Using personas to train your team can be a game changer. If you want your people to really tune in to different types of customers and adjust their approach accordingly, personas are your best friend. I’ve used them for years with my own team to prep them for client meetings, build awareness for better reporting, and help them work in a more service-minded way.
You might be wondering how you actually do that. Let’s start with three personas you might run into.
- The CEO
- The Communications Manager
- The Marketer
Let me introduce you to Walter, Laura, and Daan.
Meet the Personas
Walter - 62 years old, CEO, married, two kids
Walter built the company from the ground up. He’s poured everything into it, his savings, his house, the works. He’s not easy to win over, but once he trusts you, you’re in. He’s naturally curious and asks a lot of questions to see if people really know what they’re talking about.
He likes to stay involved in the details even though he’s got managers handling the day-to-day. He’s the one making the final calls. Walter stays up to date through financial magazines, marketing blogs, and a monthly business club.
Laura - 38 years old, Communications Manager, lives with her partner, no kids
Laura’s been at the company for almost ten years and knows the brand inside and out. She’s sharp with language, protective of tone of voice, and doesn’t let messy messaging slide. If it’s internal or external comms, it goes through her.
She’s structured, strategic, but also down-to-earth. She appreciates people who come prepared and has no patience for fluff. If you can show her how your idea fits into the bigger picture, she’ll listen. She gets inspired by a few solid newsletters, online platforms, and regular sparring sessions with peers.
Daan - 31 years old, Marketer, lives solo in the city
Daan’s creative, data-driven, and always testing new ideas. He’s been in the role for a couple of years and loves to experiment, as long as there’s a purpose behind it. He’s all about performance marketing, social campaigns, and tools that take the boring stuff off his plate.
Long meetings aren’t his thing, but show him something clever or effective and he’s on board. He wants results, fast, and will question anything that feels like a waste of budget or time. He follows trends through podcasts, LinkedIn, and hands-on testing. If it works, he’s in.
How to Use These Personas to Train Your Team
Chances are, you’ve met one or more of these personas in your business. So you probably already know what kinds of questions they usually ask in meetings. Write those questions down and discuss with your team how you’d answer them for that specific persona.
Example: Walter always wants to know about risks. Your goal in a sales conversation is to clearly lay out the pros and cons and be upfront about any risks involved.
Next, step into their world. What are this person’s goals in their role? What can your team do to help them succeed? Do this exercise together and make sure you start weaving those often small details into your workflow.
Example: Daan wants to experiment with UX but needs help building internal buy-in. So your goal could be to offer to co-present with him to the leadership team about UX and what’s possible through experimentation.
Lastly, think about how you communicate with each persona. Not everyone wants a deep technical breakdown. Sit down with your team and map out what each persona wants to hear and what they don’t. Then adjust your communication accordingly.
Example: Laura doesn’t care about which keywords performed best in a campaign. She wants the big picture, are we hitting our targets and what are we learning? So your reporting for her should reflect that, high-level and insight-driven.
Start Small and See What Happens
These are just a few examples of what you can do with personas. I might dive deeper into this in a future newsletter, but for now, here’s my challenge for you. Take a fresh look at your personas and ask yourself, what can we learn from these profiles? There’s a lot of value hiding in the details.
