Noted Psychologist, William James said, “The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” With this in mind, I have spent this week pondering the way in which we do business. Business is a race against deadlines and competition. The way in which we have proved to get more business done in a given day is by use of digital mediums (internet, cell phones, emails, texts). Though this aids us significantly, it also can harm a business relationship. It can lessen the very thing we seek to gain, meaning when we use these tools, we are leaving out the human aspect, the relationship in which our businesses were founded on, the backbone of our companies.
Not all communication with our customers’ needs to be face to face but the question we need to ask is, how would the results we seek be different if we spent our time making personal connections? Would our potential and current customers or those within our network feel more appreciated if we limited the digital mediums and instead had some face time? Of course, knowing your customers and the way in which they construct business will help you know what type of communication will be most meaningful to them. One goal in business is to stay one step ahead of the competition. Do you know how your competition is communicating? What is your competitive advantage?
With the sluggish economy, budget constraints, and overloaded schedules there are some limitations to refining or implementing this form of communication. A few ideas we can try:
· Schedule a meeting with your top customers or simply drop by and thank them
for their business and how much you value them as customers
· Send them a hand written thank you note for being your customer
· Set up a monthly call schedule where you call your top customers to see if
there is anything else you can do for them
· Catering in a lunch or simply bringing refreshments to a key department of
one of your customers
· Finding out their birthday and sending a card…make note of this for the
following year(s) on your calendar.
· After a meeting note personal data you have learned about your customer so
that when you meet next, you can begin a discussion that puts them at ease
as well as builds a relationship of trust. This is also tells them that you are
interested in them as a person, not just what they can do for you.
Not all communication with our customers’ needs to be face to face but the question we need to ask is, how would the results we seek be different if we spent our time making personal connections? Would our potential and current customers or those within our network feel more appreciated if we limited the digital mediums and instead had some face time? Of course, knowing your customers and the way in which they construct business will help you know what type of communication will be most meaningful to them. One goal in business is to stay one step ahead of the competition. Do you know how your competition is communicating? What is your competitive advantage?
With the sluggish economy, budget constraints, and overloaded schedules there are some limitations to refining or implementing this form of communication. A few ideas we can try:
· Schedule a meeting with your top customers or simply drop by and thank them
for their business and how much you value them as customers
· Send them a hand written thank you note for being your customer
· Set up a monthly call schedule where you call your top customers to see if
there is anything else you can do for them
· Catering in a lunch or simply bringing refreshments to a key department of
one of your customers
· Finding out their birthday and sending a card…make note of this for the
following year(s) on your calendar.
· After a meeting note personal data you have learned about your customer so
that when you meet next, you can begin a discussion that puts them at ease
as well as builds a relationship of trust. This is also tells them that you are
interested in them as a person, not just what they can do for you.
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