People*are people before they are customers
So often we hear designers, advertisers, marketers and clients talking about people simply as consumers, customers, users and demographic profiles etc. Even though this isn’t a deliberate attempt to dehumanise or commodify, the effect is very much the same. And, when we do try to “personalise them” we find ourselves using buzzwords like “customer-centric” and the like. That is a step towards changing our minds but we’re really still thinking about what we can do to capture their business. That focus inevitably results in us not considering all of the effects our business may have on people who are not necessarily our customers.
While those buzzwords are a step forward from fixating on the business or the products, or the brand, we still find ourselves seeing people simply as targets to be convinced, persuaded, influenced and sold to. The rise of the influencer phenomenon has gone some way to compound that issue even more as we increasingly use that new medium to sell to customers, rather than communicate with people.
The power of celebrity and influencer marketing to shift products is as undeniable as it is visible, but we are missing the opportunity to give to people something they really need and will really value.
If our brand promise, brand story, brand purpose, our brand itself - has any real meaning and value, it should exhibit its value even to those who aren’t our customers, just as well as it does to those who are.
We claim to want to be the best brand we can be. That surely must apply to everyone who comes into contact with us.
If, right from the start, we stop viewing people solely as customers or potential customers and instead recognise them as individuals with unique qualities, interests, needs, dreams and desires (just like us), we are able to build more meaningful relationships with them. They may not be our customers now and may never be but by focusing more on the human aspects of our interactions, how we are seen by everyone, we can develop a deeper understanding of our/their needs, preferences, and behaviours, which can lead to more relevant and personalised experiences for them/us.
Thinking about people as more than just customers also creates a more positive and engaging environment for both parties. It allows us to connect with others on a more personal level and build trust, which can lead to increased appreciation and advocacy for us and more relevance for them. This approach recognises the personal in all of our interactions and considering the long-term benefits of building meaningful relationships with all of those around us, not just potential customers.
A key additional benefit is that of nurturing innovation from different points of view, leading to the development of better and different products, different ways of using existing products, new ways of managing resources and, increasingly, by-products of our business, not forgetting new approaches to staffing and ways of working. It’s clear the worldwide COVID 19 epidemic, for example, functioned as a grim kind of laboratory forcing us to test working strategies that have been mooted occasionally in the past but weren’t properly tested in real world conditions until it was forced upon us. We don’t have to wait for fate to force change.
This is not about being all nice and cuddly and a warm fuzzy feeling or whatever; It’s about our businesses being valuable to people and appreciated as part of society; part of the community we live in. When we do stop thinking of people just as customers or potential customers, maybe they’ll become something more interesting, more valuable and more relevant to us. And perhaps we’ll become more relevant to them. Whoever they are*.