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The Relationship Bridge - Creating
Marketing Strategies That Work
By Natashia Halikowski of Intuitionworks
The last article highlighted strategies to “Create Maximum Impact”. We
explored that today’s marketing is any process that engages your prospects
and creates clients who pay, return and refer. We are going to continue to
explore how you can leave less money on the table. You leave money on the
table when your clients are unaware of your other services and the benefits.
You leave money on the table when you fail to grow repeat business. You
leave money on the table when your services fail to attract referrals.
The second phase is “Creating Powerful Relationships”. One powerful
relationship can lead to countless referrals and many opportunities for
repeat business. It’s time to be radically honest about how and why powerful
relationships are created. The fact is that 80 percent of your business will
be created from 20 percent of your relationships. This occurs because
relationships form a highly interactive web that can expand and contract.
There is a ripple affect that occurs when you harness powerful
relationships. If you are willing to put clients before profit and lead with
a caring, authentic approach to customer service, you will, with ease,
expand exponentially your position in the marketplace. Powerful
relationships allow you to tap into your greatest potential, to present
yourself as an expert and to get more deeply connected with your clients.
The powerful relationship is the nurtured relationship. Your client
relationships become a reflection of what you have created over time, and
powerful relationships are based on compassion, ease, truth, trust, value,
loyalty, give and take.
Viral marketing is becoming the trend to watch in the future. Viral
marketing works when you create powerful relationships. The reality is that
we must find new and creative ways to get permission from clients and
potential clients to do business with them. There are several steps to
designing and creating these relationships. When you are ready to make a
commitment to these steps and nurture them, the results will be amazing.
First take some time to reflect on these questions and brainstorm your
strengths and weaknesses. Make a list.
1) What do I need to do to nurture these relationships?
2) How can I demonstrate empathy and compassion for my clients?
3) What do I need to do to demonstrate trustworthiness, integrity, openness
and authenticity?
4) How can I use the power of my message to build trust and to be honest
with what I will deliver?
5) Am I ready to be independent of others actions, have zero expectations,
and be emotionally detached?
6) Can I express myself with clarity and drop my need to make assumptions?
7) Am I willing to be present in the now, to be focused and to do my best?
8) Am I ready to remove any self-sabotaging behaviour and remember to
practice nurturing self-care?
Once you have completed the brainstorming, you will now be ready for the
following steps:
1) Create a vision board of who you want to connect with and why.
2) Work with a database system to manage the details of your clients.
3) Reach out to your clients every 3-6 weeks either by blogging, e-zines or
other tools.
4) Personally touch base 2 to 6 times a year with either a phone call or a
personalized note.
5) Ask your clients how else you can be supportive. This might include
additional products and services.
6) Ask for support (referrals) and feedback for yourself.
The key to remember is your willingness to nurture and support these
relationships. You must give your clients a reason to trust and a reason to
refer. It is your responsibility to create the WOW factor and have your
clients become your greatest support system. When you are prepared to value
your clients with great services, you must also be willing to have them
support your growth. All too often we assume that our clients know our
future vision and when we are looking for referrals. You leave money on the
table when you fail to remind your clients that you are in a growth phase of
your business.
Lastly, you need to remember the power of listening and the power of great
questions. Both of these tools flow back and forth as one must listen well
to ask the right questions or to even know when to ask for business. We
listen at 125-250 words per minute, but think at 1000-3000 words per minute.
According to The International Listening Association, “Most of us are
distracted, preoccupied or forgetful about 75 percent of the time we should
be listening.” Listening is being present without judging, and allowing
others to finish without interruptions. You will notice the difference when
someone is paying 100 percent attention to you while you explain what you
need and what your issues are. Your great questions will allow clients to
reveal their needs more deeply resulting in you building a bridge to a
stronger relationship.
Your future profits are in the hands of your current clients. Imagine what
possibilities you can create when you are willing and committed to creating
powerful relationships. The truth is we never know who knows who. When you
are willing to coordinate all three phases - Creating Maximum Impact,
Creating Powerful Relationships and Creating Powerful Results - you will
create a power point for your business. You will create a force that
includes the parts that will create results for your marketing and create
the profits you deserve.
Next issue (July/Aug), we will explore Creating Powerful Results.
Natashia Halikowski is an Intuitive Coach, Trainer & Keynote Speaker.
Her company Intuitionworks offers seminars that help you to take charge of
your business health & create a WOW Factor. Contact Natashia at 403.238.5424
or visit
www.intuitionworks.com
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