You don’t have any clients.
You also don’t have any customers, email subscribers or readers. Oh, and you don’t have anyone connected to you on social networks either.
- You don’t have them. They’re not your possession.
- Instead, you borrow them.
Once you’ve earned someone’s custom, trust or attention, it’s just the beginning. If you want to retain their custom, trust and attention, you then need to keep on re-earning it. The moment you begin to think otherwise, you risk becoming complacent.
Closing the sale or opening the relationship?
For decades, sales trainers talked about the importance of closing the sale. Some still focus on it today, though mainly in high-pressure sales environments. Closing the sale was all about closing tactics, which you could use to motivate someone to buy from you or hire you.
Once this was achieved, the deal was closed.
Today, we know better.
The smartest business owners don’t focus on closing the sale. Instead, they focus on opening the relationship. This is the mindset that says when a sale has been made, a new client acquired or a new subscriber gained, it’s only the start. It’s the mindset that compels us to continuously seek to re-earn their custom, trust and attention.
Let your competitors become complacent. Let your competitors wrongly assume that the people doing business with them, are THEIR clients or customers.
But not you.
Instead, remain focused on opening relationships, being useful and constantly delivering value.