Imagine you are humming along in your business and suddenly an international crisis occurs. Will you know how your clients are handling things or what they need? Oh wait, this just happened! And how well positioned were you with your customers? At all times it is important to make sure we are keeping in touch with our clients, our associates, and our networking partners.
The pace of business is usually swift. And it can seem difficult, or even unnecessary, to stay connected to your clients. After all, no news is good news, right? Not always. And, even if all is going smoothly you could still be missing out on additional business. Not to mention the opportunity to be of greater service and value to your customers. The truth is you have a responsibility to your company to continue to nurture a relationship with your customers. You don’t want to be the last to know what is going on with them.
The benefits of continuing to engage with your customers are:
- Opportunities for more business from them
- Opportunities to connect them to resources
- Opportunities to identify additional needs you may be able to add to your offering
- Opportunities for referrals
- Opportunities to keep your competition from pilfering your client base
That’s a lot of benefit! Now consider the benefits of staying in touch with the people you network with. Business is built on relationships. The more people you engage with, genuinely and sincerely, the more your business will grow. You don’t want to assume that people know what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for. You can’t assume that people trust you’ll do a good job.
The only way to ensure credibility and trust is to build meaningful relationships with other businesspeople, as well as your clients. It takes energy, time, and intention to build those relationships. They don’t happen without a strategy. So, take some time to determine how you want to be engaging.
And one word of caution. When you are connecting with your clients it isn’t to sell them something. Rather, it is to learn more about them and to stay on top of how they are doing. Sales come when it makes sense. If you are leading with seeking to sell them something you won’t build the relationships you want and need.
©2020 Helbig Enterprises
