Relationship Marketing Works
In today’s highly competitive market, it’s the relationships you build that help you rise above — and stay ahead of — the competition. This modern approach to your marketing strategy looks for ways to create an experience that is more meaningful and longer lasting.
Building Your Business
By building strong relationships, you can avoid being forgotten after your transaction is complete and keep your strong and profitable clients happy — and coming back for more, hopefully with referrals in hand! You’re also building your reputation as a trusted advisor whose experience and expertise are highly valued in your community.
Building a great provider-client relationship goes beyond simply providing excellent customer service. To build strong, healthy and profitable relationships, you need to stay in touch with your customers —past, present and future — and encourage them to contact you anytime they have a need, or even just a question.
Adding Value
One way to maintain contact without being overbearing or continuously pushing a “hard sell” is through informative newsletters and other “value-add” messages. Birthday and holiday greetings you customize, postcards with quick tips and fun ideas and more in-depth communications related to your field of expertise help to keep a connection alive — and put your name, contact info and photo in front of the client on a regular basis.
You can create your own custom marketing if you’ve got the skills, or use a marketing solutions company to set up and schedule drip marketing campaigns that reach clients on a regular basis.
A service provider should be able to customize your messages with your name, contact information and photo. You want clients to like what you send enough to keep it around, and it’s no good having them print out an email or put a flyer on the fridge if your contact info isn’t easy to find on it!
Returning and Referring
Many of us know contemporaries who boast that their business is based almost entirely on referrals. When you have a great experience with a client, it’s your chance to lock them in as lifetime clients who will need your services again as their life situations change. And satisfied clients provide excellent referrals to hot prospects who are more likely to close a deal with you … and then refer you to another friend or family member that you can add to your database. As your list of satisfied past clients grows, so will your list of high-quality leads. And so on.
Building a true relationship marketing engine is not fast and easy, but it is well worth your time. Having truly loyal clients who return to you for advice and service and who prospect for you by referring hot, quality leads is practically priceless.
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