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How To Build Customer Relationships For Success

I want to introduce you to Tim.

Tim taught me more about relationship marketing than any book I’ve ever read.

Who’s Tim?

Tim was my Father’s insurance salesman when I was a young lad.

A really nice guy, never in a rush, and always welcomed at our house.

 

What Is Relationship Marketing?

People like to buy from people.

Relationship Marketing is about helping people get to know, like and trust you enough to become customers.

This method has many benefits including:

  • long term customer retention
  • multiple opportunities to convert prospects into customers
  • increased chance of customer referrals

 

Use Your Small Business Advantage

When was the last time you called a call centre and the person knew you, asked how your family were and bantered with you about a shared interest in sport or music?

Large companies struggle with relationship marketing.

Small Businesses can use it to gain an advantage in the marketplace.

Here are five steps to get you started.

 

Step #1: Get To Know Your Customers

Tim knew my Father well.

His visits to our home were always welcome. �My Father enjoyed their conversations about sport and work over a cup of tea.

To succeed with relationship marketing you need to really get to know your customers. �You need to know:

  • what they like
  • what they don’t like
  • your common interests
  • what keeps them up at night

But be natural.

Record the information in your notes or your CRM software if you can’t remember it all but don’t treat getting to know your customers as a marketing exercise – it’s not a fact find.

Getting to know your customers needs to be something that you enjoy doing – it mustn’t be a chore.

It’s a fun way of doing business, not a business process.

 

Step #2: Keep In Regular Contact

Tim visited our house as regularly as clockwork.

It’s not as easy when customers are not local but you can use the telephone,�Skype, email and social media to keep in regular contact with your customers.

Make sure that your customers never go too long without hearing from you and always know how to get hold of you.

If you don’t stay in regular contact you give someone else an opportunity to steal your customers!

 

Step #3: Share Knowledge

Tim didn’t just chat with my Father about sport and work – he also shared knowledge.

He told him about developments in products, how his policy was doing and gave him advice.

The best way to build a relationship with a customer is to share knowledge.

I doubt that your most fond relationships are with people who only ever ask you for things?

If you always try to sell to a customer they will get bored of hearing from you.

However, everyone has time for relevant knowledge that will make their life or business better.

Share as much of your knowledge as possible, show yourself as a real expert in your field.

 

Step #4: Build Trust

Tim advised my Father on life insurance – a serious product.

It took trust for my Father to act on his advice and buy his products, trust that took time to build.

Sharing relevant, useful knowledge builds trust.

Make sure you do what you say you’ll do and keep the promises you make to your customers to keep that trust.

Trust is the same in customer relationships as in any relationship, it can take years to build but can be lost in seconds.

 

Step #5: Make Relevant Offers

Being friendly and likeable is great, but sooner or later you have to sell.

Else you’ll never pay your bills.

Tim wasn’t a salesman. �I would guess he probably didn’t like selling at all.

But from time to time he would give my Father advice about other products and services and because of the trust that they had established my Father would buy these services, without Tim even having to try hard to sell.

Once you’ve established trust, use the knowledge of your customers to introduce products and services that will help them.

 

Relationship Marketing Is Here To Stay

One thing is for sure.

The more people experience large businesses becoming more impersonal – the greater the advantage for small businesses.

Are you already seeing the benefit from relationship marketing? �Please let me hear about your experiences in the comments below.

How To Continually Improve Your Business With One Simple Step

Most small business articles will tell you to take steps forward.  The writers will encourage you to:

  • make progress
  • crack on
  • push ahead

But today I want you to take a step in a different direction.

The one simple step I want you to take today is a step back.

 

Working In Your Business vs. Working On Your Business

It’s an easy trap to fall into.

You can be so busy running your business, dealing with customers, making products and supplying services that you don’t take regular time to step back.

Stepping back and looking at your business will help you:

  • Spot areas for improvement
  • Highlight areas for celebration

 

It’s Too Easy To Put Off

“Next week I’m going to spend a day looking at my business”.

The day becomes the week after, then next month, then after the holidays, in the New Year and so on.

Before you know it months have gone past and you’ve not taken a step back and looked at how your business is going.

 

It Only Takes Five Minutes

Take just five minutes a day to complete this small exercise that will help you continually improve your business.

Find five minutes whenever you can during the day, sit quietly and ask yourself the following three questions.

 

Question #1: Am I going in the right direction?

Your business is a journey.  It’s taking you somewhere.  Somewhere that you’ve decided you want to be.

It could be to a better life for your family, you may want to work less, live in a different house, drive a different car, and go on different holidays.

It might be none of these things; it could be that you started your journey to share knowledge or experiences to help improve other people’s lives.

Either way, are you going in the right direction?

During your daily step back ask yourself if you are still heading in the right direction, are you on course to get where you want to get at the end of your journey?

If your answer is yes, fantastic!

If it’s no, don’t panic, just recognise that you need to get yourself back on course.  Pin point what is leading you off course and write down the steps you need to take to correct it.

Correcting your course might need several steps but today you just need to recognise it and make the first one, then review each day in your step back and keep taking one step at a time until you are happy you’re going in the right direction.

 

Question #2: Am I focusing on the right priorities?

Never before have there been so many distractions for small business owners.

If you’re not careful you can very easily spend time on things that seem very productive but are they helping you on your business journey?

Are they helping you to get where you want to be?

In your step back ask yourself this question and think about the things you are spending time on, are you prioritising the right things?

Yes?  Great go on to the last question.

No?  Put some time aside to write as short a list as possible of the real priorities in your business.  Use this list each day when you ask yourself this same question and check that you’re prioritising the right things.

 

Question #3: Am I seeing results?

Results are the check points along your journey.

Seeing results confirms the other questions and helps ensure that you are completing the important steps towards your goals.

Results also give you confidence that you are going at the right speed.

Results come in many shapes and sizes.  They include completing a client project, gaining a new client or even getting people signing up to your email list and sharing your blog posts.

Are you seeing results from the hard work you are putting into your business journey?

If Yes, great, make sure you celebrate them and continue taking a step back each day to stay on course to your goals.

If no, look at the priorities you are working on and check they are really the right ones to help you on your journey.  If you need help then leave a comment below.

Remember that even if you answer all of these questions positively today, you need to keep taking a step back to ensure you remain on course.

 

Take A Step Back Today

Can you find five minutes today to step back and answer these questions?

Please don’t put it off.

To help I created a PDF of the three questions that you can print off, stick on your wall and use as a daily reminder, click the button to download it:

Try it today and then please come back and leave a comment below so I can hear how you’ve got on.

 

How To Kick-Start Your Day

Sports teams try especially hard to win the first game of a new season.

A “quick win” helps them start the season well. �It also:-

  • Builds team motivation
  • Encourages the fans
  • Builds momentum for the coach
  • Positions the team for long term success

As a small business owner, every morning is your new season.

The secret to kick-starting your day is to win your first game – the first task on your list.

 

Kick-Start With A Quick Win

My definition of a quick win is a task that can be completed within the first thirty minutes of the day. �The first task on your list needs to be a quick win.

A quick win increases the entire productivity of your day.

Before I used this method I would start on my first task without any thought to it’s size. �I prioritised what was most important.

Some days my first task would be short, but on others it might be a task that would take several hours and I found myself losing focus and motivation quickly.

Now I start everyday with a quick win, and the results are amazing.

By the time I’ve finished the task I feel like I’ve achieved something, that I’m “on a roll” and this carries me into the rest of my day and helps me build momentum through my task list.

If I have lots of larger projects I break some down into smaller tasks and use one task as my quick win.

 

A Quick Win Is A Quick Result!

A quick win is more than just an easy task, or a quick task.

It needs to be a task that will bring you a result.

Examples of some of my quick wins include:

  • Completing a client proposal
  • Sending a motivational email
  • Editing and publishing a blog post
  • Editing a client’s marketing email

All of these quick wins either helped me progress my own business or the businesses of my clients.

But not all tasks can be used as quick wins. �Some that I wouldn’t suggest include:

  • Reading your favourite blogs
  • Checking�social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+
  • Replying to emails
  • Checking news websites

Not that these are bad things, they are important and your day should include planned time for them, but they won’t leave you with the feeling of completion like a quick win.

If you start the day with some of these things rather than a quick win you’ll get the opposite effect – you’ll feel like you’re playing “catch up” and that you’re not being productive.

 

Pick Your�Opponent

Your advantage over a sports team is that you can pick your opponent. �You can pick the task for your quick win.

Pick your quick win the day before.

If you leave it to pick on the morning there is a risk you’ll find something else to do, be less focused and lose the kick-start.

I select my quick win in the evening and ensure that everything I need to complete it is ready so all I need to do is get to my desk and get started.

You can also pick a second quick win for after lunch, or any time of the day that you need a short productivity boost.

 

Make Your Next Game A Win!

Kick-starting you’re day with a quick win will increase your motivation, momentum and put you on course for a fantastic day.

Don’t believe me? �Try it!

Pick a quick win for tomorrow – the start of your next season. �Complete it and then come back here and let me know how it changed your day in the comments.

Warning: Someone wants to steal your customers!

Customer loyalty isn�t what it used to be.

With comparison websites and online shopping it takes seconds to find the best deal.

The world has become smaller, it�s much easier to reach customers anywhere, without having to travel, without large costs and without a large sales force.

What does this mean for the small business owner?

If your customers don�t remember you, they will call someone else.

Another business.

A business that is in your marketplace right now trying to steal them.

 

Why make it easy?

 

Who are the easiest customers to sell to?

The ones you already have.

The easiest element of sales is to sell current and new products and services to existing customers.

Yet, so often I see businesses who put all of their efforts into finding new customers, which is the hardest part of sales, rather than keeping in regular contact with their existing customers.

Here are four reasons why it’s so important to keep in contact with your�existing�customers.

 

Reason #1: Existing Customers Know You

 

Before a customer will purchase from you they need to know, like and trust you.

Existing�customers have already been through that process, you’ve already gained their trust, you just need to keep it.

Keep your business in their memory.

We all live busy lives, our customers are no different.

If they don�t hear from you on a regular basis then you move out of recent memory, the longer you are out of their memory, the more work you have to get them to know, like and trust you all over again.

 

Reason #2: Existing Customers Give Referrals

 

Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends – Walt Disney

 

If you’re a solicitor specialising in property sales you won�t expect to hear from every customer every year, but what about your customer’s friends, family and colleagues?

Keeping in contact and in the memory of your customers makes it easy for them to refer you to other people, building your customer list.

Referral business is especially good because the personal recommendation from the person referring you makes the process of know, like and trust easier. �A lot of�the work is already done for you.

 

Reason #3: The Long Sale

 

Customers respond to different messages and have different needs and issues.

Often a marketing message will be relevant for one customer and not for another.

Keeping in touch with customers gives you the opportunity to use a variety of marketing messages and topics with your customers. �Increasing the chance of a message being relevant and the customer wanting to purchase more of your products and services.

This is a much better small business growth plan than relying on a single message and a one off sale.

 

Reason #4: Keep Competitors Out!

 

Staying in the recent memory of your exisiting customers helps keep others out.

In most industries there will be several businesses keen to steal your customers, as an old boss of mine used to say �trying to eat your lunch�.

Don�t let them.

Make sure when your customer thinks of the types of products and services that you sell they immediately think of you.

 

How do you get started?

 

Would you like to learn more about developing long term profitable relationships with your�existing�customers?

Would you like to know:

  • How regularly to contact them?
  • What methods to use?
  • How to share information that they will find valuable and relevant?

Great!

Because I’d really like to help you and give you the answers to these questions and many more.

I’ll be publishing a number of posts on this topic. �To be sure that you get notified as soon as they are published enter your email address in the box below and click Sign Up.

Don’t worry, you’ll only receive relevant information about growing your small business. �I hate SPAM as much as you do.

What Tutankhamen Can Teach Us About Planning

On the 4th November 1922 men working for Howard Carter discovered hidden steps to what we now know to be one of the greatest Egyptian archaeological finds, the Tomb of Tutankhamen.

It might seem like a chance find for a lucky archaeologist but it was the result of a long term, strategic plan.

 

Planning is everything!

 

After waiting years for permission to dig in the Valley of the Kings Howard Carter received his permit. �He mapped the valley into a series of blocks using a grid system. �He worked his team through each block systematically, clearing the ground and ensuring that the tomb he sought wasn�t in a block before moving to the next.

This process continued for five years before Carter finally made his discovery.

Howard Carter�wasn’t�relying on luck.

He relied on�in-depth�research, solid planning and unshakable commitment.

 

Lessons from Tutankhamen

 

Are you looking to grow your business, to make it profitable and sustainable?

Do you want to launch new products and services, and ensure customers are happy with your service?

Here are some lessons we can take from Howard Carter:

 

Lesson #1: Create your plan

 

Before a single rock was moved Howard Carter drew a grid on his map of the valley and split it into blocks.

He�didn’t�just run into the valley with men and tools and start digging, he created a clear strategy.

If you want to build a profitable, sustainable small business you have to have a plan.

You need to understand what you want to achieve and how you�re going to achieve it.

It�s the same regardless of whether you�re just starting out in business or if�you’ve�been trading for years and want to grow.

There are two important steps to creating a plan for your business:

 

Start with the end in mind

 

Howard Carter believed that there was still one tomb to be found, he set this as his purpose and created his strategy around his ultimate goal.

What�s your goal? �Be clear and write down your goals in detail, understand what life would be like for you if you achieved these goals.

Make the goals tangible, if you�re goal is to grow your business so you have financial freedom what income would you need, what would you do with it, where would you go on holiday, what house would you live in, etc. Whatever your goal is ensure that you record it in as much detail as possible.

Make your goals specific, if you need to grow your business to the stage where you have a certain income how many clients will you need?

Carter knew exactly how many blocks he had split the valley into. �You need to know how many customers you need to buy which of your products, how much revenue that needs to generate for you to reach your goals.

 

Research, Research, Research

 

When it comes to knowing your business, your potential market and the steps you need to take to achieve your goals you can never research too much.

Collect as much information as possible. �Who will be your perfect customer, how can you attract them and create products and services that appeal to them so much they not only buy once but keep coming back for more.

Read my FREE eBook �Focused Marketing: How To Grow Your Business In Any Economy� for more details about this point.

But, remember that the plan is a means to an end. Planning can be exciting, thinking about how wonderful life will be when you reach your goal. �But, the plan is made to be followed.

In order to reach the goal you have to get started and make progress!

Spend enough time on your plan to ensure that it�s solid and that you know where you�re going and how you�re going to get there, but don�t spend a moment longer on it than you need to. Start making progress!

 

Lesson #2: Break your plan into sections

 

How do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time!

Looking at your plan can be intimidating. �One of the biggest reasons that small business owners fail to make progress is that they get intimidated by the size of the task ahead. �Many will think about the plan and then find something else to do, leaving the plan for another day, as if it will some how look easier tomorrow.

That�s human nature.

To prevent this you have to break the plan into small steps. �If your plan is to have twelve new customers by the end of the year think in terms of needing to find one each month, that sounds much easier�doesn’t�it?

If part of your plan is to develop a training programme that will take one hundred hours of writing over several months, break it into small chunks. �Concentrate on writing it one chapter at a time and celebrate each one as you finish, it�s got you one step closer to your goals.

 

Lesson #3: Stick to your plan

 

It was five years before Howard Carter received the breakthrough that he wanted, his great discovery. �It�s most likely that your plan won�t be that long and that you�ll be looking for results in less time, perhaps even within five months, weeks or days but whatever happens stick to the plan.

You�ll have moments of doubt and wonder whether your work will pay off, when you�ll get your breakthrough, but just keep going. �Success comes to those who keep pushing forward and making progress.

In 1922 Carter was called to England to see his financial backer, Lord Carnarvon, who gave him one more season to make his discovery. �Many would have panicked and dropped the plan and starting digging anywhere throughout the valley trying to make the discovery but Howard Carter knew the power of strategy and kept to his plan and the rest, as they say, is history.

Don�t let others put you off your plan. �If�you’ve�done your research and know what you need to achieve, and what you need to do to achieve it, then just keep to your plan.

To help keep you motivated and to drive your progress follow this little exercise. �At the end of everyday take a few moments to write down what�you’ve�done in that day to make progress on your plan and what you plan to achieve the next day. This daily exercise will help you focus and ensure you keep making progress.

 

How is your plan looking?

 

Howard Carter made his discovery and ensured his name and place in history. �However, he didn�t do it all on his own. �Several people helped him before, during and after the discovery.

You don’t need to do it all on your own either.

I want to help you with your plan. �I’ll be posting lots of information to help you plan, stay on course and achieve your goals in growing your business. �To ensure you receive these posts as soon as they are published just add your email to the box below and click Sign Up.

Don�t worry, you won�t receive anything other than valuable small business advice from Fresh Eyes Consultancy, I hate SPAM as much as you do.

How To Turn A Disgruntled Customer Into A Life Long Fan

Disgruntled customers are great!

Deal with them well and win real fans for your business.

But, deal with them badly and they�ll do you a lot of damage.

 

The customer isn�t always right!

 

Ever heard �the customer is always right!�?

It�s not true.

Customers often do things wrong.

  • Handle the product incorrectly
  • Order the wrong item
  • Don’t follow the instructions
  • Order late,�etc.

But not always.

Often they do everything right, and still get bad customer service.

The truth is, as your business grows problems occur, often outside of your control.

You can’t stop problems�occurring.

But you can take responsibility to get them resolved.

 

It�s not about right and wrong

 

Start with a “I’m right, you’re wrong” attitude and you’ll fail.

You won�t win fans.

Put emotion aside, it�s about getting the customer to a point where he wants to tell everyone how wonderful you are.

 

A dog with a bone

 

I confess to being strange.

When I had a corporate job I loved dealing with disgruntled customers.

I was like a dog with a bone.

Not because I like the hassle – because I like the transformation.

I like to see the customer walk away with a smile on his face, knowing that he�s going to be a life long fan.

These are the steps that I always followed:

 

Step #1: Slow The Conversation

 

Disgruntled customers tend to be annoyed, irritated and impatient.

Take some pace out of the conversation. �Be�reassuring.

I completely understand, and I want to help you. Let�s take a few moments to go through the details so I can see exactly what we can do to help.

Don�t be patronising and don�t make promises, take time to calm the customer and get the facts.

The time to review what happened and how to prevent it for the future is after the customer has been satisfied.

Give the customer your undivided attention, this is your chance to show them that you are serious about helping.

 

Step #2: Get The Facts

 

Get a clean piece of paper or a note field in your computer and record all of the facts.

You don�t want to have to call the customer to check details, it shows that you weren�t giving him the full attention.

Explain that you are keen to get the facts recorded as soon as possible so you can focus on the resolution.

Record everything relevant, part numbers, descriptions, faults, addresses, telephone numbers, etc.

 

Step #3: Review The Costs

 

Depending on the type of business you have there may be costs involved in satisfying the customer.

  • Supplying the correct product
  • Redelivery
  • Repairs
  • Engineer visits
  • Returning the wrong items,�etc.

At this point you�ll know if the issue was entirely of your causing, your supplier or the customer�s.

Try to resolve the issue as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

If you can resolve it with no cost to the customer, do it.

If there is a cost, for instance if the customer ordered the wrong item, then try to make it as painless as possible. �Give the customer a price for the replacement and arrange to get it delivered quickly.

The cost of solving this issue could be�minuscule�when compared to the damage a disgruntled customer could cause by talking to other people and�minuscule�compared to the value of his business with you as a life long fan.

If you tell the customer you�ll call in an hour, do it!

Show how good you are, how trustworthy, don�t make it worse by not keeping your promises.

 

Step #4: Take Action

 

Do whatever you need to do to solve the problem.

Do what�you’ve�promised.

If you have to wait for a supplier, delivery company, or member of staff, make sure that you stay on top of the issue.

This is your problem, you need to see it through until it�s solved. �If someone else promises to do something to help make sure they do it.

 

Step #5: Follow Up

 

Did the customer receive the item, did the engineer call, is everything solved, is he satisfied with the outcome, does he need you to do anything else to help with the issue?

Show the customer that you�re serious about wanting him to be satisfied. �If there is anything else required make a note of it, action it and follow up.

 

Step #6: Follow Up Again

 

Remember you’re not just after satisfaction, you want to make fans!

Leave it a week and give the customer another call.

Explain that you�re calling to make sure everything worked out well with the issue and if there is anything else you can help with.

Provide whatever help you can, thank the customer for his business and remind him that you are available to help him at any point in the future.

Ensure he has your contact details.

Now when that customer thinks about your business he�ll remember that you did everything you could do to help, he�ll know you kept your promises and he can trust you.

 

Do this, and keep doing it and you�ll build fans, customers who will come back time and time again for your products and services.

 

Want some help building fans for your business?

 

I’ll be showing you how to grow your small business and build fans with amazing customer service in several future posts. �Enter your email address below to be notified as soon as they are published.

Don�t worry you will only receive information to help grow your small business, I hate SPAM as much as you do.

How To Take Charge Of Your Cash Flow

Number one, cash is king . . .

Jack Welch

Cash is the lifeblood of any small business.

Whichever way you look at it, if you don’t have enough cash you’re out of business.

In the first video below I’ll explain why taking charge of your cash flow is so important.

In the second video I’ll show you how to use my FREE cash flow management spreadsheet to take charge of your cash flow today.

Please watch the two videos and then download the file below.

Click here to download the Cash Flow spreadsheet.

How Suppliers Gamble With Your Reputation: 4 Steps To Protect Yourself

A good reputation can take years to build, but can be lost in seconds.

Suppliers who let you and your customers down give you poor service and are gambling with your reputation.

 

When it all goes horribly wrong

 

A coaching client of mine sold a product for a customer’s home. �He placed an order with his supplier to deliver and install the product. �The item was expensive so my client took a deposit to pay the supplier in full.

The supplier delivered the product late.

When it was delivered, the engineer arrived at the wrong time of day and inconvenienced the customer.

While rushing the installation the engineer damaged the product. �The customer rightly felt that the product was sub-standard.

The customer complained to my client and held the balance of the money until the product had been fitted to their expectations.

My client had to wait several weeks for the supplier to remedy the situation, causing him a lot of stress and impact on his cash flow.

The supplier eventually remedied the situation, giving the customer a free warranty upgrade.

But my client didn’t get anything extra for his trouble, stress and time.

 

What makes a good supplier?

 

Do you have suppliers gambling with your reputation?

Here are four steps to protect yourself.

 

Step #1: Build Relationships

 

Be a �face� to your supplier and not just a number.

Build a relationship with your contact, spend a few moment chatting with them about any common interests when you call, football, holidays, children,�etc.

Relationship building is like depositing into a bank account, a relationship bank account. �When something goes wrong and you need your supplier’s help you�ll notice a big difference in the support you get if you�ve kept that bank account in credit.

If you don�t build relationships you will go overdrawn just at the time when you need help.

 

Step #2: Build Understanding

 

Help your supplier understand your business.

Take time to explain what you do, how you work and the things that are important for you from your supplier.

Give your supplier time to do the same.

This understanding adds credit to the relationship bank account and helps the supplier engage with you.

Build understanding with any supplier who provides either a product that you sell or a service that you rely on for your business.

Your landlord, accountant, lawyer, printer, and IT company are all suppliers. �Build understanding and engagement with each of these.

 

Step #3: Build Fair Terms

 

Supply arrangements only work when each party gets something fair out of the arrangement.

You may feel great when you negotiate more discount from a supplier but remember that if your supply relationship becomes unfair and the supplier doesn�t feel he�s getting something he�ll become disengaged and you�ll struggle to motivate him to help you when you have issues.

 

Step #4: Build Respect

 

Keep your language professional.

Very few people work well when they are being shouted at and one of the quickest ways to lose respect with a supplier is to be unprofessional in the way that you talk to them, either in person, on the telephone, or in writing.

Establish payment terms with your supplier and stick to them.

Paying a supplier late will lose you respect, affect your discount, and damage how far they will go to help you.

Paying late affects their cash flow, which has a cost so won’t get you the best terms.

If you can�t pay on time let your supplier know, respect is built on good, clear communication.

 

How’s your supplier relationship bank account looking?

 

In credit?

Overdrawn?

Would you like to know more about selecting good suppliers, reviewing your suppliers relationships and what to do when a good supplier relationship turns bad?

I’ll be publishing future posts about these topics and others that will help you manage this important area of your business and ensure no one is gambling with your reputation.

Enter you email address below to be notified as soon as a new post is published. �Don’t worry you’ll only receive relevant small business growth advice from Fresh Eyes Consultancy, I hate SPAM as much as you do.