If you’ve ever wondered what goes on in the frenetic and energized mind of an executive, now’s your chance to find out. Remember when we talked about the importance of creating customer personas? Here, we delve into the psyche of the business executive, so you can gain their trust, understand their business, and message appropriately.
Let’s take a closer look inside the mind—and concerns—of a business executive.
Executives worry about the bottom-line day and night, and they are consumed by the constant threat of failure. And that threat looms over every success. If you want to understand executives, you must understand what scares them, and the anxiety and pressure that goes along with holding the livelihood of their company and employees in their hands, 24 hours a day.
Executives need to increase revenue while decreasing costs. They need to mitigate risks while continuously improving and innovating for the future.
Capture attention with compelling messaging
“Stop worrying about revenue and start enjoying the business you’ve built!”
Executives want their employees to be happy, satisfied, and fulfilled in their roles so they don’t jump ship. It’s more expensive to onboard and train new employees than to keep trained employees. And at the end of the day, there’s nothing better than having a cohesive team that implicitly trusts each other and communicates well.
Executives want to improve employee satisfaction and reduce churn. They need to invest in skills development but don’t want to risk investing in individuals who will then leave the company.
Speak directly to executive pains
“Are you attracting the right talent? Cultivate an inclusive and innovative work culture that will help you keep smart, problem-solving, dedicated employees for the long haul.”
Executives are incredibly proud of their product or solution offering—as well they should be. They’ve poured time, energy, and stress into their business and made countless sacrifices to make their dreams a reality. And they are extremely vulnerable; they’re haunted by the fear that it could all come crashing down around them in the blink of an eye and they’d have to start all over again. They must make the right decisions.
They need to make data-driven and informed decisions to minimize risk. They want better insights into key decisions with a holistic view of the business.
Touch on concerns while offering a straightforward solution
“What do you love about your business? Do more of that. Leave the data science to us.”
Executives work at a breakneck pace at all hours of the day and night because their business is their passion. But deep down inside, they built the business to enable their other life passions—and then lost track of them because they work so hard to make the business successful. Can you say burnout?
Executives want to streamline tasks and operations to enable free time and greater productivity. They need to minimize time spent on redundant tasks and searching for files or communications.
Demonstrate understanding with emotional messaging
“Never miss a soccer game again. Find what you need when you need it. Let us help you recapture your most valuable time.”
Executives are insanely busy, and you won’t make an impression unless you convince them that you—and only you—have the solutions to their problems. Do your research and learn to speak their language. The only way you will stand out to the executive crowd is by getting to the point and connecting with them on an emotional level. It sounds daunting—and it is. But if your voice is original, relatable, and compelling, they’ll line up to hear what you have to say.