Social Media- How to START right building relationships that last

Are you someone who uses Facebook to connect with clients in your service based business? Do you want to learn how to get better at connecting with and converting potential prospects? But also relating much better with the ones that you already have? Are a lot of your potential clients female and you want to know how to better serve your present and future clients, in a heart centred, soulful and yet commercially intelligent way? Then read on my friend. This one is for you.

But I'm about to tell you something that's maybe going to hurt....just a little. So brace yourself...are you ready? In a marketplace that is over 2/3 women, you may need to be open to reforming just a few of the million dollar marketing practices you've been told are the shiz or that you're watching the big guys send to your mailing list right now. Before you copy verbatim, I want you to consider this. if you relentlessly message your Facebook or your mailing list a few times a day, 5 days a week, sure, if they know you have value to give and social proof and they already know you enough to trust you, they might still click into one of those messages and contact you to buy for the benefit of what you have in the short term. But let me let you in on a little secret about how high value women, in fact nearly all conscious women (and many men) are viewing you doing it. Mining your mailing lists and Facebook contact lists relentlessly like this to pan the gold, any gold, any where you can get it, is in the market's heads, like the service based equivalent of big business fucking up the earth mining it for minerals without much regard for the long term consequences, over short term profits and supply. It's like the guys cutting down all the trees in the amazon for timber in their head. Sorry to break it to you, but underneath, they're labelling you THAT girl or guy. (I know this, because the last several years, out of 20 years CRM total) i've listened to thousands of service based clients tell me so. BUT, most of them wont tell you that on the phone or to your face at your live event....because they a) don't want to upset you and b) have an agenda of what they want from you in the short term, so they're prepared to forego speaking so they can make more money and live your shared values out in the world . OR they just never come near you in the first place (hey maybe they never WERE your perfect client?) 

Over the long term, is that how any of us wants to be perceived in the industry? Like the girl at the bar, that guy is hitting on one too many times, then you offer, like the awesome friend you are, to go pull her out or pretend to be her girl or man for 5mins until that guy gets the hint? The more he advances, the more she pulls away....e.g. your response and open rates drop, so the harder you push and then the more new leads you need to make up for the ones dropping off. Sure, it's a great short term strategy. On a bigger picture view for a second though, what happens in the long term in a few years when you've pumped the entire business and personal development industry dry of leads by exceeding the rate by which new people are coming in? And they now know you as? Has anyone thought about that yet? I could give you exactly the strategy you'll need for that moment. BUT i'd prefer to give you one that will help you start so much better, NOW, before we all have to clean up all the mine shafts in the ground people keep falling in 5 years down the track when the grass has grown over, partially.

Would you like me to share with you a few secrets instead, that might cost you a bit more time and effort in you or someone else doing it in the interim, but help you land the high value female clients you REALLY want AND honour the kind of business relationships you REALLY want to build over the long term?

A high value woman values herself. She values her time. She wants to give you the absolute best of herself and all she has to give to the right people, who can meet her back and she's truly aligned with. But she has standards. There is a standard first up of how she expects to be approached. She expects that you'll obey social conventions of getting to know you and politeness. She expects that, when you walk up to the front door of either her house, her business, or her inbox, you do so with some degree of honour and respect and gratitude for the time she's about to give you. And just like dating, you need to NOT lead with you BUT FIRST GIVE A SHIT FIRST ABOUT HER. Wether it's you personally doing the messaging, or a team member you employ on your behalf, how can you show that you're actually taking an interest in her in ALL of the initial contact communications you send out? Or call with? 

Firstly, how did they come to you? Did they just join your group, select attendance at an event of yours, or friend you? Are they on your mailing list? What common ground do you have with them in terms of what their profile says? If this is a contact you have little prior FB or LinkedIn connection engagement with make sure you remind them straight up what your common ground above is, do your homework on their profile so that you know exactly what it is about them and what their profile says they're doing that you love and could potentially support them with. How can you connect with them in a way that establishes common ground and a common purpose? How can you show gratitude, interest in and support them to better do what they do? 

Plus, are they REALLY are new contact? Or are they in your salesforce or infusionsoft already, or in your excel spreadsheets for past contact, attendance, past downloading or participating in a webinar you ran already? Are you in a group together too? If you've met her before, it's super important that you or your team do your best to KNOW about it when you make contact now.

DO sum up any part of that, in no more than a few sentences TOPS if you're on FB (because you want to be brief to get return engagement, or if you give it all away up front, you block the need to HAVE a conversation). There's an expectation you might deliver a bit more of your professional grounding and be clear in your intentions and how you can help if you're on LinkedIn. But again, you're aiming to start a dialogue, not do all the speaking BEFORE they've had a chance to respond in conversation. And in that conversation, be prepared to focus first on them until you KNOW what to offer them AND be prepared with something of value to give them, WHEN the conversational moment is right.

A world class customer service person, with a world class system of tracking engagement has systems too for checking past engagements quickly, and world class systems for making sure EVERYONE in the chain of delivery GETS the relevant info INTO those systems, so that anyone who makes future contact knows AND targets their personalised messages and calls accordingly. if you want to show this potential future prospect you genuinely care, just like if you were dating and wanting to make the best possible first impression, DO think, and have your team think about how they can implement any of this into your existing practices.


This way above, honestly, and in holding the intention of wanting to genuinely be of service to the RIGHT, soulfully aligned people,  I get an over 90% response and engagement and conversation rate, based on genuine, authentic, basic human communication skills, relationship building principles and respecting the rules of social convention. Using million dollar marketing gurus strategies that just cut to the chase, I noticed i got only about a 40-60% response rate (depending on location) and an equal amount of unfriending or restricting contact in response for one client i tried them with this year, who didn't listen when i told them the script wouldn't work long term in their favour.

Moral of the story, no matter HOW technologically advanced we get, we should NEVER, NEVER give up or let go of the importance and need for one on one human connection and intimacy in the human service based industry and it's well worth it to pay a little bit up front for someone to start your relationships on the right foot. Connection + continuity + consistency + repeated contact = conversion. And unless you particularly WANT to become the Gina Reinhart or the Telstra or top 4 Banks of the Business, Personal Development, Human Service Based industry (full speed to you if you do.) is that how we really WANT this industry to become? And is that the kind of leader you really aspire to be? What kind DO you aspire to be? How DO you want your business to be perceived and to be known for?
 
Say you love and value your present and future high value clients by getting you and your team A+++ hella good at relationship building and communication. It's how you can express your love and your commitment to the amazing standard of service i know you REALLY want to delver and testament to the amazing Leader and awesome person i know you REALLY are. This too is how we take a stand for keep the heart and soul in human service based business.

Until next time, have fun, take care.

Nat xoxo

Need a hand with better connecting with and converting your clients to long term clients and collaborators within your business, or ensuring your client engagement platforms better reflect the love and care you have in all that you do? 

Book a time to strategise here