I’ve met very few people in this career that didn’t bring an enormous level of passion to their job every day. And when a brand shows their passion it comes through clear and authentic, but sometimes it misses its mark with the customers. One of the biggest reasons for this is because sometimes we suffer from a little myopia. We’re so fired up on what we live with every day, and for good reason, that we get caught up in sharing what WE are passionate about… all the rational reasons to believe. But when it comes to creating great, passionate, long lasting connections with our customers, they may not get quite as fired up about our rational reasons to believe as we do. And even if we can capture a transaction… we may not have captured a customer because we may not have given them the bigger reason to believe. That authentic, long lasting connection needs something deeper. Something built on shared passions—not just our own.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you’re in the taco business, which is great, because everyone loves tacos. But you know what might make them love your tacos even more? Cutting the price of your taco! And once you get that message out there, any rational taco lover will come. They will buy your tacos… until your competitor decides sells theirs even cheaper. So now the rational taco lovers are running to your competitor for cheaper tacos. It’s the only rational decision.
But now let’s build a relationship based on something stronger than a quick transaction. Let’s understand what taco lovers are passionate about. Freshness? Wholesome ingredients? Authentic recipes? How about cultural connections: entertainment, music, art, film, AR experiences, etc., How you bring your brand to life in ways that are meaningful to the customer beyond the transactions is incredibly important. These days, customers want to know what you stand for. They want to know you have similar values and passions. They WANT to connect to brands authentically. They want to transcend a “rationalized” transaction for a “passionalized” relationship. And that’s the kind of connection we all want with our customers. Mutual respect, shared passions, and rational reasons to believe as well. Those don’t go away… they actually solidify your customers reason for believing, and gives them just the excuse they were looking for to come back to your beloved taco stand one or two more times this week.
That’s the type of relationship with our customers that we all want. And that’s the type of meaningful, long lasting relationship that’s really hard to disrupt with a cheaper taco.
