Building Trust with Customers by Understanding Their Needs

Stop treating your prospects like calculators. I learned this lesson painfully while leading the launch of a new solution for a healthcare transformation organization. The CEO and SVP of Product Innovation were well-intentioned, but they had biases that fueled their convictions. “Show them the science and ROI. Once they see the data, they’ll switch,” said the CEO. “They’ll switch?” I asked curiously. They rarely switched for the logic. They often resisted because we didn’t understand the emotion that tied them to maintaining the status quo. Most B2B marketers still build journeys on the idea that buyers only care about features, scientific studies, and ROI models. But real people buy with their hearts as much as their heads. LinkedIn's B2B Institute found that emotional factors significantly influence B2B buying decisions, accounting for 66%, while rational factors account for the remaining 34%. When you act like every decision is a math problem, you miss the emotional needs and biases that drive action. Fear of missing out. Desire for security. The endorsement of a trusted referral. Those feelings tip the scales long before spreadsheets ever come out. Three quick shifts to make your GTM more human: 💡 Map emotions, not just touchpoints. Ask: What’s the buyer afraid of at each stage? What small win can calm that fear? Use stories to build trust. 💡 Data is important. But a 2-minute customer story about real struggle and success sticks far longer. 💡 Frame decisions around loss-aversion. “Don’t lose your edge” often lands harder than “gain more efficiency.” When you blend hard facts with a genuine understanding of how people feel, you’ll see faster decisions and deeper loyalty. Takeaway: Your next user journey should start with these questions: ✔️ “How do we show up in our customers' struggles? ✔️ "Do they see us as relevant?” ✔️ Can they see their lives as being better because of our help? Build from there. #businessgrowth #GTM #buyerjourney #CMO

The metrics-obsessed, MQL-chasing playbook that I helped create at Marketo is steering us away from marketing's fundamental truth: "do right by the customer." But the funny thing about doing right by customers – building brand through genuine value exchange, truly understanding their needs, letting them control the process – these aren't revolutionary ideas. They're timeless principles we've buried under automation workflows and pipeline metrics. That's why I wasn't surprised to find clues to the new B2B playbook in Dale Carnegie's 1936 classic "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Before marketing automation, before we turned relationships into MQLs, Carnegie understood something we need to rediscover. 🤔 Here's what his ideas tell us about fixing today's broken B2B playbook: 1. "Become genuinely interested in other people" Stop viewing buyers as MQLs to be harvested. Start seeing them as humans seeking solutions. This isn't just feel-good advice – it's the foundation of sustainable pipeline generation in an AI world where generic outreach is increasingly ignored. 2. "Give before you expect to get"  Create content so valuable people would pay for it – then give it away ungated. Trust builds pipeline better than form-fills. When everybody else is building walls, build bridges. 3. "Let the other person feel the idea is theirs"  Today’s buyers don’t want to be sold. They want to do research on their own and begin the buying process on their own terms. In fact, by the time B2B buyers first contact sales, 80% of the time they already have a preferred vendor, and that vendor is the winner 80% of the time! 4. "Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language" Personalization isn't just a buzzword. It's about making every interaction feel tailored and relevant. This goes beyond just using {{FirstName}} or even having AI attempt something that sounds personalized but is ultimately soulless – it's about understanding and addressing individual needs with the right offer at the right time. 5. "Let the other person do a great deal of the talking" Active listening is crucial in B2B. Use voice of customer data, social listening, and direct feedback to shape your strategies. Your customers often have the answers – you just need to listen. 6. "Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely" In a world of commoditized tech, emotional connections matter. Build a community around your brand. Celebrate customer wins. Make your champions feel like the heroes they are. The old marketing playbook is broken. Buyers are burned out on aggressive tactics and shallow automation. It's time to stop treating marketing like a gumball machine and start doing right by the customer experience — exactly as Dale Carnegie advised almost 90 years ago. Who knows? You might just win some deals – and influence some customers – along the way. #B2BMarketing #CustomerExperience #GoToMarket

A client recently told me, “We’ve always done things this way, but now nothing’s clicking. What changed?” The answer is simple: The market evolved. Customer behaviors shifted. But their strategy didn’t adapt. Once we reevaluated their strategy, we made some key adjustments, and the impact was immediate: engagement spiked by 35%, inbound leads doubled, and they secured their largest deal to date. B2B doesn’t have to be cold or formulaic. Sales and marketing should never feel like a one-sided pitch. They’re about building authentic, human connections. I like to call this the “Connection-Driven Growth Approach.” Here’s how you can apply it: 🔸Listen First, Talk Later • Instead of pushing your message right away, start by listening to what your audience needs and struggles with. • Understand their challenges to craft a solution that resonates. How this helps: Builds trust and helps you tailor your messaging to what actually matters to them. 🔸Be Transparent and Authentic • Show your true values by sharing behind-the-scenes content, and admit when things go wrong. • Let your audience see the human side of your brand—people connect with authenticity. How this helps: Builds rapport and makes your brand more relatable and trustworthy. 🔸Share Stories, Not Just Stats • Use stories that showcase how your product or service makes a real difference in people’s lives. • Focus on the emotional connection your product creates, not just features. How this helps: Makes your brand more memorable and emotionally engaging, fostering a deeper connection. 🔸Engage in Meaningful Conversations • Don’t just broadcast—respond to comments, ask questions, and participate in discussions. • Show genuine interest in your audience’s opinions and experiences. How this helps: Encourages more engagement, builds relationships, and helps turn followers into loyal customers. 🔸Focus on Value, Not Sales • Share helpful tips, educational content, or useful resources before ever trying to sell. • Provide real solutions to your audience’s problems, not just your product. How this helps: Builds trust, adds value to your audience’s lives, and leads to long-term relationships that convert into sales. The truth? Growth doesn’t come from pushing products. It comes from fostering relationships and delivering real value. What’s one way you’re building connections in your marketing right now? Drop a comment! ⸻ ♻️ REPOST if this resonated with you! ➡️ FOLLOW Rheanne Razo for more B2B growth strategies, client success, and real-world business insights.

The day I finally understood how trust really works, everything changed for me as a CSM. In my first Customer Success role, our leader had us read a book before our team offsite: The Trusted Advisor. Short. Simple. Game-changing. Inside was something that flipped a switch for me, the Trust Equation: Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy / Self-Orientation For the first time, trust wasn’t a feeling, it was something I could build intentionally. So I made a move, and this changed how I worked with customers: I wrote each element of the equation into their account. And every engagement became a chance, an opportunity to build on trust with purpose. Here’s what that looked like in real life ✅ Credibility Know your stuff. Speak with clarity. Bring insights, not just product updates. → When a customer asks how to achieve a specific outcome in your product and you clearly walk them through 2-3 workflows that get them there. → When they ask, “What are other customers like us doing?” and you give just the right amount of relevant context and detail. ✅ Reliability Do what you say you’ll do. No surprises. No dropped balls. → You follow through after every meeting. → You send the recap. → You make the intro. → You deliver on that one thing they asked for, even if it seemed minor. ✅ Intimacy Be human. Build connection. Care about what matters to them. → You remember their kid’s name. → You know they’re prepping for a board meeting next week and ask how it’s going. → You lead with empathy, not agendas. 🚫 Self-Orientation Don’t make it about you. Ever. → You don’t flex your product knowledge to sound smart, you share what helps them win. → You don’t push your goals, you stay focused on theirs. Every CSM wants trusted relationships. Not every CSM builds them on purpose. This equation gave me a new level of intention. What’s one small way you can build more trust? ________________________ 📩 If you liked this post, you'll love The Journey. Head over to my profile and join the thousands of CS professionals who are along for the ride as I share stories and learnings going from CSM to CCO.