Change what people know, feel, and do

The goal of your marketing and business development efforts?

To change what (potential) clients know, feel, and do.

“Wait. What? I thought marketing and business development were responsible for leads that can be converted into deals and revenue for the business.”

Sure. Those are the ultimate goals.

However, in order to achieve these, you’ll need to guide a group of different people (the DMU) through the buyer journey.

They need to know what challenges are coming their way. They need to feel that you’re offering them the best solution to overcome these challenge. And they need to act upon this by hiring you.

In professional service firms, this is (or should be) a joint effort. By marketers, business developers, and subject matter experts.

 As a marketer or business developer, you’ll need to do 2 things:

1. Establish the firm and your experts as credible authorities. That stand out from the competition.
   
2. Really understand your target audiences and what’s going on in their market.

A great tool for the latter, is Dave Gray’s (updated) Empathy Map Canvas.

“This particular tool helps teams develop [a] deep, shared understanding and empathy for other people,” states Gray.

“People use [the canvas] to help them improve customer experience, to navigate organizational politics, to design better work environments, and a host of other things.”

You can grab a PDF version of the Empathy Map Canvas from the Gamestorming website.

I think this canvas is a great tool for marketers, business developers, and subject matter experts to better understand the different people they are targeting with their marketing efforts.

Here’s why.

• First of all, the canvas forces you to make a few fundamental decisions as a group. Ensuring alignment when you become explicit about who you are targeting and what you wish to change.
  
  Who is the person we want to understand? What situation are they in? And what’s their role? 
  
  But also, what do we want them to do differently? – A very important question. Because, actual change can only happen when people start acting differently.
  
• Then, you’re encouraged to think about what your target audience sees and hears in the market place and their immediate environment. 
  
  But also, what they are saying themselves and what they are currently doing. – Again important, because that’s the behavior you’re looking to change.
  
• And finally, you’re challenged to go into the minds of your target audience. And contemplate what they think and feel.
  
  What are their pains: fears, frustrations, and anxieties? And the gains they are after: wants, needs, hopes and dreams? 

Once you understand and agree on all of the above, it will be much easier to come up with compelling marketing efforts and set your target audience in motion.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for reading MBD Boost #029, sent to marketers and business developers on February 11, 2025.