the ground running.

If a guy didn’t know what he meant by “cut in those walls” or “putty” (a verb), the guy didn’t get the job. 

My dad was the customer in this case. Applicants that couldn’t speak Dad’s language failed to sell themselves.

The same would apply to a paint store employee telling Dad about a new paint that makes “brushing the wall edges” easier. He would not trust anything they said after that because the right language is “cutting in.” 

Learning the Voice of the Customer Takes Time

In both examples above, investing time learning / teaching the right language would’ve paid off.

No one wants to spend time on one focused task these days, though. I’m as guilty as anyone.

Distractions and multitasking are insidious.

Would you spend 40 hours telling your new salesperson about all the gripes your customers have told you about over the years? 

If you’re the salesperson, are you willing to listen to 40 hours of customer service call recordings to learn how PO’d some customers are, and why, and the words they use to describe their frustrations?

Nearly impossible to say yes to those questions. Every marketer has too much going on these days. 

However, learning your customers’ exact language is worth the time and effort.

It’s the one task guaranteed to lead to increased sales and loyal customers. 

The following five tools offer help with the voice of the customer (but please don’t depend on online tools alone):

1. Brand24: Monitors various online sources, including social media, blogs, and forums.

2. Brandwatch: Known for comprehensive analytics and insights, ideal for tracking brand mentions. 

3. Sprout Social: Track conversations and analyze data across multiple social networks.

4. Hootsuite: Integrates with its social media management tools.

5. Meltwater: Track online conversations and media coverage.

Self-Help

Never challenge yourself. 

Do it with a group. A challenge with three or four friends might get you where you want to be with fitness, savings, mental health, dropping a bad habit, etc.

We did a challenge back in June with just eight people. I figured they’d be easy to beat. I smelled weakness 😁. But I underestimated ‘em.

Three of us actually met all our goals. Tammy did the best. She didn’t smoke one cigarette the entire 30 days! She hasn’t smoked a lung dart since. All because of a challenge with a few friends - and friends of friends.

Facts & Stats

Bonus: What’s the avg. cost per click on Facebook Ads now? Answer: 77 cents (Wordstream) 

🛒Lost Leads

Most people who visit your website won’t sign up for your email list or purchase. 

You can’t even send them an abandoned cart email. But you can send them an “abandoned browse” email to bring them back. Smart Recognition helps you achieve this by identifying your anonymous website visitors. 

Retrieve your lost leads! Schedule a test drive of Smart Recognition.

*Need 15k in monthly US-based traffic.

Get Hacking

A specific strategy to implement today

You may recall me promoting better communication via the first two pages of a big ole book -  Supercommunicators. 

Another point in the thick of the pages? People on opposite sides of polarizing issues like guns can come to understand each other’s point of view. In-person that is. Online? Nearly impossible. 

Online, you MUST go outta your way to be clear. Four ways to be sure your point is understood when posting online versus talking face-to-face:

1. Be extra polite

2. Sarcasm is hard to pull off in text

3. Use gratitude. And hedges (i.e., “I think” vs. “I know damn well”😅)

4. Zero criticisms

Inbox Hacking’s read by marketers from Nebraska Sports & Gartner. Please forward to your marketing friends. 

Shane McLendon, Copy Kingpin - Inbox Hacking 

P.S. (Bonus tool for voice of the customer learnings + trends)