Developing an emotional connection between you and your customers

The goal: I heart your product

Imagine the art of developing an emotional tie to your product.

In a world where we have so many products, so many competing and complimentary products, it is really difficult for small business owners to differentiate themselves from their larger opponents. Every business needs a strategy to gain a competitive edge and none is stronger than the emotional connection to your product. Large firms purchase millions of dollars of advertising to try to affect and develop this, but I believe that the smaller business has the advantage.

Tapping Emotions

The most successful way of branding and differentiating oneself is to connect with customer’s emotions. No matter how similar your product or service is to your competitors, you can affect the buying pattern by having them make a commitment on an emotional level.

For Example

Wine barrel cellar at Henry of Pelham

This spring I travelled down to wine country with our caterers to taste and blend Chardonnay.

Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery was established in 1988. At that time they were one of a very few estate wineries dedicated to producing premium quality wines made from 100% Ontario grown grapes.

We gathered at the winery to assess the quality of the 2008 harvest and to blend three styles of Chardonnay.

We blended barrel aged, barrel aged and ferment and unoaked chardonnay. Each sample had its own character, style, level of alcohol, terroir, notes and nuances of soil and sun, as well as the minerality and taste characteristics of the diverse landscape within the vineyard, since they all interact to create unique conditions and character for the production of grapes and wine.

Daniel Speck, VP Sales & Marketing, guided us through the process and their winemaker will take over. These are magic occasions; It’s exceptionally rare to be involved at this level and have an opportunity to blend the wine prior to it “going to market”. This was the start of the process; the final assemblage will be done in a few weeks.

What did the winery gain?

Our wine blending experience at Henry of Pelham

This does not happen by chance. It’s not “Agra-cadabra”. It’s part of a well thought-out strategy and is much more than merely letting the customer know about the product. Our caterers are their customers. They affect the purchase of hundreds of cases of wine.  This endeavour (this commitment and investment on the winery’s behalf) was about building an experience for their customers. It’s potentially a life-long relationship that will reap great benefits for the organization and provide a barrier for competitors trying to gain access to their market share.

Proof of concept

Licensee wine purchase typically accounts for a maximum of 15% of wine purchased from Niagara area wineries. Henry of Pelham has developed this to a staggering 40% of sales, direct to licensees. This is part of a well planned, well executed business strategy.

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Tags: market strategies, marketing, strategy