Category: People & Relationships

Do people trust you?

People buy from people they like and trust. I don’t think anyone would argue with that.

So how do you develop trust?

In my opinion, building trust starts with building rapport. Rapport is something we do every day with every person we meet. It is not something that is done the first time you meet someone, it happens every time you meet them.  Some of the more common techniques include:

• Pacing
• Matching and mirroring
• Vocal variety and tone of voice
• Eye contact
• The way we dress
• etc.

Rapport is not something we are taught to do, it is something we do. Some are better at building rapport than others. Some are naturals and others study it and make a decision to master it. One of the less common and more powerful ways to build trust is to take the time and develop the skills necessary to treat others the way they want to be treated. You can learn more in my book The Platinum Rule for Small Business Mastery available on http://www.amazon.com

When people trust you they buy from you and they are loyal to you. This means they return to buy more.

When your employees trust you they will work harder for you and make better decisions.

You create deeper and more satisfying personal relationships.

Did you meet someone that you just liked, you became immediate friends and realized you wanted to spend more time with them, maybe find a way to do more business – that is rapport.

Did you meet someone of the opposite sex and immediately wanted to do on a date? That is rapport.

Did you buy something you never thought you would buy because you liked the person doing the selling? That is rapport.

Rapport building is a skill that anyone can learn and should learn.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Can I invite you to coffee?

I give myself permission to call people I want to meet and invite them to coffee.

Here is my approach.

“Hi Bill, this is Ron Finklestein. I been hearing good things about you and I would like to buy you a cup of coffee. I have no agenda others then getting to know you a little better. Are you open to having a cup coffee?”

I have never been turned down using this approach. It is not unusual for this meeting to be schedule out a few weeks but I have never been refused. I do this once a month and I do it for me. I want to learn what others do to be successful so I can be more effective at helping my client grow, prosper and get results.

There are some things you need to know when you do this. Be authentic, don’t use it as a ruse to get in front of them and sell them something, be open to what you can learn, and be a good listener.

I recently did this with a gentleman who recently sold his business.

We had a great meeting and he told me why he met with me. “I never had anyone just want to have coffee with me who approached me the way you did. I was curious.”

During our discussion I asked him how I might help him achieve his goal. He said, “I never had anyone ask me that question before.”

I could tell there was something he wanted to share so I waited for him to make up his mind. Finally he told me that he wanted to get into coaching and he was concerned because he had no methodology. We then talk about my methodology and how it was created. I told him I could shorten his process if wanted to license my approach.

He had to leave to catch a plane and told me he would read some material and let me know next week if he wanted to proceed and learn more.

This all happened because I reached out.

I do group sales training and I shared this story with them. None could believe I would set up meeting without the purpose of getting business. I explained to them that you can have different purposes in meeting others: curiosity, networking, referrals introductions, problem solving, asking advice, etc.

The universe works in mysterious ways. I just follow my path and if I like someone I tell them. If I want to learn more I ask them and I never leave a meeting with someone I just met without asking these two questions:

1.  What are you hoping to get out of our meeting today? I ask this because they are meeting with me for their reasons and it is useful to know what they want.
2. What is your goal and how can I help you achieve it. People are surprised by this because most do not have goals. This helps bring some clarity to the meeting.

Give yourself permission to call someone you find interesting and ask them to coffee. Tell them you the truth; that you have no agenda and you just want to learn about them.  Watch how both you and the other person change. Be prepared to create some new meaningful relationships and be open to whatever the situation offers.

Nothing can bring more satisfaction to a business owner than knowing they have a healthy relationship with their customer and vendors.

And, of course, as many people find out, nothing can bring so much pain as a broken relationship.

Yes, relationships make the world go ‘round. For better or for worse. There are basics that govern most human relationships, and these basics are what I want to cover below. So here is my list of the three essentials that I believe make up the basics of healthy business relationships.

1.      Honesty. Honesty is the backbone of a great business relationship. If you do not trust your customers how can you expect them to trust you? I recently had an experience where the vendor really messed up and instead of telling me the truth and letting me decide how to respond, he kept the issues from me. Things got progressive worst until we split on less than friendly terms. I would have preferred to salvage the relationship if possible.

Communication is so important because it is the vehicle that allows us to verbalize what is inside us and enables it to connect with another person. Isn’t communication amazing? One person is feeling one thing, and through communication, another person can find that out and feel it, too—amazing. And this is a vital goal in good relationships—to communicate, to tell each other what we are thinking and what we are feeling. It enables us to make a connection. Sometimes we are the one speaking, and other times we are listening. Either way, the central tenet is communication for the sake of building the relationship and making it stronger. And here’s what’s exciting: If we just communicate, we can get by. But if we communicate skillfully, we can work miracles!

It helps if we can communication our message in a way our customers understand. There are six questions our prospects wants answered before they buy from us. Go to the Business Growth Experience web site  and download this report. This report documents the basic communications our prospects and customers want from us.

2.      Integrity. Do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it. Nothing is more frustrating than making a plan based on the action of someone else and then at the last-minute finding out they did not do it. Be respectful of your customers and business partners and expect the same in return. People make decisions on what you say and do; sometimes very important decisions. We need to respect that.

I once had a vendor who never returned calls. I could not make any plans and any decisions that were made always changed because of his lack of follow through. Needless to say that relationship did not last long. If he had only responded and followed through things would have been great.

3.      Common Sense. Every relationship must have a win-win component. If either person in the relationship feels taken advantage of, feelings are hurt and rash decisions are made.  Jim Rohn calls this common purpose. Think about how many friends you have met through the years while working on a common purpose. With common purpose there is something in it for everyone. You had that strong common bond of purpose that brought you together and held you together. Working together, building together, failing and succeeding together—all while pursuing a common purpose—that is what relationships are made of. Find people with whom you have common purposes and sow the seeds of great relationships, and then reap the long-lasting benefits.

Maintaining a positive reputation is one of the top most important factors for business success. As a business owner, you will always experience critical issues, that’s why its very important that you try to control these before they get out of hand. “Reputation Management” is a defensible option for businesses of all sizes to protect against negative online reputation issues.

What is Reputation Management?

Most businesses practice reputation management to some degree, but usually only after a crisis hits. Online marketing experts now realize that repairing existing damage to an online business reputation can take an irreplaceable amount of time.On average, it requires at least three to four months, which unfortunately, gives the negative comments enough time to create havoc on your profit line.

To compensate and prevent this from happening, online reputation management firms suggest you implement great online reputation management techniques, even before any damage occurs. This involves posting large quantities of positive and reputable information about your company. Such information includes industry-related news, comments and reviews, that demonstrate the company to be responsible, reputable and committed.

What’s the Point?

Many businesses may see this large quantity of positive information as being superfluous and unnecessary. However, reputation management testimonials demonstrate that the process is effective, helps increase revenue, and creates needed branding. This can ultimately increase your profit substantially. The testimonials show that the following three advantages are worth the extra effort of reputation management.

The Advantages

The following are just three advantages to using online reputation management services:

1- It minimizes any negative review a person can post about your business. When consumers research your business online, they will find a lot of interesting and helpful information before the one or two critical opinions. When this occurs, a consumer is less likely to be influenced by the few negative reviews they find mixed in with the positive. On the other hand, a company with no implemented reputation management processes, could easily suffer from negative reviews, since there is no positive information to compensate for it.

2- Online reputation management processes also increase the organic listing of your products and services. The easier it is for a consumer to find positive information about your services or products, the more likely they is to be come a customer.

3- It creates outstanding branding for your business. This type of branding demonstrates you to be reliable, committed and helps consumers get a glimpse of the principles you stand for.

Online reputation management offers you reliable online marketing, branding, and helps minimize any anonymous negative comments an unsatisfied customer could post to the internet. It promotes trust, commitment and online engagement between you and your customers.

Article contributed by Jenna Smith

Whether just beginning a business or looking to further a company that is already fairly well established, as a business owner it is always a wise idea to investigate and explore the current connections and contacts within a company. The contacts a business owner has can deeply impact the publicity of an entrepreneurial venture and can positively or negatively affect the eventual outcome of a business’s success.

Building Contacts

Networking is an advantageous way to further connect with other like-minded business owners and build contacts for a business. Two common ways for building business connections are the categories of Social Media and Business Networking.

Social Media

It seems as if every business is on Facebook and Google+ these days but those businesses understand that social media has changed how we connect with business contacts as well as customers. Social media allows business owners a rare opportunity to add personality and professionalism together for a better understanding of client demographics and what customers want and need as well as their habits, hobbies etc… Social media also gives business owners an opportunity to connect and view how other businesses are doing as well as project business values to a market that may have not been reached before. The connections made through social media may seem shallow at first but it is through the sharing of information that connections, referrals and brand advocate clients are made.

Business Network

Business networking is fantastic for meeting other like-minded business owners and promotes a business through personal, one on one connection. Unlike social media contacts, contacts made through business marketing have an understanding of what it takes to be a business owner and believe that community is the key to better business. It is through meeting other business owners that a community can be created and referrals as well as publicity is spread through word of mouth by other trusted, successful business entrepreneurs. It is also through these business networking meetings that contacts can be made that can be utilized for the furthering of your startup company.

People to Connect With

There are several contacts that a business owner should utilize immediately to further promote and increase business. These contacts work as advocates for a company and use a community mind set to better businesses and the communities around them. They are beneficial in multiple ways and if not yet a part of a business contacts list, they need to be added and connected with right away.

A Mentor

A mentor is a successful business professional who business owners can turn to with advice and questions. Mentors have wisdom and experience in the entrepreneurial ventures world and can use their knowledge to prevent startup businesses from making the same setback making mistakes they may have made. Mentors also tend to have a large amount of respect within a community and can actively discuss business with other members of the community to spread the word about businesses that will be successful.

Like Minded Business Owners in Different Industries

It is important to remember that something can always be learned from other business owners, even if they are not in a similar industry. Connecting with a business of a different industry can add insight to ways that may improve customer service, organization or other business aspects within a company and industry. It is also through these connections that customers may come from an area of an unexplored but profitable demographic.

Business Owners in Similar Industries

Owners of companies that focus on a similar demographic level or offer products clients would purchase are a wise addition to any contact list. These business owners can refer clients to business products as well as make a valuable resource for discussing industry problems or issues. Having a connection in the same industry embodies a spirit of community, smart and professional business practices and displays a wanting of successful businesses with an industry.

Further Your Business

As a business owner it is always advantageous to make connections and contacts within the business world. As discussed, the contacts made via social media or business networking can deeply affect the eventual outcome of a business’s successes or failures. Connections with clients and businesses alike actively promote the furthering of a company and it is through contacts, that businesses and business owners are able to really feel successful.

About The Author

Steven Wendt is the Internet Marketing Manager at UV Cards, a leader in the printing and business cards industry. He enjoys providing tips about networking and creating professional business cards.