My son, Henry, has a habit that most work-from-home parents feel obligated to nip in the bud. He loves to crash my Zoom calls. 

Every single one. 

He’ll enter my office under the guise of “missing me” and give me a hug. I admit I’m a total sucker for his puppy dog eyes, warm Olaf-style cuddles, and faint whispers of “I love you, mom” — even after round 1,652.

As I was coming upstairs to feed the kids today, I (after nearly 2.5 months of this) realized that my almost-6-year-old also does this same thing to his dad.

Henry wants attention and validation. He’s testing boundaries. He’s learning about how we work. He’s looking for consistency.

And — he’s validating his hypothesis that Mom won’t lose her mind when he interrupts during a live video.

My son is merely trying to find out more about who Mom and Dad are outside of being Mom and Dad.

Much like my son’s sweet disruptions, our customers also want to know about you. Who you are outside of the role they see you play on Facebook Live or Instagram, how you became an expert, why you are so stinking passionate about mediation, exercise, speaking, or teaching.

Transparency has recently become one of the top factors for customers to consider when making a purchase. A study by Label Insight found that 94% of consumers were more likely to be loyal to a brand that offers transparency. Nearly 73% said they were willing to pay more for a product from a brand that offers complete transparency.

People want to know the person behind the product. More than ever, people seek out brands and companies that share their same values and ideals. They want their sock company to donate to a charity and their car manufacturer to take a stand against injustices. 

So as you meet your future customers, let them get to know you by doing the following:

• Stay true to you. Don’t hop on trends for the sake of it — and don’t be afraid to voice an opinion, even if it’s unpopular. 
• Keep it consistent when you show up (as much as you can manage), especially with your messaging. Here’s a secret: crappy marketing done consistently beats expensive marketing done sporadically.
• Engage. Get to know the people who purchase your products. Talk and interact with them regularly. Focus on building a community instead of making sales (and the sales will come in ten folds, trust me).

And here’s the truth: friends buy from friends.

So show up, talk to your followers, subscribers, and friends. Engage them. Give them assignments. Ask for feedback.

Want to know your people even better? I’m running a free 5-Day Market Research Challenge next month. If you’d like to join in, click here for my mini course Market Research Mastery System.