Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that people are going to start knocking down the door of your business just because you have built it. I was guilty of that thought process when we first started our Martial Arts Company. I thought because we had built such an awesome place, everyone would just show up!
Obviously what I didn’t know was how to market, sell, get return clients, get referrals and on and on… We had a lot to learn and I we still learn every day!
That’s not what I’m talking about. The ‘IT’ in this scenario is relationships.
If you build relationships, people will continue to want to and to do business with you.
So how do you build a great relationship? Lots of ways. Here are 5 –
1- Send weekly emails.
You can’t imagine how many old customers and clients come back after being gone for a decade or more that still tell me that they get my emails every week. Even if they don’t read them, you are staying in front of them, and they are thinking about you even if for just a fleeting moment when they see the email come through. That alone can be huge. Then there are the people that actually open and read it! Some even reply!
If you have been with me any amount of time, you have heard me say that these are not meant to be
2 – A Monthly Printed Mailed Newsletter
I can admit that in the past year, I have sucked at this. I’ve been drawing a bit in overwhelm. We run eight businesses, and two of those are full-time jobs!
At the end of the day though, that’s just an excuse. I know a couple of things:
- I know that newsletters work. I know that they create return business for me whenever I am constant with them.
- I know that it doesn’t really take me very long if I just sit down and write it. I have the templates for all my newsletters. I just have to plug in what I want to say. It’s easy when I’m just talking to you.
3 – Random Touches
These can come in a lot of different forms. You should be doing at least 4 per year. That’s only 1 per quarter.
For the first quarter, you could do New Years, or a ‘Love Our Clients’ card for February, or a ‘Lucky to Have You’ card for March. I could go on and on.
It might be something that you find that reminds you of them. Or just a random thank you card. It could be congratulations cards or birthday cards. There are so many options for random touches.
4 – Go Live
Facebook and Instagram are pushing out your live videos for you. Plus you can ask your watchers to share the video if they think their friends might get something out of it as well. So you are getting in front of a lot of people, but more importantly, you are a real human. They see you in your natural habitat. They feel like they know you better like somehow you guys are friends!
5 – Actually Live
Does that say Live or Live? Who knows! Either works though. Actually live your life live! Go out where your customers are or have them attend an event with you. Let them know what events you’ll be attending and where they can find you. Give them a call. Relationship build live and in person!
If you do this, you will get in front of your customers a minimum of 70 times a year, and I bet it could easily be a lot more! What a great way to build a relationship!