Building Relationships With Your Customers: And making sure you do it right.
Building Relationships
First I want to ask ‘Do you care about them?’ Your customers I mean!
All Life and Business is about relationships as you may already know – and of course this will always be the case.
So, in really getting this we can also increase our numbers in order to demonstrate greater growth and stability.
It is fundamental in business in really understanding our core customers and in delivering the very best products and services if we wish to see the kind of growth which many just never reach as they do not fully grasp the importance of this.
I have only been able to grow consistently through seeking to understand others and by being passionate about over delivering.
I will use whatever I need to use – and it can be something as simple as a conversation to using various online tools.
These are common ones:
Questionnaires
Surveys
Polls
…and I also use many other ways through Social media and offline media. But TALKING is by far the best way for a local business owner to connect and discover what the community are looking for.
Remember talking face to face? We all used to do that! 🙂
Whilst we are currently in a very strange time economically we can still thrive and in fact some businesses will thrive way more than others through various factors including business type, relevance, timing, and of course – customer understanding and being able to change, pivot or whatever is needed is going to be a great strength in maintaining market share and having an edge over competition.
We need to be able to communicate effectively through whichever sources we use, and if these are unsatisfactory we need to use whatever is required in order to stay on top. We need to master each traffic source we choose and whichever channels we use so that we can measure effectiveness and gather the data to monitor our numbers, opt ins, call to actions conversions and of course sales.
Through all sources such as sales funnels, meetings, posts, pages, groups and all professional business sites we can observe where to spend our marketing budget, time and energy. As we monitor our marketing we can move through the process and ensure we connect and look after our customers from beginning to end of the sales process so that they become repeat customers.
I have a team of 10 remote workers who help me with marketing and sales and customer service – and this size of team is perfect for my business needs, and so I can communicate with them and ask them to manage all connections and report back what is most effective and least effective.
So they can scale up in certain areas and reduce others – and from there we can focus our time and effort towards what’s working now so that our customers are satisfied and even hopefully DELIGHTED.
One of the most powerful ways to create that initial connection to the right types we have found is simply through the use of video. As you may know, video is expected today in marketing and relationship building particularly online, so whether you create simple 2 minute value driven videos or longer entertaining and educational videos – they have to have a core reason and effect which drives your ultimate buyer through to your sites, offers, email lists, eBooks, blogs, websites and courses. But many sellers will focus efforts there and on sales and often forget the follow up.
“Either you follow-up or you fold-up”
― Bernard Kelvin Clive
The sale is really the beginning of a process – yet many think it is the end. But it isn’t.
The key for me has been in the follow up in creating more sales in the future.
Mastering and connecting all areas, so that when an ideal customer/client is on a page I have created I can then drive them further into the process through the right language, content and this engages the emotion which triggers an action but also keep moving with them through into the after sale.
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Here’s a Quick Little Video I Did 15 years ago WHICH IS SIMPLE! Anyone can do this, yet it built intrigue and made watchers click on my website URL to find out more about me. This video is not that good, but through this, they were driven into filling out a form to get on a Call with me and have a free session to build a plan for their Small Business strategy. This cost me ZERO and was a great starting point as i could follow the actions of the viewers through to sale and after.
Building Relationships With Your Customers:
I Have Luckily Been Able To Grow My Small Business Coaching Business Through Simple Actions, And You Can Do The Same. If you can continually build relationships with Your customers
So – How Much Does It Really Matter?
For me it is everything. By applying systems to track customers and ensure I am engaging with them all the time has meant ‘for me’ steady continued growth for many years.
So, I believe we want to become a trusted seller and continue to sell stuff for many years of course!
And so it goes much deeper than just an initial connection and sale. We want to create repeat custom, loyalty, referrals, grow retention and build the kind of rapport which about 70% of businesses have no idea about.
We are constantly looking to solidify our brand and message and keep it fresh in the minds of our clients.
Personally I LOVE building relationships and always have in all areas of life.
I have interviewed many Multi-millionaires throughout my own growth in order to learn about their strategies and discovered that no matter how big you get, you need to be as personal as you can.
Simply we need to DELIGHT our customers.
I have to admit that once I study something become slightly obsessed about it, and so I am always learning how to improve everything I do, and I am all about serving others to the best of my ability. This is both personally and professionally; and I love to help people in their lives and businesses to do what they love every day, and of course THIS ALSO HELPS ME (of course) and I feel good. It’s pretty simple really when you think about it.
This is because EVERYTHING in life is about CONNECTION.
Human beings cannot live without connection. It is in our nature to connect and that is why so many people can become so lonely in their lives because they have no connection. Sadly, many people- especially the older generations live with a need for conversation and studies repeatedly show that it is what we all want the most.
MONEY is a tool which we all can use and enjoy using, but it cannot replace a human touch.
So, the reason why some Small businesses outperform others is due to their CARE for another.
They seek to OVERDELIVER when it comes to quality and standards and they have customer service which is outstanding.
This is not that sophisticated either is it?
No, we all know people, and we all know that a simple chat and a ‘how are you today?’ can change a persons day.
So, we just have to be able to show that we care about them. And as I said, it’s not about just MONEY or technology, it’s about being Human.
If you can your Relationships with Your Customers right then you just do better, feel better and get better results this is not complicated. When a person struggles with their business or with themselves it affects everyone else and everything else and that’s why I believe it is so important to nurture the relationships starting with yourself.
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Building Relationships With Your Customers:
People struggle all of the time in relationships but if one of the two can have a breakthrough then it impacts on everyone around them. You can really transform your life with the right help and this is no different than in business. If we are always thinking of ourselves and being selfish we miss out on the point that your customer needs to feel loved and important.
This all comes down to human understanding, which is something that most of us have some understanding of.
Relationships With Your Customers
And so – we need to know what people want and need and how we can be better than others at delivering this.
When we can establish this through a connection our message is way more effective and powerful.
As a consultant I am always looking to help my clients in the best ways FOR THEM not FOR ME.
Sure, they pay me but, this is because I have spent 15 years educating myself through coaching online and offline. And so I know where my ideal clients are coming from.
It is no real secret that creating and building worthy relationships takes work; but then this is no different to any other situation in life is it.
No matter whether it’s personal or professional we have to work at things or we simply lose connection – and of course, at times we have to let people go throughout the course of our lives. But communication can also saves lives, when there is a need to connect with another in order to support them, motivate them, listen to them and care for them, so this is the single greatest skill we can ever develop period.
When running your own Small business you really have to be interested in your customers experience.
Their experience of you and your products/services and of your brand will leave them either feeling good, bad or they won’t remember you.
I am sure you can guess which one you want?
The first thing you are going to want to do is to first find and connect with your ideal and ultimate demographic of customers/buyers etc. Without knowing WHO THEY ARE or what they want, you really have no business to speak of.
However, even when they know what they want, you can still do something greater than what they expect.
Make sense?
So, they may want a product which does XYZ but what if you can create something which also does ABC. Or maybe looks different to others who are already creating products and services for them. The key is in the value you offer. If they see immense value in your offer and of course greater value than what anyone else is offering then they will feel attracted to your offer.
It might be price, but it might also be a great number of other things.
This is precisely why we apply the deep research initially – so we can find out how best to connect with them. And then make those connections and find what their thoughts are every day.
Have you ever spoken to a person where you focused entirely on them and their interests? Have you seen a persons face light up when they talk in an animated way about what they love so much?
It’s fascinating to me, and it’s so easy to make a person feel good about themselves. All people want to feel important and validated, so when we can achieve this we demonstrate a connection which THEY WANT MORE OF.
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It ain't rocket science.
Building Relationships With Your Customers:
Now – there are many FREE ways to start creating better relationships with your customers and here are some:
1) Through your blog posts = value driven content whereby you offer free advice and they associate you with being an expert or ‘go-to’ person.
2) Through your list engagement or newsletter = Sending emails which entertain and educate – and form loyalty through a feeling of connection.
3) Through your social media channels, videos and audios = Facebook groups and Linked in can be very powerful tools, Youtube, podcasts etc.
4) Through your products and services = Offer eBooks, reports, value driven content, coaching, support, followup, front end products etc.
5) Through your personal communication = As a coach, Trainer, consultant, Writer, Using Zoom calls, Skype, emails, WhatsApp, Facebook messenger.
So you can see that – whatever message you are trying to give out is what is building your relationship or ending it.
At the beginning – when someone first connects with you, they have to feel that you are personal, friendly and interested in them and of course they need to feel IMPORTANT. If you can do this at the beginning – then you have opened the door and sometimes this isn’t easy when your business is solely online as you have to use other ways to connect other than face to face.
Through the use of optimized content which connects right away and this is why simple videos can be powerful as it is the next best thing to face to face. But with competition in most sectors heaving, we need to be a little different these days, so that video now won’t do much.
It might be that you are a community based, local and independent business which means you can grow organically through loyalty and real life connection. You care about your community and wish to deliver the best quality and standards in order to be close up and personal with your locals, so – this can be a real advantage if you are the primary choice in your area.
Sadly though, I recently heard s troy of a local Steak restaurant owner who did exactly this and had gathered many high level reviews, but who was let down by customers who booked and then failed to turn up. So, there will be times when we are challenged even by those we are trying to serve in the best ways, and so, this can be extremely disheartening to a passionate local business owner who is simply trying to do his or her best.
In fact – in this chaps case, 16 couples failed to turn up one busy night losing him 70% of his takings, so he suffered.
He went to the local press with his story, and so this hopefully helped him to gain enough exposure to potentially create more business.
So, sadly we can all suffer when we give 110% to growing our businesses and offering the best we can.
This is a prime example of the fact that business can be unpredictable to say the least, and it can really force us to think differently at times in order to stay afloat.
So, it is our job with our teams to create systems whereby we can create greater cash flow and cash reserves in order to be able prepare for unexpected eventualities such as what our friend experienced. No matter how good we are – there will be times when we cannot control what happens.
So we need to build and maintain a strong business as we grow our connections, and ensure that we have a back up plan, as we develop further our brand and message and ensure it is associated with the being the best choice and standards.
One of the greatest and most powerful ways I have been able to build trust in the relationship and makes more sales is in providing a connection which is very personal; Meaning I go out of my way to ensure customers are happy and satisfied – but that they are also prepared to tell me what I can do to help them in any way.
I am very fair and very honest and luckily for me I get this back.
I have not lost customers or clients as our Steak owner has had, and so I feel extremely fortunate in that I have been able to craft deep connections where trust goes both ways.
I seek to understand doubts, fears, uncertainties and so on so I can prevent clients from feeling as though they need to go elsewhere.
Can this be of benefit in other sectors? Of course! We can do much more than we often do to KEEP customers, which is way cheaper than finding new ones.
So I believe that we need to be able to engage personally and professionally. But sometimes this get’s lost in companies who only focus on PROFITS over PEOPLE. they lose sight of the importance of caring. And it only takes one bad story online to seriously damage a reputation which equates to numbers and sales. If we are in a Small business we could become destroyed by such stories, so that’s why I personally try to go the extra mile when it comes to the communication and relationship part.
Something else I will do is to SHARE what I do with my list and with others in business, and if I have great tools or resources that help me – then I let my readers and others know. So, if they can also use what I use and see greater results through certain resources then they feel good and associate me with helping them. Do you see what I mean?
I think that it’s important to share personal information about my core ethics and why I care, so I can show that it’s my PASSION to be conscious of how much I care.
I will share an example of a business I know who create sausages.
They share on their brand packaging, a personal message, their photo’s and they share in their marketing that love their animals, and they strive to deliver the greatest standards in their sausages whilst also providing a deep connection for feedback so they can ensure customers are satisfied.
These passionate business owners also invite groups to visit their farm and have tutorials and demonstrations creating events to connect with the community and also bring in further income streams by hosting such events.
See what they are doing there?
They are leveraging their resources and time by building more transparency with their products whilst also increasing revenue doing so.
Each business has more opportunities than they often realize to grow and evolve their message and even grow revenue by standing out from the crowd and forming deeper relationships with their customers. No matter what sector it may be, we can all increase our standards of service through maximizing such resources.
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BUSINESS SUCCESS and GROWTH IS ALL ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS and Relationships with Your Customers
How many times have you taken action on implementing a closer relationship with those whom have decided to connect with you?
- I have seen butchers who don’t talk much and simply sell what a person wants, when they could upsell further products all by talking more with passion about their stuff.
- I have seen at business events Marketers, Brand experts and PR experts who don’t sell themselves enough, so they are not demonstrating a confidence that others can have in them regarding greater exposure of their businesses.
- I have seen Coffee stalls selling coffee but not offering cakes, or other homemade delights which they could easily sell.
- It is about taking these opportunities to grow and to build relationships further to stay IN THE MINDS OF CUSTOMERS whilst selling more.
- I have seen dull barmen who have next to no charisma and so they don’t ask how their customers are. Neither do they offer another drink after a person has brought back their glass. To me that’s wasted time and wasted sales but mostly wasted rapport which furthers the length of sales in the future.
Where possible we are looking to gain customers for life!
I think you will agree that every part of life and business is about communication – and it is about cultivating each interaction.
In each of the important relationships like family, friends and of course customers we can do more to grow more, but also to BECOME more, in their eyes. We can give more. And when we show our love and a personal touch it just comes back.
One of the greatest messages I have ever seen about building business success is simply this:
“Get the relationships right and you reap the rewards. It’s about the experience of being around you that counts and whatever you are sharing or promoting has to be an extension of you – as this is how you are building relationships with your customers in the finest way”.
Anything we can do to show our appreciation to another through our passion of what we do, is going to be extremely helpful to us and our customer.
Another thing I tend to find very powerful is in talking to customers about their passions, families and lives generally and of course this ain’t rocket science either, but it is powerful, as remembering them makes them remember YOU.
So, now I have shared many areas which help me I can also advice that you are prepared to LISTEN.
If your customers, readers, buyers or subscribers etc. wish to ask you questions, then be free to listen and take notes.
What I used to do was to offer to coach clients for free in exchange for a testimonial or review of one of my books, at the beginning and this helped to build my reputation, so there are many free ways we can share, swap or sell what we do, in order to increase sales.
It’s win win, and if you can offer anything as a taster or trial then of course this can be hugely beneficial to you.
I am sure that you have noticed those who offer FREE TRIALS of online systems, subscriptions and so on, so we can TRY BEFORE WE BUY kind of thing and this can build the fan base and followers which can end up becoming paying customers. So, never negate giving away things for free ‘if’ you can afford to – as it doesn’t take up every minute of your time, but it can be massively beneficial to you moving forward.
Use what is right and appropriate for your business model.
We are all different after all – and so are our businesses, so use your imagination and take initiative and ensure that you take specific action but also hire the right types those who can bring the most out of your brand and message and contribute the most immediately.
Always stick to your core strengths and key areas – and don’t try to do it all alone.
The best part of ALL this is that these skills will never go out of fashion – so be sure to apply whatever it takes to master your small business connections.
TIP: What I also do is send my clients links to things that I found interesting and that are related to the market – or at least something they may be personally interested in. In fact – if you can encourage your connections and conversations to take further actions you can encourage further communication and build great momentum which can further your growth, increase their great experience, happiness, success and even further friendships. You might sell cakes and you can discover more about the experiences which your customers wish to have.
It might be that they want cakes for specific events and so, the more you learn about what they want, the more they will feel YOU UNDERSTAND THEM and they will return, but they will also tell their friends who want to order cakes for events.
Recently I saw a program where a guy In New York who owned a large building as an AIRBNB let managed to get it renovated to increase sales, and he also offered upon entry to his clients various baked goods from a guy down the road who made bagels. So the bagel guy made a particular color yellow iced bagel which matched the brand of the AIRBNB owner. Both businesses increased revenue as they both helped each other to get more exposure through a personal touch.
Recommendations from both parties meant growth for both.
This is very powerful in that – when you offer recommendations, resources, products or tools which you use and can share, customers will become way more likely to try these as they already like you and trust you; so how might you get more connection from your neighboring small business owner?
Each person will share their experiences good or bad – so you can guarantee they will talk about you.
So, make sure that all of your exposure and material is transparent and personal.
I asked myself and continue to ask… ‘HOW CAN I DO MORE’ and this changes everything.
I walk around and get connected to people in my community – and I create new Relationships all of the time, so we can easily and for low costs leverage all of our resources.
NOTE: Simply by engaging with others – they will want to know more about you too.
COLLABORATION is another great way to get yourself more exposed to create that initial connection to drive the right types into your funnel. You and I can collab with local businesses which helps to lift our brand name also if it is associated with another local business which is already loved, trusted and admired.
Build Relationships With Your Customers The Right Way
OBVIOUS TIP: Always remember that – whatever you are trying to build or promote – you have to link back to your services or products somehow. So, there is little point in putting in all the work if you fail to get the process right.
So, in other word’s don’t waste opportunities and work out in when you can maximize the efforts.
Just ensure that with EVERY interaction you are creating and nurturing that you are growing that relationships with your customer and potential customer.
Perhaps you need to hire a PR expert also to get you in all the local magazines, radio, TV adverts and Social media channels and to start the process off by getting that initial point of contact through the right targeted advertising and exposure.
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I also recommend also using sites such as Yelp, Meet Up and Local networking sites where there are conversations about products and services being required. This means that you can engage in conversations and simply be a person who connects in order to grow an investment in another.
I hope you can see by now that building Relationships with Your Customers is vital to the lifeblood of your business.
If you need help with building your Relationships with Your Customers, your message, your brand, your vision and creating better connections with your customers or clients then you may need help? I offer 1ON1 coaching and consulting so whatever you need I can help you – should you wish to take your exposure and brand to the next level and increase your growth and success.
Contact me @ www.GregDeTisi.com for a free no obligation planning session
I also have a $10k per month Passion to Profits Self Study Course you can try FREE here
I wish you the best with building the Relationships with Your Customers:
Greg
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