Business
This week’s episode I have an interview with the lovely Sonia Thompson who is a customer experience strategist and consultant and CEO of Thompson Media Group. We are going to be talking all about the Black Lives Matter movement and how we can ensure we are doing everything we can in our business marketing to be inclusive. KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST As much as we focus on speaking to the right person, we also need to make sure we are not putting anyone off as well. Ask yourself: Am I being inclusive to everyone this is suitable for? You can’t serve everyone, but you need to be intentional about who you want to serve and who you don’t. Create an inclusive environment where customers who do have special requirements don’t feel they have to ask and stand out. It is sometimes worse to not say anything or acknowledge something is happening. It is better to be the business that acknowledges something is going on, that the one that says nothing. If you make a statement, it needs to relate to your value and how your business operates. You need to really truly believe in what you are saying. It’s ok if you haven’t got it right in the past, just acknowledge this and how you are going to move forward. It is important to have conversations with people if you don’t understand something due to never experiencing it. Diversify your circle of influence – Make sure the voices you are listening to are all different to give you a broader view of the world. Re-evaluate your customer avatar – If you limit and define your avatar, you could be leaving out a big group of people who may have the same pain points and needs. Commit to representation – Your customers need to see themselves and who they aspire to be in your marketing and business. Make cultural intelligence a priority – If you don’t have an understanding or appreciation for other cultures, it can be very easy to say the wrong thing and potentially offend. Take an audit of your customer experience – Go through your customer journey and think about the signals you want to send out. THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…It is better to try and potentially get it wrong, rather than say nothing at all. This isn’t just for now, this is an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed and things need to change.HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS An Introduction to Sonia – 7:01 Being Inclusive in Marketing – 10:22 The Inclusivity Spectrum – 14:20 Mistakes We Can Learn From – 19:20 5 Steps to a More Inclusive Business – 27:50 LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAYS EPISODE Sonia's site - https://www.soniaethompson.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniaethompson/ Freebie - https://trybusiness.lpages.co/inclusivity-spectrum/ (https://trybusiness.lpages.co/inclusivity-spectrum/)