What are the Inbound Principles?" loading="lazy">
To implement the Inbound Strategy, you’ll need to learn the fundamentals, and at the same time, understand the Inbound Principles.
Of course, Inbound as a concept has been around since 2005 when HubSpot's co-founder Brian Halligan first coined the term. As established, Inbound is an approach characterized by first providing value before making any attempts to sell a product or service to prospects. In the context of Inbound, giving value often comes in the form of content creation, or in the sharing of useful information regarding topics that matter to probable customers/clients.
The Inbound Principles are there to serve as a guide for companies who dare go Inbound.
But what are the Inbound Principles, and why implement the Inbound Principles as part of your Inbound Strategy in the first place?
You’ll learn all that in the next few paragraphs!
Keep reading!
What are the Inbound Principles?
Inbound Principles are really just guidelines that all your teams can follow to ensure that your every interaction with a stranger/prospect/existing customers has that trademark human touch, that is also aligned with your Inbound Strategy. When building and fortifying the name of a brand, there is one thing you need to keep in mind– you will always be interacting with buyers. Incorporating the Inbound Principles into these interactions will help you gain the trust of your prospects.
Having said that, let us go ahead and check out what are the Inbound Principles below.
Standardize for consistency
This is crucial in your messaging and dissemination of information as this is key to building trust. Prospects who are in dire need of a solution that your company seems to offer, will most probably make inquiries. And often, in their desire to get a faster response, they will send an inquiry to different departments. It is imperative that every department gives out the same information. Otherwise, they will get the idea that even your own teams don’t fully understand what you are doing and how you conduct your business. Clearly, this makes or breaks customer trust.
Contextualize for relevance
Context pertains to the situation presented. Customers go through different stages in their journey to purchasing your product. At every stage, questions may arise. Make sure that the information you give out is applicable to the situation they have at present. Make a note of what was most helpful in previous interactions so you may provide the most useful information the fastest way possible.
This prevents you from repeating yourself, and from wasting your and the customer’s time.
Optimize for clarity
The communication channels you utilize may have their pros and cons. Make it a point to know their respective strengths and weaknesses so that you can decide for yourself which channels would be best for marketing, for sales, and for customer service.
Marketing and Sales is probably suitable for social media, whereas customer service might be better handled when done through emails.
See, social media can amplify your reach, which will be good for Marketing and Sales. In the meantime, customer service should perhaps be more private. After all, part of customer service is customer feedback, and the concerns and complaints of customers, if possible, should be addressed in private. Remember, one bad comment from a customer can be crippling to a brand.
Personalize for impact
It is common knowledge that leads often become leads because they give out some information that can help you contact them. Make use of your contact database to personalize every message you send out. This way, interactions are tailored fit for every individual and people will feel that you know them and care enough about them.
This would be the perfect time to use your contact database. If it’s their birthday, send them a message on their birthday and find creative ways to attract/engage/delight the prospective customer.
Think of the number of times a product has earned your trust simply because of those extra efforts. That will surely work on others, too.
Empathize for perspective
Inbound is best described by its human touch, the empathy and adaptability that are exhibited by the businesses that practice it. Your prospects and existing customers are people with valid, and sometimes, even erratic emotions. When making a sale in an ambiguous way, it would be helpful to do so by appealing to their emotions.
Ever notice how a lot of commercials these days, even the ones about sodas and fast food, present situations that highlight family, friendship, and other things that are generally important to people? Tugging on people’s heartstrings is always helpful, and it is one that is incorporated in the Inbound approach.
When you show people you understand what they generally go through, they will feel closer to you, and the next time they are in search of a product or service that you offer, you will be among, if not the top choice.
The Inbound Principles are nothing more than a set of guidelines any type of business wanting to grow could follow.
It emphasizes the “human touch”, a key factor in the conversion of prospects.
It would perhaps be hard to give an answer to the question: why implement the Inbound Principles? But basing on the explanation provided in every principle, one can only wonder, why not?
Are you looking to learn more about Inbound and what it can do to help your business? Download this eBook and begin your Inbound Journey today!
