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Trust Is The Key For A Long Standing Client – 07/03/2017

It may seem like old hat to say it but any good marketer will tell you how you need to balance both online and offline marketing for your business to make it sustainable. Technology is advancing and becoming more relevant to our daily life but it will never be solely embraced by everyone and that is important to remember when you are trying to publicise your business.

Whilst there are many pros to how technology is advancing, there‘s no denying it unfortunately is also becoming increasingly easy for “cowboys” of the world to make their mark. Whether that‘s through scams, email phishing, hacking or simply by making out that their product/service is all singing and all dancing when the reality is actually bleak. Technology allows them to target people and can make their lives a misery in the process.

Therefore whilst it is important to keep up with the advancements and embrace them in your Business, it‘s also just as important to remember that not everyone will choose to. Perhaps those people aren‘t your target market and that is fine, but what if they are? How do you speak to these people and more importantly, how do you get them to trust your business?

With TV adverts, booklets and advice services, people are becoming increasingly savvy as to how to protect themselves. Even the simplest of things like testimonials on a businesses website can be cherry picked to make them sound good, even if they‘re not. The technology might be advancing but so is people‘s scepticisms about who they are using because online, they can make themselves sound as good & appealing as they want to. The fear for people is, what if the reality is different?

Again it‘s old hat BUT people buy people, it‘s a well known phrase and commonly used by marketers but it‘s true and possibly even more relevant now. If you are out there talking to the person, you have nothing you can hide behind. Yes that person may have a good sales patter but you‘ll see through it pretty quickly if they aren‘t genuine, they‘ll come unstuck on an awkward question or dither on a complicated answer. Therefore, what better way to sell your business than to be out there meeting prospective clients?

If there is a lesson I have personally learnt over the last 5 years, it‘s that whilst it might be nerve wracking at times to meet new people and talk to them, it‘s the best way to make a long standing relationship. After all, that‘s what your goal is, a lifetime customer, one who “gets” you, supports you and helps your business to grow. Whilst big numbers and good sales are amazing, it‘s not about quantity, it‘s about quality and trust. If your customer trusts you, they will tell friends and family about you, if they don‘t trust you, they will be gone tomorrow and you‘ll never hear from them again.

It doesn‘t matter whether you sell loaves of bread, websites or jewellery worth millions, trust is the key ingredient in the recipe of a long standing client. It‘s hard to gain trust if they don‘t know you‘re real because they haven‘t met you.

Therefore, embrace technology, move with it and make it your friend, but don‘t forget to go “Old Skool” and actually meet people too!