The customer is the end reason that the plant exists.  The significance of customer loyalty isn’t a new idea for small businesses, but understanding what loyalty means in this digital age is a new necessity.  This means loyal customers are a small business’s de facto marketing department! Maintaining excellent relationships with customers has reached a whole new echelon of significance in the digital age.

Taking care of customers needs to be an ongoing, proactive part of the business.  This will take time and budget. Here are the few guidelines on how to ensure that you are not letting go of your best existing customers or clients.

1. Sincerely care about your clients’ complete satisfaction. Show concern and convey caring interactions with them. Whether products or services, you want customers to know you appreciate their business!

2. Make it easy for your customers to contact you. . If your business is online, have a “contact us” form at the very least; or put the contact numbers that customers can use to reach you. Open your lines of communication.  If you would rather use an answering machine to receive calls (e.g. you do not want customers to hear the cry of your infant), be sure to return calls promptly, preferably before the day ends.

3. Always do what you promised in a timely manner. Promise only what you can keep. This is important to earn clients trust. The relationship with your client will be doomed if you give them false promises and expectations right from the start.  And it would be the key to gain repeat businesses.  Ramp up your efforts to retain current customers.

4. Utilize Customer Service Training to Retain Clients. Make sure to have a best customer service possible.  Customer service training shows how to organized, how to solve problem more efficiently, and how to be a better listerner so you can find solutions for your customers. It doesn’t matter who gets the glory; what does matter is whether or not the clients’ needs are met completely.

5. Be Considerate. . Even when you’re tired or stressed, act as though you were feeling energetic and cheerful. Your clients will appreciate your efforts.

5. Be Excellent and reliable.  Set high standards of service right from the start, and make sure that all your employees (if any) adhere to that same high standard.  If you want your customers to patronize your business again and again, the only way is to provide a consistently good performance.

Build connections by communicating both ways, learning about each other and by offering your.  Provide value to them and ensure that value is at a personal level. In the face to face business world this requires real relationships to develop and some interest on both parties to stay involved.

Building a few connections is easy without any system or methods for tracking.  However, you should be growing your known connections every month and so you will quickly find yourself needing to keep track of connections.

One of the most important things with tracking connections is knowing when your last contact was and if there were any special discussions or actions that came about since or as a result of that last contact.  A regularly scheduled phone message or quick note on email is a simple task that is easy to schedule in any calendar or CRM software.

Ideally, you then continue to contact people that you haven’t frequently contact and just let them know you were thinking about them and wanted to stay in touch and that they are welcome to ask or contact you if they need anything from you.

Like all social behaviors there are some ground rules to observe in making and maintaining great connections:

1) It’s About Each of You- Whether you are connecting with one person or a group of people, it is important to consider the needs and objectives of each person or party involved and to seek win-win solutions.

2) Follow-up Within 24 Hours – If you enjoyed making a connection or see potential for a relationship to develop, show the connection that meeting them was important to you by reaching out within 24 hours via phone, email or text, offering next steps of communication and an offer of to be of assistance if they need it is a great relationship builder.

3) Once in Touch, Stay In Touch – Every successful relationship in your life is built over time and through multiple interactions and communications. Once you have made the initial connection it is imperative that you follow up, stay in touch and check-in to keep the lines of communication open.

4) Be a Giver – People who excel at connecting give advice or assistance first and ask for assistance second. Offer your advice, counsel,  assistance on a matter, or refer them to a friend and  associates you know.

5) Have a Long Term View – Great connectors know that the next great partnership, introduction or synergy could be just around the corner and that developing relationships with everyone they meet regardless of the immediate benefit is the key to long term success and relationship building.

Good Customer Service is the lifeblood of any business. If you’re a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue.Without them, we would not and could not exist in business. It is not just something written on a poster on a wall in your office. It is a way of life. It is your business model.

Some employee referral advantages choosing a person that you know well (character, qualifications etc), save cost & time vs. advertisement. Some referral business is unsurpassed; and on the other, people are passive about developing their referrals.

It’s a common sense, but not typical practice. The average business without full price existence has several programs for generating new customer leads namely, Yellow Pages, local paper advertising and word-of-mouth recommendations.  Of these methods of prospecting, testimonials recommendations are the least expensive.

Generating 100% of your business from referrals should NOT be your goal when your business plans on rolling out new products, introducing new services, or entering new territories. By definition, you’re going to be receiving fewer in such situations; you may want to include targeted marketing as part of your rollouts

To the person, they’ve said that a referred client is pre-sold, the referred salesperson has credibility and trustworthiness, the competition decreases or disappears, and that they end  up with a new client a minimum of 50 percent—but more likely between 75 and 95 percent—of the time. Oh, and not only are referral customers more profitable, but they also will be the first to give a referral to others.

Here’s the four keys principle’ of referrals

1) Having a strong belief in referrals – you have to believe that you are going to get them. Never ask for referrals expecting a negative result.

2) Being bold in asking prospective – if an individual gives you one referral, they are willing to give more referral clients, make it a goal to ask for referrals in every meeting you will have.

3) Be Yourself – If you sincerely believe in yourself and your abilities, your clients will follow by telling their friends to meet with you.

4) Compensation – “Would you rather give referrals or pay a fee?” Not only does giving referrals allow clients to avoid an invoice, but people recognize the value of the work and are genuinely pleased to compensate for quality referrals.

The best way to get clients is by CONNECTING other business owners who might need your services. The two essential things to consider are your contacts and reputation.  It is one of the most important lessons to learn in this time to encounter and find client through referrals, not through cold sales.

Give yourself the edge over your competitors by harnessing the power of referrals. It won’t automatically come to you.  You will need to make them happen.  Whatever you can think of but don’t wait for referrals to come to you.  Go out and get them!

Income techniques, social networking, sales, and improving promoting experience are all here. Begin to increase income these days. Finding the best able provides from your business does not come from a freezing contact scenario but from building a highly effective professional recommendation business.

Income sales done right can have an enormous effect on profits revenue. It doesn’t take an armor suit and great courage to deal with the fear of rejection during prospecting.  Just keep a balanced view to task the old university of sales and the beliefs of sales. A fanatical and unique client statement is worth more than 1000 terms of plain revenue content. A convincing client’s statement validates the statements you make about how great your business is.

Turn a purchase in just seven easy seconds. Do it more quickly if you use an income way to make an outstanding first impact if your first impact is not fantastic you will not get another possibility with that probability. Create an outstanding first impact and the person is likely to take your business seriously.

Whether your initial getting together with is face-to-face, over the cellular or via the internet, you do not have a opportunity to invest. It will pay for you to point of view the income technique of how people make their first judgment and what you can do to administer the results. Try to be flexible and expect great challenge.

The following are few recommendations that will help you develop your business expert professional recommendation strategy. Just keep yourself positive and you’ll find yourself surprised. It’s just a situation of being certain, well known, and most especially useful and essential.

• Know your business well – Do as much as review as you can about your office and the competitiveness. It’s your enterprise and you have to know it all the way through.
• Make a lot of friends and shout it out – Attend parties and local events, be friendly. Offer some of your products to a few companies.  This makes a fantastic image both for you and your business.  Warning: Do not over-advertise, oversell, and over-promise– people do not like it.
• Share your knowledge for free and utilize the available technology – Create instructional videos, PDF (Portable Document Format), Facilitate free seminars in your area. Make use of your voice-mail, cell phone, email, and websites, It makes things easier.
• Provide referrals and ask for more – Relay your business to other people. Feel free to ask for recommendations. Also let your established customers know the same element.
• Be your business – It’s not just about revenue. Just socialize and let them know of what you do.  It always had immediate impact on your enterprise.

Now, ask yourself, “Now that you have this information about building referrals for your business, should I let this pass by without taking a chance to make difference and excel in a corporate world you are currently in?”

In short, people are working at a time when our great knowledge and technology can help save them. Don’t let your business become a casualty.

With this outrageously convenient job search tool, it’s easy to forget about job searching in the real world. You know, hard copy resumes, business cards, and handshakes — the old-fashioned stuff.

If you’ve neglected offline job search practices, you’re missing out on a lot of great opportunities that could give you your next big break. Check out these four face-to-face networking opportunities that you might be missing out on:

Explore a job fair

You might not walk away from a job fair with a job in your pocket, but you will leave with a few business cards! Job fairs offer dozens of opportunities to learn about and network with different companies. To make the most of your time at a job fair, go in with an open mind and spend time at all (or most) tables. Think of it as speed interviewing…like speed dating.  Learn what you can about the company, present yourself well, and get a real date…er…interview.

Join a club

Whatever you do, want to do, or never want to do again, there is a group of people who share your thoughts (whatever they might be). Join them! Do some Google research on local clubs, associations, or groups in your area that interest you. While industry-relevant groups are by far the most helpful, any organization can give your network a boost.

Let’s do lunch

Lunch is an important meal of the day and shouldn’t be squandered on a PB&J alone. Meet up with your friends, networking contacts, or mentor for some nosh and networking. Lunch is a great way to land a hard-to-get informational interview with that important somebody from your favorite company. After all, everybody’s gotta eat, right?

Attend an event

The most important one, attending an event is an excellent networking opportunity that simply cannot be accomplished in the same way online. Whether it’s a small coffee hour or a large conference, any event can get you several degrees closer to your job of choice (or maybe even Kevin Bacon).  Attend San Diego Business Connectors events!

• Practice Your Smile and Handshake:
  Take some time to rehearse in the mirror and practice on a family member or your pet. You want the smile to not look like you have the hemorrhoids. Make it natural, fun, coy, and endearing. Make the handshake strong and firm without ripping off their arm. And wipe those sweaty palms.
  Be a professional networker now.

• Practice Your Babble:
  Repeat after me: Hi, my name is [your name] and I [your purpose and goals]. Wait, how many words does it take to define you and your business? Can you do it in less than 200 words? If you can, work harder. Prune it down to 10 words or less and you have a powerful tagline to kick off a conversation with. Get your goals and purpose on paper and rehearse it. Practice introducing yourself and giving your spiel. You are going to get asked, so be ready for the moment.
  You’re there to get known, so if you can’t tell them what you do, who wants to know you?

• Pry Open Your Brain:
  Crack open your virtual skull and get ready for new input. You’ve come here as an expert to learn from the experts. Get your head ready to fill with exciting thoughts, ideas, business techniques, tips, and the tools you need to ratchet your blog up 10 notches.
  The inspiration can’t get in unless the brain is open. Pack your can opener in your suitcase so you’re ready.

• Remove Brain Filters:
  Yeah, yeah, heard it, read it, bought the book and the t-shirt. Stop that thinking right now. Clean out all the filters on your brain that thinks there is only one way to do this networking thing. Get ready for new tips and techniques to drive themselves into your gray matter and come out with clearer networking, and marketing skills.
  Remove preconceived notions and cobwebs and get ready for new input to strain through the sifters in your skull.

• Remember What It Means to Make Friends – Real Friends:
  Remember how a look could fill say a paragraph of meaning and intent with your friends in the real world? I know the skills are rusty, but you can do it. Practice clever witticisms and comebacks. Work on that sly grin. Be ready to poke a little fun – appropriate fun – in the moment that will turn a chance meeting into a life-long relationship of working and playing together.
  It’s these little things that you do that change a stranger into a friend.

• Did Someone Say Networking Means Business?
  You’re not just there to meet and greet. You attend these things to make money. You can make money by meeting the people who have money to share, or learn from those earning it hand over fist. It’s not just about the money. It’s about the money-making connections. What skills do you not have that you wish you did? Find someone who does and maybe you may have the skills they don’t have. SWAP! Pushing into the consultancy business? Then you better have a vast list of resource folks to help fill in the missing parts of your business services. Start NETWORKING!
  The more people you know with the right skills and resources, the more likely you are to create business for your business!

• Spread Yourself on Everyone:
  Become like jam. Be prepared to spread yourself everywhere during the meeting. You want to be the one who stands up and asks the brilliant question that gets everyone talking about you, you smarty pants, not the speaker. You want to be mentioned in every report from the conference as the witty, wise, and wondrous person who stole everyone’s heart with your dazzling brilliance and networking skills. After all, it’s who you know not what you know that can make all the difference in your blogging career.  Start spreading your who around.

The Internet is an amazing freelance writing tool. We use it to communicate, find work and network. I don’t like to bore you with too many “back in the day” stories, but I can tell you times have changed drastically in the past ten to twenty years.

The problem with all this online stuff is how it makes everything less personal. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy attending so many confererences. Networking not only gives me the opporutnity to meet interesting people, but  people who might be in need of my services. I also meet people who know people who might be in need of my services. Social media, online networking, email…these are all great tools. It’s the face to face networking that really drives it all home.

Here’s why face to face networking rocks, especially at writing and social media conferences.

1. Lots of elevators to pitch: Actually, I don’t believe in giving elevator pitches, really. I do believe in face to face marketing, however. When you’re in a room filled with hundreds of others, you have the ability to reach so many people. Now, chances are you won’t get to meet everyone in attendance but whether you meet 5 or 10 or 50, you now have more contacts…and potential clients.
2. Business cards and promotional material don’t get lost in the email shuffle:Cold calling or cold emailing can be effective. The problem with email is it either gets lost in the queue, put in a folder never to be seen again, or deleted outright. People tend to keep business cards and brochures. I have envelopes filled with business cards from every conference I attended. When you give someone your business card he might not use it right away, but he may use it a month or a year from now.
3. Passion: Your potential client can’t always see your passion in an email.  (though as a writer it’s something that should show through.) However, when you’re face to face your passion shines through each time.
4. You can better conduct business over a cup of coffee than an email pitch:When you’re having a conversation you can flesh out ideas. You can offer suggestions and listen to advice in return. One 30 minute conversation will do a lot more for your career than 3 emailed paragraphs.
5. Email is so impersonal: Though it’s not necessary to elaborate, I will say this. People prefer to talk to real live people than a computer. They prefer to hear voice than to read an email. It’s the reason no one likes automated phone calls or Twitter DM spam. They prefer personalized pitches to impersonal online marketing.
6. The trust factor: Folks trust you better when they can see your face and hear your voice. They like to look you in the eye and make sure you’re on the up and up.
7. You know exactly who you’re talking to: When you’re face to face you’re talking to the person you want to talk to. Not the receptionist. Not the fake supervisor. You’re taking it straight to the man. (or woman as the case may be).
8. No one can hang up the phone: One of the reasons I dislike cold calling is because sometimes the person who answers the phone will say, “no thank you” and hang up before I can even get the words out. When you’re meeting with someone face to face, you can usually at least say what it is you do and offer a business card.
9. Face to face is memorable: Potential clients are more likely to remember you if reach out in person as opposed to online. Emails don’t always make a lasting impression.
10. It gives you a chance to work on your people skills: Networking is good practice. It allows you to try out your people and customer service skills. When you’re talking with others you can tell what works. You can read their expressions and body language to see what they’re thinking. When you network you learn a lot about your delivery and can tweak that to your advantage.

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This was our first week of networking since we took time off in August!

September 1st, was our first gathering in Oceanside!  How great to see all our friends, the people that come regularly, the ones that understand what it means to be part of a networking group, and how to work it out and get amazing results!  Not everyone is able to come to the meetings on a regular basis, but some people make the commitment, and they do come back regularly.

We had 16 amazing people in our meeting, and enjoyed regrouping, catching up with one another, and attentively and enthusiastically heard Paula Waring’s presentation on Jockey Person to Person – Next? I will host a party and get some fantastic new clothes one way or another!  I love their clothes!

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Tuesday, September 6 –  Breakfast in Encinitas!

SDBC’s strives to cultivate friendships and relationships, and I’m proud to say a great number of new friendships have started in our groups, and the number is growing!  It feels great to see all these familiar faces on a weekly basis, and it feels even better to know people are helping each other succeed and move forward along the way!

Novallena Betancourt, “The Total Female Package” author was our guest speaker.  She is an inspiring young woman, beautiful inside and out!  She took us through a great exercise, “The Contribution Game”:  one easy system of finding the different areas in our lives where we may be needing guidance, maybe discipline, maybe team playing, and/or maybe asking for something obvious as someone’s help!  Novallena is a business coach and her expertise is in helping small business owners in identifying their needs in the many different areas of their business.

Tanya Palusso introduced herself to the group as our new Mastermind facilitator!  She will start her sessions this month in Encinitas and Oceanside, (right after our networking events).  Everyone, come and learn and share with us your business successes, your doubts and fears, and let’s all as a team, and with accountability and respect, make the rest of 2011 the best months ever in terms of productivity and commerce.  Tanya is a dynamic business coach with a great eye for business and an incredible desire to help everyone!

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Thursday, September 8 – Oceanside

Great group again!  New faces came to our group and the energy was positive and upbeat!

What a great way to end our first week back in networking!

Face to Face networking will never be replaced by the internet!  Can’t wait to meet more exciting people next week!