Last week I did a full-day workshop on advertising and marketing for a small group of independent business owners. The goal of the program was to grow their businesses. We broke down the ways that a business could grow which are:

Sell new customers your current products or services
Sell current customers more of your products or services
Sell current customers new products or services
Sell new customers new products or services
Acquire another business

We were all in agreement that most businesses tend to focus on looking for new customers to sell them what you currently sell. In other words, we are on a constant quest for the new customer. And there is nothing wrong with that!

However, are we spending enough time looking for new products or new services? That’s why major corporations have Research and Development departments constantly looking for the next hot item that would appeal to existing and new customers.

I say that so that we all become aware of it. But the area that I really want to focus on is the area that seems to be neglected or at least taken for granted the most. That is our existing customers who already like or even love us.
When I asked each individual business the reason why their best customers bought from them and stayed with them, every single business replied with a common theme. This was “they like us” or there was some type of emotional connection or relationship that had been created. I expected quality or uniqueness but that was not what I heard.

That brought up the next question which was “what are we doing to or for our customers to creates that emotional attachment and build that personal relationship”? In most cases, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference in relationship building. These include things like remembering someone’s name and remembering and using personal information within conversations, such as “How’s the new car?” or “How’s the new baby?” or “How’s everything going with the new house?” Are we sending birthday cards? Or what is becoming the best form of marketing and advertising—the use of the friendly reminder, such as leaving a voice message on an answering machine that you have something that they might be interested in; sending someone an email about a new product or service; or being the source of information that will make your customer a better buyer.

The next issue in relationship building still comes back to likeability. What are you doing to be as likeable to your customers as possible? Are you listening to their wants or needs? Are you complimenting things that they do well? And lastly, are you focusing your efforts on the customer rather than on yourselves? Customers buy from us because of what we can do for them, not for what the customer does for us. What can you do this week that will strengthen your relationship with your customers and will have them love you and buy from you for life?

Send in your ideas and we can share them in the next column. I hope this will strengthen my relationship with you!