How Do You Build Client Relationships?
How do you connect with people?
Everyone has their own way of doing it. When you meet someone new, either at a dinner party or a networking event, how do you start up a conversation? It’s one thing to tell others about what you do (which can be challenging enough), but how do you ask someone else about themselves?
It’s not easy, and even seasoned networkers can struggle with this. However, when building your business, one of the most important things you can focus on doing is learning about other people.
No matter what business or industry you’re in, relationships are at the heart of your business development. Think about it - your existing relationships with customers and clients is what keeps them coming back. When you form new relationships with new clients, it’s still what keeps them coming back for more.
We inherently focus on doing business with people who we know, like, and trust - so much so that we don’t even think twice about it. We don’t rush to do business with strangers, because decades of advertising and marketing hype have made us suspicious and guarded, and so we automatically keep a wall up to protect both ourselves and our wallets.
We also don’t do business with people who we know, but don’t like - at least not frequently. Suppose you know a local vendor who you know does quality work, but they’re so unlikeable that it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. You’ll go to them if you have to, but you’re almost readying yourself for an unpleasant experience, and no one wants that.
Once you know and like someone, the trust element comes about naturally. We trust people that we like, especially if we think that they like us, too. We feel as though that they have our best interests at heart, and thus they wouldn’t steer us in the wrong direction.
So here are a few key steps for building that know, like, and trust:
Get to know them. In the world of big business and huge companies there are all sorts of ways to do market research, but it doesn’t even need to be that complicated. Ask someone questions. Learn more about them, not just things like what the do for work, but actually things about them. You know how you’re always impressed when someone remembers the name of your partner or children? It’s because they listened, and they took the time to learn.
Learn where they’re struggling. There is a longstanding philosophy in marketing that you need to focus specifically on someone’s pain points, but you can do this in a subtle way so that they don’t feel as though you’re prying. When someone feels as though you’re listening, they’re more open to being, well, open, and they’ll naturally start to share some of the things that they’re struggling with.
Ask more questions, especially where it pertains to your business. Ask them why something has been challenging, or what their experience with someone else in your field has been. If people feel like you’re prying or disinterested, their walls go up, but if you’re able to practice working those questions in naturally then they’ll be more open to talking further.
Lastly, when they’re ready, tell them about you. If someone feels like you’re doing a hard sales pitch, those walls are going to shoot up at lightning speed. Instead, when they’re then curious about you, you can feel free to tell them more while focusing on three key points - who you are, what you do, and how you can help. If they ask more questions, you can go into other areas, but those three are crucial for building a client relationship.
We love working with video because it helps answer those last few questions quickly. If someone has seen a video about you and your business, they likely have a good idea about who you are, understand a bit about what you do, and they may even have some idea of how you can help.
Once that’s established, and you focus on learning more about them, they’ll be amazed that you took the time to really pay attention and learn. That’s how you build successful client relationships - one question at a time.
