If you have a little spare time in your working week and would like to massively improve your commercial relationships and increase sales, you will find today’s post really useful.
Human focused business development
Here’s what I’m suggesting: Contact your clients. Tell them that you know how hard the economy is right now and ask if you can pitch in and help them.
That’s it.
Your clients need you today, like never before. By giving them a call, note or email, offering to help, you give yourself the opportunity to make a real difference, to people who have put their faith in you. That’s who our clients are – people who trust us to come through for them, when they need us.
Why bother?
Some of the people you contact, will say they are doing fine and thank you for offering to help. These people will remember your eagerness to help, for longer than you can imagine.
Some of the people you contact, will say that times are tough and welcome any help you can provide. A subset of this group will reciprocate by paying you. Another subset will reciprocate by offering to do something for you. Finally, a smaller subset will welcome your help, but will not reciprocate directly. However, in every instance you will have had the privilege of helping your clients or customers.
No, you don’t need to contact every client you have. There will be some you are already in regular contact with and some who you would not want to work with again. However, the vast majority of clients and inactive clients (I don’t like the term ‘former clients’) will be worthy of your time. Make this work scalable by spreading these messages out and offering to help, when you have, or can make, the time required. Don’t contact everyone at once.
What will happen?
Everyone will see a slightly different result. Here’s what we know for sure: You will end up doing work that matters.
The time you invest in this will be filled by helping some great people – the people whose faith in you and whose investment in you is why you have a business today. It makes sense on every level to take time to invest in them!
You will deepen your relationships with every client you contact. Whether they are active or inactive clients they will never feel quite the same way about you, after you grasp the initiative to pitch in and help, when they need you the most.
Business is all about people. It serves our clients and ourselves, to deepen our relationships and invest in them.