In business it’s vital to keep on top of your prospect’s and customer’s minds. To keep communicating with them, building a relationship, letting them know that you’re there when they need you.
And when it comes to building relationships there are no short cuts.
It takes time. Time to build up trust. Time for someone to realise you’ll do what you say you’ll do. Time for someone to realise you do look out for and care about them.
And in this frenetic world of “me, me, me” there’s an old saying… “I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care…”
Today I’m going to talk about a couple of ways you can build business relationships.
As you’ve probably figured, one of the ways we do this is through this newsletter.
And it works.
There are people on our list who’ve been there for years. Often we never hear anything from them.
Then an article triggers their interest and they react.
Over the years we’ve picked up significant amounts of business like this.
But even more gratifying is when we ask our subscribers for help. I’m always humbled by the huge response we get. Even if they can’t help, many people take the trouble to write back and tell us so.
This speaks of the quality of the relationship.
But it’s not the only way.
If you’re a service based business with regular clients I’m hoping you know something about your client’s personal interests, their passions and hobbies. And if you don’t know, find out.
Now keep a look out for items that would interest them. These could be newspaper or magazine clippings, links to websites, videos, interviews etc.
And when you find something send it to them with a short note.
Trust me they’ll appreciate it.
And if a lot of your clients come out of one industry, keep an eye out as to what’s happening in their industry, what the latest developments are, where threats could spring up from etc. and let them know.
After all they’re busy running their businesses, and appreciate your helping them keep abreast of what’s going on.
It’s all about being genuinely concerned with your client’s welfare and caring about them.
Wrapping up…
It is important to be consistent. Sending stuff out on a regular basis, implies a commitment to your prospects and clients and your own business.
I know it can appear to be a lot of work, but it’s easier than you think and the rewards are very worthwhile believe me.
And one final offer…
If you’d like help planning and implementing your communications strategy for 2010, drop me a note.
Rashid.
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