Tactics VS Strategy
Everyone wants more sales, but one thing that people don’t realize when they’re trying to generate new business is that they forget about their existing customers. They focus on the social media advertising, google ad words, SEO, website building, monthly newsletters, and all these tactics to get new customers for their business. However, what they don’t realize is that tactics without a strategy is a waste of time, money and other resources.
A strategy is what your business is trying to achieve through the use of tactics, and no, getting new customers is not a strategy. A strategy is something specific that you want to achieve through all of your tactics. If you ask me, building a relationship with your customer should be everyone’s strategy behind their tactics.
Building a real relationship is a strategy that I talk about in one of my other articles called “Build a REAL Relationship With Your Customers”. In this article I explain the stages of a relationship and how it relates to businesses. Just like in a real relationship, depending on the stage of the relationship we tend to communicate in a different manner. If you are not communicating with your customers differently depending on the stages of the relationship you have with them you are just talking to them, you are not communicating with them.
Talking VS Communicating
Before I can explain the difference between talking and communicating, I must first explain the three levels of listening. The first level of listening is marginal listening, this is when a person hears most of what you are saying but it doesn’t actually sink in. The second level of listening is evaluative listening, this is when a person is concentrating on what you are saying but fails to understand the full meaning of what it is that you are saying. The third level of listening is active listening, this level of listening is when someone is engaged and trying to understand what you are saying by asking questions, by engaging in active listening the person is now communicating with you.
Why does listening matter? Well, when someone is actively listening you go from talking to the person to communicating with the person. Communication is a two way street and if a person is not actively listening by asking questions or giving you feedback, you’re just talking. When you talk, it is a one way system for conveying information, it is not communication.
A high level of communication is what we ultimately want to achieve with our new, existing and previous customers. However, most small business owners are just talking, they don’t realize that they’re doing this either. Do you know why? They’re putting tactics before their strategy, and by doing this they have closed the door to true communication with their customers.
Open The Communication Door
If your strategy is to build a relationship with your customers you need to ask yourself these three questions.
1. Are my customers actively listening to me?
2. Do my tactics create an environment where my customers want to engage in active listening?
3. Do I have a strategy behind my tactics?
If the answer to all of these questions is no, then you are not truly communicating with your customers, therefore, you are not actually building a relationship with them. If your customers are not actively listening to you they are silent. They do not respond to your social media posts, your newsletters, your content, or any other tactics. This is what happens when you put tactics before strategy.
When you start to build your tactics around your strategy you will see a change in the way customers engage with you, buy from you, and even recommend you to other people. The way you communicate with your customer is determined by your strategy. In order to create the right strategy it must align with your business model and your customer. In other words, you need to know your customer like the back of your hand. I don’t just mean in a demographic manner, but in a psychographic manner as well. What do they truly care about?