Relationship Marketing In Difficult Times
By Terry L. Brock
Tough times demand a pruning of anything unnecessary. It is a time to get rid of superfluous activities. It is also a time to eliminate those relationships that are not serving you properly. This requires mental toughness to get what is best. Be ruthless with yourself.
Here are some steps that can help as you enhance your Relationship Marketing:
1. Make Yourself Better. Focus your TME (Time, Money, Effort) on those areas with the biggest bang for the buck. Be ruthless with yourself and how you spend your time, money and effort. Only invest in those activities, projects and people who are in line with your overall business and life goals. This requires learning how to say that difficult, two-letter word, NO!
Often I’ve talked about the similarities between Relationship Marketing and farming. I call it Relationship Farming. Think of what a successful farmer has to do when crops are not growing properly. Pruning is a big part of helping the crops to grow properly.
For you and me this means focusing on those people, activities and projects which are going to yield the most benefits. Are there some customers who drain you and your resources? What about those prospects who are never likely to convert to customers but are draining your resources (TME)? It is time for pruning. This doesn’t mean to cease all contact. Who knows which prospects might be unable to buy now but could in the future?
Have different “silos” (good metaphor for Relationship Farming) where you can help them grow. Keep them on an automated list of information but carefully allocate your time away from those who will never become customers.
Joe Hernandez in his work, Networking Formula for Success, talks about using database marketing to put new contacts into A, B, C, or D categories. The A category is for those ready to buy right away. Those in the D category need to pruned from your database. They are out of business, have died or are just not likely to ever buy.
During difficult times you have to be ruthless with the activities you pursue. You can’t afford to waste your valuable TME on those areas that drain you. Busy is not necessarily profitable. Cull out those things that don’t contribute to your overall success plan.
2. Reach Out To Others To Find Their Need And Help Them. Hey, you’re not the only one going through tough times! Your prospects and customers are going through some difficult times as well. What are you doing to help them? How much of their pain have you explored so you can help? This is good any time to build Relationship Marketing. It becomes even more important now. Difficult times provide a wonderful opportunity to help others in substantial ways. You don’t get business by bothering people into submission. Instead you study what is hurting them and provide a solution. Reach out to prospects and customers to get the things they need and help them.
3. Plan For Lots Of Variables. It all starts with what you have deemed is important for you in your life. You can’t sit back and wait for things to happen. Winners do not speak the phrase “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” If you don’t have a plan ---- or should I say, multiple plans in place to handle a variety of possible outcomes --- you’ll be toast. You won’t have time to react when a major crisis hits. You have to prepare before the crisis to handle it.
Sure, you don’t know what is going to happen. Hey, my crystal ball is pretty foggy. However, I know that by preparing physically, I can withstand the vagaries of the physical world that will hit my body. This means bringing into my life things like good exercise, good nutrition, good rest, good health care and advice from trained professionals, good training and education in important areas of life and good spiritual connectivity to what matters most.
4. Become Excellent At What You Do. Don’t give up when the going gets tough. Come on! You know you could have done it if you would have stayed with it. Toughen up! You need to be mentally tough, physically tough, spiritually tough and socially tough. This is all about Relationship Marketing in the real world. It is not about lighting a bunch of candles, holding hands and all singing “Kumbaya.”
Difficult times have a way of separating the “tryers” from the winners. Welcome these times and resolve to become a better person in business and in life. Pruning the unnecessary activities and projects helps you to focus on those that are most profitable. Difficult times present the perfect time to help others and thereby become excellent at what you do.
Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.
Tough times demand a pruning of anything unnecessary. It is a time to get rid of superfluous activities. It is also a time to eliminate those relationships that are not serving you properly. This requires mental toughness to get what is best. Be ruthless with yourself.
Here are some steps that can help as you enhance your Relationship Marketing:
1. Make Yourself Better. Focus your TME (Time, Money, Effort) on those areas with the biggest bang for the buck. Be ruthless with yourself and how you spend your time, money and effort. Only invest in those activities, projects and people who are in line with your overall business and life goals. This requires learning how to say that difficult, two-letter word, NO!
Often I’ve talked about the similarities between Relationship Marketing and farming. I call it Relationship Farming. Think of what a successful farmer has to do when crops are not growing properly. Pruning is a big part of helping the crops to grow properly.
For you and me this means focusing on those people, activities and projects which are going to yield the most benefits. Are there some customers who drain you and your resources? What about those prospects who are never likely to convert to customers but are draining your resources (TME)? It is time for pruning. This doesn’t mean to cease all contact. Who knows which prospects might be unable to buy now but could in the future?
Have different “silos” (good metaphor for Relationship Farming) where you can help them grow. Keep them on an automated list of information but carefully allocate your time away from those who will never become customers.
Joe Hernandez in his work, Networking Formula for Success, talks about using database marketing to put new contacts into A, B, C, or D categories. The A category is for those ready to buy right away. Those in the D category need to pruned from your database. They are out of business, have died or are just not likely to ever buy.
During difficult times you have to be ruthless with the activities you pursue. You can’t afford to waste your valuable TME on those areas that drain you. Busy is not necessarily profitable. Cull out those things that don’t contribute to your overall success plan.
2. Reach Out To Others To Find Their Need And Help Them. Hey, you’re not the only one going through tough times! Your prospects and customers are going through some difficult times as well. What are you doing to help them? How much of their pain have you explored so you can help? This is good any time to build Relationship Marketing. It becomes even more important now. Difficult times provide a wonderful opportunity to help others in substantial ways. You don’t get business by bothering people into submission. Instead you study what is hurting them and provide a solution. Reach out to prospects and customers to get the things they need and help them.
3. Plan For Lots Of Variables. It all starts with what you have deemed is important for you in your life. You can’t sit back and wait for things to happen. Winners do not speak the phrase “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” If you don’t have a plan ---- or should I say, multiple plans in place to handle a variety of possible outcomes --- you’ll be toast. You won’t have time to react when a major crisis hits. You have to prepare before the crisis to handle it.
Sure, you don’t know what is going to happen. Hey, my crystal ball is pretty foggy. However, I know that by preparing physically, I can withstand the vagaries of the physical world that will hit my body. This means bringing into my life things like good exercise, good nutrition, good rest, good health care and advice from trained professionals, good training and education in important areas of life and good spiritual connectivity to what matters most.
4. Become Excellent At What You Do. Don’t give up when the going gets tough. Come on! You know you could have done it if you would have stayed with it. Toughen up! You need to be mentally tough, physically tough, spiritually tough and socially tough. This is all about Relationship Marketing in the real world. It is not about lighting a bunch of candles, holding hands and all singing “Kumbaya.”
Difficult times have a way of separating the “tryers” from the winners. Welcome these times and resolve to become a better person in business and in life. Pruning the unnecessary activities and projects helps you to focus on those that are most profitable. Difficult times present the perfect time to help others and thereby become excellent at what you do.
Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.
posted by Terry Brock @ Thursday, April 17, 2008
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