I was listening to Business Made Simple by Donald Miller the other day and he was talking about what customers want. He said that customers want empathy and authority. If you can give them both of those things, you will connect with your customer and generate a sale.
Empathy is being able to say, “I understand your pain.” For me, that is easy to do in Legend. Helping female business leaders become Legends by teaching them the business and leadership strategies they need in order to create and live a Legendary Life. I feel their pain because I know what it feels like to have the inner villain holding you back. Telling you you’re not good enough and causing massive amounts of self-doubt. I have had those crying in the shower moments too. It’s easy for me to talk about feeling my client’s pain.
Authority is demonstrating competency. The reality is that you know more about the customer/client’s problem than they do, per Donald Miller. So show them that and show them you are capable of helping them solve their problem. Use things like testimonials, case studies, and examples of how you have walked and their shoes. Again, easy with Legend.
I would say for most any service-based business, it’s fairly easy. But what about a product-based business? For me, I started thinking about Determined, my backpacks. How could I display empathy and authority with that brand?
Well, I created the bag because I know the pain of having to travel and not having a bag that keeps all of your cords, chargers, money, keys, lipstick, etc. all organized. Everything we travel with should have a secure place in a bag. I know the pain of not being able to find a bag to suit all of your needs, and I get the fact that it’s a pain to travel and not feel like you can find anything.
Relative to authority, I have definitely traveled throughout my career. Maybe I do know what people need before they realize it, given my experience. That’s the point. In explaining the features of the bag, I can educate on why each feature exists, showing authority in the design.
Ultimately it seems this theory holds true whether you are selling a service or a product.
Try it for yourself. Come up with your one-liners for both empathy and authority. Use it in your branding in order to connect with your customers.
Be Legendary!