January 22 - Relationships matter more than ever. Beyond the basics, it’s important to review your relationship database and look for trends – what types of relationships do you enjoy and that deliver good business results and which do not?
If you’re sales, consider those prospects that are merely taking up your time – are you building a long term relationship that’ll turn into business or referrals downstream? Or are they merely taking up time – only to go somewhere else if offered a better deal? If so, perhaps they’re not the right fit for your business niche. If you have a number of people who are not the right fit, can you refer them to a partner or competitor who can serve them better? This can result in expanding your business network to create reciprocal referrals – your competitors may do the same. And these individuals will likely remember you for helping them out.
Write a profile of your ideal customer – what are their needs, decision making styles and buying habits? Describe their persona and how you can meet their needs. Think in terms of benefits instead of features. Also write down what’s not a good customer or prospect. What are their decision-making styles, needs, habits? This will help you pinpoint more quickly those prospects who are best served by someone else – and save you time.
It’s always important to think about relationships for the long term – what are you doing to earn the trust, business and referrals of these people? Think not just about generating business, but how you can help. What expertise do you have that would benefit your database? Become the goto person they seek out for such expertise – this will help keep you visible. It’s been shown that those who give freely of their expertise get so much more in return.
