By Mike Muhney
It has been said that we don’t know the worth of water until the well is dry. Anyone who’s been truly thirsty would agree, but few of us fear losing our access to water. Contemplate instead, something that likely hits closer to home for most professionals, the fear of losing customers―your customers.
Imagine doing without them for a mere 90 days. The danger is that we tend not to consider this possibility until it is too late. This “silent killer” of your business often sneaks in without your realizing it. How? Your customers can simply stop spending their money on your goods or services. Worst of all, they can start to disappear before you realize their absence. While I’m not suggesting that anyone intentionally creates this condition, it is possible to inadvertently lose a customer through complacency.
The resiliency of strong relationships cannot be taken for granted, particularly true with customer relationships, which are often vulnerable and almost always the target of competitors. And yet, if we’re being honest, we are too presumptuous, not to mention complacent, about the sustainability of relationships with customers and clients. Before you shake your head in denial, consider your own actions from the perspective of your network from which you derive your livelihood.
You can’t go to a health club, watch people exercise and by observing others reap the benefits of exercising yourself. Similarly you can’t merely communicate with your customers through social media alone and hope to build genuine personal connections. Although we can reach more people today than ever before through the likes of social media, it cannot come at the cost and risk of thinking that personal relationships can now be diminished or trivialized.
Social media platforms, while helping us reach the masses, have created an environment of relational voyeurism. They give us the false impression of intimacy where there is none at all and they can often create a trap for the professionals who rely solely on them as a means of connecting. If you only observe your customers through the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, you’re limiting yourself to the same information that is available to everyone. Your competition has access to that same information. If that is your only source of information, you will fail to distinguish yourself from your competition in the minds of your clientele.
Meaningful business comes from meaningful relationships. Always has. Always will. What makes a relationship meaningful? There are four components of relationship strength, the sinews or connective tissue that binds together: time, trust, intensity, and reciprocity. But how can you strengthen the sinews of your business relationships in order to achieve sustainability―and ultimately success? How can you distinguish yourself in the market?
Each customer with whom you do business is in some manner crucial to the success of your business. You need a way to record, store, and recall at a momentfs notice their personal information, but not necessarily for the reasons you may think. In relationships, the sinew is not in gathering customer data for the sake of gathering more data. It is what you are able to do with that data that strengthens relationships. Referencing relevant information you have garnered through personal interactions conveys interest, attention, and care to your customer. This type of gexerciseh helps keep the relationship in order, making it strong and healthy. Youfre then able to develop genuine bonds with your customer based on trust by remembering and acting on information they have extended to you, and you alone.
You will be more successful in your relationships if you think of them in terms of health rather than in the clinical terms of gCustomer Relationship Managementh or even Contact Management. By concentrating on relationship health, you will be better equipped to avoid the trap of thinking that you can actually gmanageh your relationships. Instead, focus on enhancing the health of each relationship. By doing so, you will gain a truly competitive edge. After all, there is no traffic jam on that extra mile.
Mike Muhney is the co-inventor of ACT!, is now the CEO & co-founder of VIPorbit Software, creators of VIPorbit relationship management apps for iPhone & iPad. viporbit.com
