The national mood could use a boost. Can you provide one?

Last night on the CBS News, I caught a story about a CBS/New York Times poll on how voters (consumers) feel about the state of the nation and the direction of its leadership.  It was quite telling, not just because of the dramatic numbers that came from the survey, but also because of the descriptive remarks (as brief as they were) from the real people featured in the story.  Watch the video below (commercial pre-roll required) or visit CBS.

Implications:   The two themes that bubbled up in this story are 1) frustration, and 2) the sense that leaders in Congress and the White House "don’t understand what’s important to me."  It appears that a majority of voters (consumers) think the people they hired during the last pair of elections lack empathy… the ability to consider a situation from someone else’ point of view.

Think about your company, product or service.  When people walk into your store, dealership or lobby… does their experience begin to suggest that you know what their priorities are, when considering this purchase?  Does your product/service provide some relief from the long, hard hours that consumers are working these days?  Does your website provide a means of planning their shopping visit, so that they don’t have to make additional, unnecessary trips to your store when gas prices are climbing?

Think about how your consumer sees their need and your business or product.  That is simple empathy… and people are hungry for it.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.