What interferes with your having a meaningful connection to your prospects and clients is likely the same thing that interferes with your making effective small talk easily today: too much reliance on anonymous, alienating communication technologies. No matter what your practice is, people long to make contact with you and do it as personally as possible. Relationships are based on real access - face-to-face when possible - but mostly, in reality by phone or email. This means access to you is essential.
When I get an email or call from a prospect or client, I take it. I don't pass it along to someone else to answer it. Yes, it would certainly be more convenient to do so but I know that what the caller has to say is likely to be better answered when filtered through my professional background, understanding, and empathy. Moreover, I can put myself in the caller's shoes. I know how it feels to be on the other end of the phone or email when the person I want to speak with does not seem particularly interested in speaking with me. I won't go so far as to say I'm insulted, but I do feel they do not value my business (and me) as much as I want and expect them to do.
When I am unceremoniously shuttled off, without so much as a by your leave, to speak with someone I don't know and if they can really address my question, you suddenly slip a cog in my estimation of your business and what you can do for me. That's an irrational response, you might say. Well, consider the following: When you talk about the service provider-client connection, you are not talking about rationality. You are talking about relationships. And relationships are based on building and maintaining ongoing positive emotions... feelings of respect, caring, closeness, and belonging. If you forget this, you are significantly endangering your relationships with your prospects and clients. and your practice. That is not a risk worth taking when the benefits of closely attending to these relationships are so long-lasting and profitable.
While some access to you can be in a one-on-one situation, other access can be a little less intimate but still provide "access" in a broader sense (we will talk about this further at another time). However, one-on-one is obviously the most satisfying for the prospect or client and the strongest marketing strategy for you. Since meeting in-person is often very difficult to do other than in a consultation in your office, you will tend to rely upon phone calls first and emails second for connecting. However, your occasional unavailability to talk does not have to interfere with your making that personal connection.
You can talk to the prospect or client, show interest by asking about something that is relevant to them, and then ask if you might refer or redirect them to someone else who can assist them. It is a delicate interpersonal dance you need to do to show your respect for the client, let them know you feel they are important and are not to be ignored, and then allow them to feel in control of the interaction by their giving you their permission to transfer them elsewhere.
When I get an email or call from a prospect or client, I take it. I don't pass it along to someone else to answer it. Yes, it would certainly be more convenient to do so but I know that what the caller has to say is likely to be better answered when filtered through my professional background, understanding, and empathy. Moreover, I can put myself in the caller's shoes. I know how it feels to be on the other end of the phone or email when the person I want to speak with does not seem particularly interested in speaking with me. I won't go so far as to say I'm insulted, but I do feel they do not value my business (and me) as much as I want and expect them to do.
When I am unceremoniously shuttled off, without so much as a by your leave, to speak with someone I don't know and if they can really address my question, you suddenly slip a cog in my estimation of your business and what you can do for me. That's an irrational response, you might say. Well, consider the following: When you talk about the service provider-client connection, you are not talking about rationality. You are talking about relationships. And relationships are based on building and maintaining ongoing positive emotions... feelings of respect, caring, closeness, and belonging. If you forget this, you are significantly endangering your relationships with your prospects and clients. and your practice. That is not a risk worth taking when the benefits of closely attending to these relationships are so long-lasting and profitable.
While some access to you can be in a one-on-one situation, other access can be a little less intimate but still provide "access" in a broader sense (we will talk about this further at another time). However, one-on-one is obviously the most satisfying for the prospect or client and the strongest marketing strategy for you. Since meeting in-person is often very difficult to do other than in a consultation in your office, you will tend to rely upon phone calls first and emails second for connecting. However, your occasional unavailability to talk does not have to interfere with your making that personal connection.
You can talk to the prospect or client, show interest by asking about something that is relevant to them, and then ask if you might refer or redirect them to someone else who can assist them. It is a delicate interpersonal dance you need to do to show your respect for the client, let them know you feel they are important and are not to be ignored, and then allow them to feel in control of the interaction by their giving you their permission to transfer them elsewhere.
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