{Marketing Mistake} Going Straight For Home Base

Mistake #5: Going Straight For Home Base

This is a true story… I met my gorgeous, highly intelligent and witty (yeah, I’m probably a little biased) husband on Match.com.

This is how it worked:

-First, he keyed in his search criteria and up came my picture/profile (along with a few others).

-Then he sent me an email.

-We wrote back and forth.

-Decided to exchange phone numbers.

-We talked on the phone.

-Agreed to have a face-to-face meeting.

-We went on a dinner date, then things continued to move forward…

We eventually got there and now have the long-term relationship of our dreams.

Don’t make the mistake of going straight for home base.

Business relationships are like a courtship, they take time, dedication and commitment. If you make the mistake of going straight for home base and not ‘court’ your customers, you’ll lose big time.

Successful small biz owners know that nurturing strong relationships is critical to having a strong business.

2 Elements Critical for Success

1. Make sure customers feel valued and appreciated. Ie; send a thank you card, give them some chocolate (who doesn’t love chocolate?!), a shout out on Facebook or Twitter, a gift card to Starbucks, or a large (go big or go home, I always say percentage off their next purchase.

RESULT: This will make your customers sit up, take notice, and be a salesperson for your business.

2. Know  your customers. Gather and keep record of what matters to them; what they like, important dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc) and details.

RESULT: If you know who they are and what really matters to them, their loyalty to you and your biz increases.

The honest truth.

If you take the time to ‘court’ your customers, they’ll be loyal, refer their family and friends, will spend more money, and your competitors will want to know your secret.

Now go out and start building long lasting customer relationships, ones that MATCH you and HELP YOU grow your business!