The other day an email popped into my inbox.

Here’s what it looked like:

Hmmm….

As you can see, the subject line called me ‘ARA1 Female”.

And it had a strangely written line that repeated itself…

“Your next appointment is due. Please let me know if you would like to book in for your next appointment.”

Now, you might instantly assume that this was sp*m…

Or perhaps a phishing email…

Maybe it was sent out by mistake by a clueless intern before it was ready?

But no.

That was a GENUINE email, sent out on purpose, from the office of a private medical consultant I’ve been a patient of for over 4 years.

Yep – four years.

And yet, somehow, they don’t have the good sense to think about how their emails are sent to me.Now, you might think – “well, Heloise that’s unfair, maybe they don’t understand about good customer service”.

Okay…

But they are a private business who depend on their patients for income.

They are also more than aware (or should be) that they are dealing with human beings who have health concerns and anxieties, who might not appreciate being reduced to code numbers or required tests.

What’s more, when I got this very same appointment reminder email last year, I (very politely) suggested that it might be worth amending the subject line to something a little more friendly.

Surprise, surprise, I got very short shrift back.

So I decided not to push it!

(After all, they aren’t paying me for my email marketing consultancy 😊).

And look…. I am not actually upset.

As a woman dealing with the modern world of medicine, I’m a bit tougher than that…

In my time I’ve had to contend with being told I have ‘an incompetent cervix’, or that I am a ‘geriatric pregnancy’ and other such lovely terms that the medical establishment conjures up for us.

But…

I think this is a very important lesson for online consultants, coaches and course creators when it comes to thinking about their customers.

Why Communications Matter

In any business, you need to communicate with your customer, or potential customer.

Obvious examples include talking to them via video training, webinars and course modules.

And, of course, email newsletters, blog posts and social media.

But there are also lots of other points of contact including confirmation emails, autoresponders, updates and reminders.

These more administrative communications are JUST as important – and should be in the same style as everything else you put out into the digital space.

And here’s why…

Nobody wants to be reduced to a number (or even a name) that’s part of a generic mailout, especially if the tone of a communication is robotic, formal, or made by a machine.

Nobody wants to feel that they’re ONLY important when they’re about to buy a product or service (or refund it), but otherwise get dumped into a pile with everyone else when it comes to aftersales.

Nobody feels confident that a business is genuinely looking out for them, and understands their problems, if that businesses’ communications don’t address their emotional needs or consider their life-situation.

This is why you must ALWAYS treat the person at the other end of an email as a living, breathing human being.

You need to know what their likely fears, worries, hopes and desires are…

You need to know what kind of life-experience and world outlook they have…

What riles them and annoys them about other businesses…

And how you can offer them something special they don’t get anywhere else.

This way, whenever you construct an email (yes, even a mass mail email) you write it in a friendly, personal way that considers how they feel.

So how can you make sure you do this?

After all, if you’re just starting out in your course-creation journey, you might not have any existing customers, which makes it hard to get to know them.

Well, if so. I have a (free) special training resource that will help!

Get access to my Insynch Structure™️ System

The Insynch method helps you get “in synchronisation” with your ideal buyer.

That means getting to understand the kind of person who is most likely to buy your course – even if you don’t have any email list or followers right now.

It includes 11 ways to find your ideal customer online and find out what they really think (and what they really want!)

Plus there’s a free download which allows you to create a professional-level customer profile that will make your communications perfectly tailored to the people who are most likely to pay for it.

Using this will mean that everything you send out will sound like it is aimed at them… their needs… their concerns… their experience of the world.

That goes for autoresponder emails and webinar reminders as much as it does for course content and sales promotions.

To download it, simply click here: my Insynch Structure™️ System.

I hope you find it useful!