The way you communicate with your customers will have an impact on your brand. The consistent delightful communication you build with your clients can deliver customer satisfaction. To convey information and be able to receive feedback from your customers would be the most challenging part of running an entire business and If you want o make a difference in this field, you must use an authentic approach when delivering a message. Customer satisfaction is the key to business success. Maintaining a remarkable branding, consistent tone and positive language may help you in keeping your strong relationship with your clients, but most importantly, keeping your word and integrity would be the most effective way. In this episode, Krista Ripma from Authentic Audience shares some tips on how to relay your message to customers.
How to make sure your message isn’t lost?
Who has trouble relaying their message and being the person that they want to be from their heart? You got into business for a certain reason and most of the time that is emotionally driven for those young entrepreneurs that are trying to make a difference. Sometimes that authentic marketing doesn’t come through with your message.
We’ve got Krista here from an Authentic Audience. She’s here today to talk to us about how you can get that message through in a way that resonates with your story, resonates with your customers, and ultimately gets you more sales. So, Krista, tell me, how do you make sure that your message doesn’t get lost in the midst with the message of everyone else? That’s also trying to make sure that they’re authentic? and so on and so forth?
Krista: Great place to start. So no one is you is the simple answer. So although there are lots of marketing and sales coaches out there in the world, nobody’s me, so nobody’s going to deliver my message in the same way that I am. So I think the first step is to ask yourself, what are your gifts, and these are the gifts that you bring into your business that you walk into a room with, that your best friend would say about you, and start from that place. So for me, my gifts are authenticity and truth. So I try and bring that into my business into my messaging and into everything I share, which sets me apart and makes me more unique and approachable. And I also think, sharing your why and sharing your story, your personal story and journey before you found x, whatever product service or anything it is that you’re selling, your customer is you before you had this transformation. Get really, really specific in who you are and also who you’re talking to.
Finding The Right Audience That Wants To Work For You
If you’ve got your message down pat, or maybe you need someone to see it from a distance, I found it difficult to see the forest for the trees. I thought I’ve got a great message. But, I’ve got that message from the mindset of an engineer from the mindset of someone who is very detail-oriented. So having an authentic audience, how can you make sure your audience isn’t just talking bullshit? How do you make sure you get the right audience that does resonate with your message?
Krista: My first suggestion is to write a letter to your dream client or your dream customer. This is like the first thing I have anybody do if you ever come work with me. Regardless whether it’s a session with me or a course, we always do this, and I have you write a letter to your dream customer because they’re out there. They need what you’re selling. They’re listening to other podcasts. Who do they follow? What books are they reading? What inspires them? What pain points are they experiencing, the more you can get in the head of your dream client or customer and talk to them. It’s amazing how quickly they start to show up every call I get on. I’m still excited and surprised who shows up because it’s like you’re exactly who I was speaking to and you’re exactly who I made this for.
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Quality Over Quantity
Krista: So I think a big mistake we make when we’re trying to grow our audience is we want quantity over quality. And really, it should be the other way around. If you have 100 people who are engaged with what you’re sharing and buying from you, that’s amazing, versus 10,000 people who aren’t commenting, aren’t buying, aren’t connecting. So the name of the game is getting specific, get really, really specific. And the best way to do that is talking to this person, write a letter to this person, create a mood board, whatever it takes to really connect to and be in service to your dream customer.
Be Authentic
I know for my customers, I’m happy enough to say that if any of them saw me at a pub, they come over to me and buy me a beer without even saying hello, they’re like “oh Josh, here you go” and you’ve got that perfect relationship and they know your partner’s name. I’m happy to say that we do have a fantastic group of listeners, the businesses that we work with. What we found in having that is their retention rate is huge and the churn is incredibly low, so we don’t lose many customers. Because we do have that relationship and because we do understand their pain points, anyone in business can really start to see it. They and feel like hey, if they know me to this level of business if they know that I’m building this house and the direction that my business is going and not just macro but micro details about each other, you can make the right decisions and know that you are going to be putting in better solutions than your competitor.
It’s Beyond Business Benefits
Krista: That’s a really good point that you made. It’s beyond just the business benefits, it’s the benefits of you, of being in your community of being in your world. And I just can’t stress that enough how valuable that is, the more vulnerable, the more personal, the more real you are. And then when somebody sees you, like they come on a call, or they use your services or see you in the pub, they feel like they know you. I do think that the more we can authentically be our full selves, the more people will resonate with that. I just can’t stress enough how beautiful that is, and what an important point that is to make. When you hide behind your brand it’s impossible to have that relationship with your audience.
Don’t Hide Behind Your Brand
Perfect what you said there, hiding behind your brand. You sit there hiding behind your brand, we have a look at Steve Jobs. And the way that he was the ambassador for the brand, people loved Steve Jobs. He owned a portion of Apple versus some of the other massive brands out there, like who resonates the same way with Google. Or the same way with McDonald’s or some of these other massive brands. And it’s not that they’re doing things wrong, they’re still working in a way, that’s fine. But when you go to contact Google support, you can’t find a phone number. Facebook support, you can’t find a phone number, any of these large companies can’t find a phone number. With Apple, you’re able to go into a store and speak to someone there and really get to know them.
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How to Not Be a Copycat Business
If you’ve made an entry point that the other businesses weren’t doing, how can you make sure that you don’t end up with a copycat business that takes the same information? You’ve created the same content on the web, the same scripts, it’s very difficult to sort of not just have those spun and changed into something else. And for anyone out there that’s listening, spinning content is where you take someone else’s content, adjust some of 
the syllables pretty much and then make it your own, but the sentences in a slightly different way. But how can you make sure someone doesn’t have that same message so that from the outset, it appears as if you are the same? Or at least they’re trying to compare apples with apples before they have that authentic relationship? How can you make sure that for us in Australia, the Hungry Jack’s to McDonald’s, or for you guys, the Burger King to McDonald’s, how can you make sure you can have that differentiator?
Krista: You know, I mean, people can smell authenticity, it’s crazy. I think just having that faith in our customers and in our audience that they know. For me, if somebody was trying to spin off my content, I would see that as a great sign, it means I’m doing something, right. And also, nobody’s me. So you could take my script. You could have my talking points. You could have my slides, but it’s not going to feel the same. And I think as a culture, we’re becoming more and more conscious of who we’re buying from and where our money’s going. I’m seeing it in the Facebook ads, I’m running every day like people really care, especially since COVID. This whole idea of spending and connecting and community is so big.
So I think that, first of all, if you are focusing on copying somebody else, or doing what somebody else is doing, you’re doing a disservice to yourself and to your customers, and really into the world. I am very spiritual. I believe we’re all here with a Dharma or a purpose. And it can be really easy to see somebody else in our industry doing something and be like, oh, I’m just going to try and do that. But that’s not your purpose. That’s not your dharma. And so to try and do that, or change your business model, or your strategy based on somebody else’s, or their posts or their content is such a disservice. If you can just try and block out that noise.
One of my teachers says comparison dilutes your focus. Because when we’re comparing ourselves, we’re not focused on our work on our art, our flow, our process, whatever it is that we’re creating. So for me, if I’m on the side of seeing somebody else trying to copy my work, I’m like, go for me. You’re never going to be able to do what I can do and just own that. And secondly, if you’re trying to work on somebody else’s stuff, instead of focusing on your stuff, that’s such a bummer, because you have amazing gifts and services that are getting lost in that process.
The last thing I wanted to say when you talked about Steve Jobs, I think that’s such a good example. And I say all the time and people follow people, and then they follow brands. And so just how you introduced me, Krista from Authentic Audience, and I’m the face of it, I’m the voice of it. It’s not me. Authentic Audience is a beautiful company with its energy and vibe of its own. But it wouldn’t have the same energy if there wasn’t a face and a personality and somebody being the messenger for that brand. So when you hide behind your brand, or you don’t step forward and really own it, you’re actually doing the business a disservice as well.
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The Secret and The War of Art
As the saying goes imitation is the greatest form of flattery. And it’s not a bad thing if people decide to do that, it’s a good thing. And it sounds like you would have read “The Secret”.
Krista: I have, I’ve read The Secret. And the other big book that I tell people to read is the War of Art by Steven Pressfield, it’s a quick read. It’s a lot about resistance, and stepping into your art and like facing resistance, and overcoming that and really owning who you are, and working on your art and your purpose and your guests. And yes, The Secret, I read it a long time ago, but I feel like it really stuck.
When you were saying write a letter to your ideal customer, bringing it into your world and knowing exactly what you want. And having that hyper-focus makes a huge difference. Knowing that these are the people you want to work with also removes the poo customers, so to speak, the ones that you don’t want to work with.
Krista: Totally because they won’t resonate with it. I just think energy is so real, especially in our businesses. And it’s like if energy is too woo-woo for you then like getting more concrete with goals and spreadsheets and getting really, really specific like this is my dream customer. This is how many of them I want to reach this is how many sales I want to make. And this is how I’m going to go about doing that. So I always start with the goals. And then the very first action item that I have anybody do is write a letter to the person that they want to reach with these goals. And it’s just it calls it in, it’s like you have to put it out there. And the more you say it, the more you speak it, the more you share it, those people will just start to show up because they’ll hear you.
The Right Customers Are Out There
That’s exactly what we want. Like we want those correct people, anyone that says that they don’t have enough people in business, or they can’t find the right audience are probably not really thinking enough about who their right audience is. And a lot of the time and you’ll hear this, everyone’s my audience, everyone can work with me. And when you have that approach, I find that no one will work with you if you’ve got everyone working with you. It just dilutes your message and also makes you more commoditised. So if you are in a position, you’ve got that mindset and someone wants to start writing this letter, what are some of the attributes, you really want to make sure that they’re having that hyper-focus on like, I’ve undergone similar activities, where were we talking? Do they like golf or yachting? Or just you really go down to their hobbies? What does their weekend look like? Is that the kind of stuff that you’d suggest to go into the letter?
Krista: It really depends. There’s somebody out there that needs your service right now. If they were sitting across from you, what would you say to them? I mean, it’s as simple as that it’s what pain points are they experiencing right now that your product service or offer can solve? And how do you want to deliver it to them?
The first thing I’ll actually suggest sometimes if you don’t know where to start with your letter is answering the four key questions that any business needs to be able to answer. Who are you? What do you do? Why does it matter? And what’s in it for me, the customer? That’s your pitch. That’s your one-liner. That’s how you connect with people. And that’s how you feel seen and engaged as quickly as possible as being able to refine those answers. So when you’re writing this letter, it’s who are you, you tell them who you are. You tell them what you do, you tell them why it matters, and you tell them what’s in it for them. So that’s always a good place to start, and then getting as specific as you can.
Also, my dream client is always changing, because my business is always evolving and changing. So the person I was speaking to last year isn’t who I’m speaking to now. And so I suggest people do this almost quarterly to sort of set yourself up for success. I like to work in 90-day sprints. So every 90 days are, so I like to sort of revisiting this idea of who I’m calling in to hit these specific goals for the next 90 days. It truly is amazing how it happens and how quickly it happens to.
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Finding Customers When You Aren’t Outgoing
You have to have a business plan, but they evolve as well. And I think that you should be writing them both together, you shouldn’t be neglecting one or the other thing, having the business plan to know what you want to 
achieve is just solidifying a dream and writing down so you can have actions to get to the future. Knowing the people that are going to be able to have you take those actions is all about writing a letter to know exactly who you’re talking to. When you’ve got those items in place. How do you start if you have no knowledge on how you’re going to find a customer, you’ve never done networking, you’re possibly introverted type person? Where do you find a person? Or how do you know once you’ve got your letter written?
I know this is going to be a super difficult question to answer. So I’m going to go with this scenario. Let’s say you’ve just finished university and you want to become own your own practice as a lawyer, or we can go with this scenario of the pie shop owner. How do you go about finding those people when you know you’re a detail-oriented person, very factual, but not necessarily outgoing and you need to go talk to lots of people? How would you find that audience?
Krista: I’m going to assume that you’re a fantastic lawyer or that you bake fantastic pies. The product is everything, so marketing and sales can’t make your product better, right, it can just get it out in front of the right people and position it in a place for them to buy. But it has to be good. So let’s just assume that it’s good. It’s the best pie in town. There are five people in your world right now, just five people that if you reached out to them, it would change your business. Right now, everybody has this, whether it’s an aunt, an uncle, a friend, a cousin, or somebody that you knew from college, there are five people in your world that if you reached out to them, they would be excited to hear from you and happy to help.
So I always start those there, those are your low hanging fruit. And just say, this is what I’m doing. This is what I’m offering, this is what I’m looking for. What do you suggest if you’re just starting from the very beginning? Get some beta testers. I have three free slices of pie that I’m giving away today, who wants them, like DM me, write me back if you want this free slice or this beta test of whatever it is that I’m offering. So it’s always about crawl, walk, run, you don’t want to just hit the gas without testing without refining. And as my partner would say, it’s got one customer and get one customer, take them through your journey and make sure that they’re happy customers. So you take one person, make sure they’re happy, they loved your service, they love your offer, the best form of marketing will forever be word of mouth. So you make one customer happy, you’ll get three more because they’ll go tell their friends, they’ll go tell their partners, and the word of mouth will start coming. What marketing is online, what I do is just kind of like digital word of mouth, right? But you still need that initial organic traction, before you start running ads or doing anything crazy like that. It’s like, reach out to five people get one customer make it a success. That is way farther than most people starting out will do. You’re already ahead of the game if you have one happy customer.
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You Need to Be Sustainable
I think it also gives you the confidence internally to go, okay, I’ve done this with one person, I can do this with another. And as you said perfectly, I don’t think people get into the business, and I could be wrong in this, but I don’t think people get into business to go, I’m going to make shit pies and be a bad lawyer.
Krista: I mean, I would hope not. I would hope not. You know, it’s not sustainable. And so that’s always like when you’re having trouble with sales or marketing. I’m like, well, how’s your product? How’s your service? Can we invest in making that experience better for people? Whenever I look at somebody’s account, or website or service, I’m like, before we drive people here, let’s make sure this is good. Let’s make sure this is going to convert and what you’re offering is super valuable, because it’s way easier to keep customers then continuously finding new ones.
I completely agree with that. And when you look at the costs of churn customer churn, it’s huge. For us, we have some pretty cool offers for our customers or for our leads, where we say, look, we’ll hack into your business, if we can’t hack into business, we’ll give you $1,000. And we think well, that’s pretty good. But if we can hack into your business, we’re going to have a discussion around how we’re able to do that.
Krista: I love that!
It’s a strong call to action that says we know what we’re doing. And it has some elements of discrediting the current company that wins because business owners that need to know they aren’t in the game of knowing all that they need to know about technology, all that there is out there about technology because it’s not a requirement for them. That’s why they hire the experts and make sure you’re making great pies.
Lead With the Benefits
Krista: I love that call to action, though, I think that says so much like I feel something it’s risky. And it tells me that you know what you’re doing? And also, I don’t need to know what you do. I just need to know the benefits. And I think that’s a huge mistake. So many people are focused on the features like what’s included, but not the benefits, right? So I always say lead with the benefits. And I feel like that call to action right there. That’s solid. I have nothing to say about that. There’s always something I have to say, so that’s very impressive.
Only because you said that I’m going to tell you the other one that we use and that’s financially backed uptime. So we had to look at what our competitors were offering versus what we are offering and our competitors charge a flat rate per month for their IT support and you get unlimited IT support, we charge a flat rate. And we thought, well, that’s not really a differentiator.
But then we said if you have downtime, we will pay you per hour until you go back up. That’s not something anyone else is doing. That means that if your business is down from a technology standpoint, it’s costing you money, it’s costing you downtime, it can be costing you 10s of thousands of dollars an hour, depending on the size of the business. If we say look, we’re going to pay you per hour if you go down. And obviously, that’s a scalable statement, depending on the size of their business, everyone’s pulling the ship in the same direction. We want to get to make sure we’re offering the best support the fastest support the best solution so that you don’t go down because we don’t want to be paying it. It’s not a very good business model for us.
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Krista: I think it’s great. I mean, and just the way you talk about it, it’s so clear that it’s authentic, right? And it’s like, again, going back to that idea. Like, it’s not something you can fake like seeing the way you light up about it. And you’re excited to tell me about it. I personally find I.T very boring, but listening to you talk about it. I’m like, tell me more. That matters to people. When I teach my marketing fundamentals course, and the 
basics of marketing, it could be very boring, but I’m so excited about it, that it makes other people excited about it. And I think that’s just a key point in selling and sales are if you’re not excited, and you’re not sharing and posting and screaming it from the rooftops how amazing your offers, why should anyone else care?
Exactly. And everyone has the ability, as I say, this is a cringy sentence. But with IT, we try to squirt some sexy on it.
Krista: I love that.
It’s what we try to do. It’s not a very fun topic. It’s something that people will roll their eyes over at. But it’s something everyone has to have. And everyone understands the effects that have if you don’t have a great marketing plan if you don’t have a great sales strategy if you don’t have your sales funnels or pipelines reformed and refined. You’re not going to be able to have said sexy squirted on your business.
So people out there that are probably thinking, ah, man, I want some sexy, or my business or I want to have a business, it’s doing what I wanted to be doing. But maybe they’re a bit too scared. Or they might not have that creative mindset or flair to be able to really bring that laser-focused message into place. I understand you got some strategy sessions, and also a course, tell us a bit about how that works.
Getting Help From Krista
Krista: Sure. So the two ways in which we can work together, I have a course called Marketing Fundamentals and that’s the basics. So it goes through types of digital offers, a lot of people don’t know, there are so many things out there, YouTube, LinkedIn, SEO, Facebook, like what should I be doing? How should I be doing it? So I break down all the types of digital marketing.
Then I go into the mindset, and then I go into organics, and I teach you how to build a sales funnel. So that’s the basics. If you have a good audience size if you have a great email list, and you don’t know how to launch, you don’t know how to price you don’t know how to create your offer, or you have an offer, but you’re ready to get it out there more. That’s where my Strategy Sessions come in. So I do a deep dive with you. We get on and we go into everything from the customer journey, pricing flow, everything across the board goals. And then we hang up and I build you a custom strategy. if you do what I say it will work.
I’ve been in business for 13 years, and I’m still doing courses, I’m still doing refresher things, you can never know too much. Like as you said, you wanted to do something, let’s say you’re not doing much, or you’re not doing much well through social media. So what do you go through Pinterest, or Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn, or focusing on the AdWords strategy? There are so many different options. The only advice I could give is to focus on one, not all of them. If you want more advice in that you should probably be talking to Krista there and jumping in and checking out what she has to say because it varies for every business to what the approach is. In today’s day, there’s no silver bullet that’s going to help work for everyone. It’s about working out exactly how it works for you.
Krista: Yeah, that’s exactly it. That’s why I created these custom Strategy Sessions because I know business is the same even if you’re in the same industry or strategy, depending on your needs, budgets and goals is going to be totally different. So that’s why I like to dive in with you and build something that’s totally tailored to you. That’s like with clarity, focus and again focusing on one thing at a time that is key.
If you have enjoyed what Krista has had to say make sure to jump across to an Authentic Audience.co. Give us some feedback, and stay healthy.
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