The strategies to building a business and creating relationships with your customers have changed. There is some truth to this statement and there are some things that really haven't changed at all. What has changed more than anything is the need for a business to involve itself into the strategies of marketing and building relationships at a much more committed level than it might have done in the past.
Meet Sharon Gorman
This week I had the privilege of spending some time with a very successful Chiropractor that has built a number of practices over her career in a variety of different geographic locations. Why is that important? The main thing is the same principles work where ever you are – as long as you apply them. Her name is Sharon Gorman and you can find her at Gorman Chiropractic. She gave a great presentation on what she has done and learned about over the years of being in business. We have all heard them before but have we applied them? That is always the key isn't it. You have to take action and I will go a step further and say, you have to take positive action. Many times I think we take negative action or counter-productive action and feel like any action is better than no action. This is not always true.
How to take Positive Action
Why Are You In Business?
One of the first principles or ideas was the question of – Why are you in business? That is a very good question and so often it seems we get caught up in the Rat Race and start to get overwhelmed with the difficulties and financial issues of running a business that we lose sight of the reason WHY we are in business to begin with. I won't tell you the answer Sharon gave because it might taint the answer for you but you can share your answers below and in a later post I will address the answer she gave.
Be Nice
Once we are open for business it then becomes necessary to get business and Sharon gave some great tips that have worked consistently over the years for her. One of the biggest lessons she offered was to be nice to people. WOW what a concept. Actually it is a fantastic reminder that fundamentally we do business with people we like and if people don't like you …well - You fill in the blank.
The real cool stuff she talked about was some simple strategies to help you meet people and expand your circle of friends — because, this stuff is simple. You have to meet people to get them to like you. You could be the nicest person in the world but if no one knows you then no one gets to experience your stellar personality.
Networking Made Simple
One strategy was exactly what we were doing yesterday. We were at a Meetup group. If you don't know what a Meetup Group is go to Meetup.com and click on the Find a Group button and type something in. You will be amazed at the extensive list of groups that meet on about every topic you can imagine. With this networking tool there is no excuse for not meeting and socializing with like minded people. There are some strategies to making this type of networking more successful but we will save that for a later post.
Neighbors Can Be Powerful
Another great tip was to work with neighboring businesses and help each other promote your businesses. Sharon was in the process of organizing a block party for her practice and the neighboring businesses around her. This is a great idea but there are so many more you could come up with. Just organizing a meeting with your neighboring businesses will result in expanding your friends circle and put you in a position to get more business. No telling what great ideas you will come up with as a group. Please share those in the comments section below – we would love to hear about some of the great ideas you come up with. It will help everyone get better.
Promote From Within
Probably the most powerful and the most overlooked tip of all was to promote from within. Use your existing customers to help get you more business. A satisfied customer is your best advertisement and today there are many ways to connect with your existing customers through social media and blogs and email to get them to start to promote your business to their friends. One of the best ways to get happy customers is to over deliver on your promises and give them a reason to talk about you. Do something that no one else is doing. It will usually involve some level of service that your competitors are not willing to provide. It could be as simple as a bottle of water or a flower or something that really takes the client over the top and puts you at the front of their minds.
These are just a few of the great tips Sharon presented – the bottom line is – take positive action and get out there and become a passionate friendly promoter of your business.
Todd: As always great insight. Simple concept….so why don't we employ it in our businesses more often….why isn't this concept a part of our employee training. Sharon and your blog….hit the nail on the head.
Thanks.