My Connection Manifesto
As a fellow small business owner, I feel compelled to say something rarely talked about - your connection to your customers. The truth is, we do not connect as well as we should with our customers.
This is not a good thing.
What separates us, the small business, from the big chains is that we CAN connect with our customers…all of them, but still, we don’t.
Why?
Because it takes time, and time is the one thing we don’t have to spare.
Running a business takes a great deal of time, but running a small business takes even MORE time because we insist on doing whatever it takes to satisfy our customers. If we didn’t, we wouldn't be around very long, would we?
But taking care of our customers is different than making a connection with them.
Making a connection actually slows down the clock.
As we wildly work throughout the day, taking care of this and attending to that, we’re ALWAYS working on getting more done (and, as we all know, “more” means more business, more clients, more money, whatever MORE means to you).
But what if told you that by creating a stronger connection with your customer, you could make you more money in less time? Would you believe me?
When you make a substantial, positive connection with your customers, they appreciate you, they like you, and they’re willing to come back to you. I don’t have to tell you the power of repeat business, but I will hit you with a few essential bullets:
- Repeat customer buy more often
- Repeat customers spend more
- Repeat customers are easier to sell to
- Repeat customer refer more new customers
What this means is that if you can build trust with your current customer, serve and make a genuine connection with them, you now have a customer that will work FOR you and PAY you at the same time.
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin
There are several ways this connection can be made.
You can visit them at their home. You can write them a card. You can call them on the phone. You can pester them on social media. Most of these are not practical…or feasible, given your lack of time that we already acknowledged.
You could send them an email, however. But not the typical dopey, “Hey, I’ve got some great new stuff for you to buy!” email. I’m talking about an email that gives your customer a peek into YOUR life, perhaps into your mind, but certainly into your heart.
This is the kind of email that makes a connection.
Do you have time for this? I hope the answer is yes, but if your answer is
"no…but I WANT to", we should chat.
I might be able to help you make this connection - a genuine connection that draws your customer in and allows them to be a part of what moves you and gets you up every morning (and no, not coffee...unless you sell coffee).
I’m talking about your passion for helping your customer and how you risked everything to create a business to do just that. It sounds crazy, but that’s who we are. It’s not about us; it’s about them… it’s always about them.
If any of this resonates with you, we should probably talk.
For you, it’s about them - for me, it’s about you.