Why your customers want to know you better

A poll I carried out among small business owners recently proved what I had always thought. Customers will generally connect better to a brand when they can put a face to it.

Some business owners made the mistake of thinking that customers did not need to know them. They thought that all they needed to do was put their product out there, drive their marketing campaigns and ads and the customers will come rushing. They thought the focus should be on their company, product, and service, not them.

Not true. Unless your product or company is already successful, people do actually want to know about you and in fact, they are more interested in your story than they are in the company that is still faceless to them.

Customer engagement with brands will come easily once they can put a face to the brand. What does this do for them? It gives the customers a face they can relate with and breeds trust. No one would do business with you unless they know you, like you, and trust you.

Whether or not you are a private person or introverted by nature, the minute you choose to start a business, you have put yourself out there for people. They want to know everything about your story as it connects with the business, the product, and the brand.

That little story about your AHA moment; that personal pain point that drove you to seek a solution; that story about how you came about the solution; the story of the sleepless nights it took you to develop the software; the story of how you drove the business when you had not secured funding; the story of how you found your partners and financiers;  it is all part of your story and they want to know about it.

You will find more success in your business when you start realizing that at least for the first 10 years, you are one with the business. If your personal brand appreciates, more people will feel confident to do business with your company.