I didn't choose my darling. Oh, I bought the ring and posed the question. But even though she responded to my "marketing campaign" in the affirmative, it would be a mistake to think the relationship was my choice--that I decided, and it was so. She did the choosing.
As in love, so in business. The choice is not ours. The parallels are striking.
Here's our usual marketing mindset:
• The success of my business is up to me.
• I designed the ad campaign.
• My dollars paid for the marketing.
• The web page, the clever tag line, the appealing graphics-all mine.
True. And yet, for all that, you and I don't get to choose who will do business with us, and who will be a click-and-gone our the website.
The CLIENT chooses. In Real Estate and Lending, the client makes the first move.
Not sometimes. Always!
We merely hold the door, welcome them, and pray to God that they intend to stay.
1. Why should they stay? "What's here for me?" is the question every potential client is asking.
There's a corollary question, too. It's the question you and I should be asking every day:
2. What will drive them away? How can we keep that from happening?
Here's a checklist that will improve your next client relationship:
|
They'll stay if they believe I am... |
They'll leave because they... |
|
• trustworthy. |
• think I'm acting. |
|
• truthful. |
• sense I'm not. |
|
• competent. |
• believe I'm not. |
|
• listening. |
• couldn't get me to shut up. |
|
• empathetic. |
• feel pressured. |
|
• a communicator who follows through. |
• didn't get a return phone call. |
|
• committed to their success. |
• sense a selfish motive. |
|
• approachable and calm in crisis. |
• can smell fear. |
Feel free to add to the list. I grow more from your comments than from my scribbles.
Mike in Tucson
photo courtesy of Wikipedia
