Any marketing professional will tell you that achieving an “emotional connection” with customers is the key to customer loyalty, referrals, and steady business. You want people to love doing business with you. You want to reach them “where they live” emotionally, as the saying goes. What do they need? What do they care about?

Especially for banks, credit unions, financial advisers, and attorneys, you are already working with people “where they live” emotionally because you are helping them solve very serious problems. Thousands of people are in a state of high stress today, and it’s more important than ever to have financial and legal service providers they can really, really trust.

Home and Community
Now, shift to another emotional connection many people have — with their home. Houses have been foreclosed upon, families have had to downsize or move, still others have become temporarily homeless. For those people who are lucky enough to have a home, we are seeing a deeper appreciation for home, neighborhood, and community. Our identity and sense of security are rooted in where we live.

Especially in New England, where I live, local history plays a huge role in why people love their community. We are connected to our history, and to preserving open spaces and historic buildings, on a very deep level. (I am, of course, ignoring overzealous, uncaring developers.) Throughout this area, you will meet “lifers” who were born and raised in the same town. You will also meet “transplants,” who have adopted a particular town because of its quality of life. Not surprisingly, local history and preservation play an essential role in where they choose to locate (and, yes, they tend to go hand-in-hand with good schools!).  

What I have noticed, especially now, is a very interesting intersection between the business sector and the historical community that I truly believe can lead to wins on both sides.

Business and History
Businesses that support local history (historical events, school curriculum, a local historical society or museum, community projects, preservation efforts, publications, or by volunteering) are perceived as trustworthy and filled with integrity. For bankers, financial advisers, attorneys, and other “high trust sales” professionals this is the reputation you must have! People are profoundly grateful for your involvement in preserving their community’s history.

Similarly, businesses that incorporate their own history — and their community’s — into their branding and marketing are perceived as legitimate members of the historical community. Customers know that they “get” the importance of history and it sets one business apart from another. These businesses achieve a high level of credibility. Especially in a historical community, if someone had to choose between a bank that supported local history and one that did not, which one do you think they would choose?

I think there is a real opportunity here for high trust sales service providers — who are already connecting with customers on a deep level — to expand that connection by embracing history.

The Pay-off
Not only will you reap the rewards of customer loyalty and referrals, you will also play an active role in preserving the historical character of your community. You will build a legacy. 

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2010 © Bonnie Hurd Smith

History Smiths works with service-oriented businesses to use history — their own and their community's — to achieve customer loyalty, referrals, and high status. Subscribe (above, right) to our free Ezine, Connections, where we share ideas and examples of businesses embracing history to achieve business goals.