relationship building secrets

www.volcanicmarketing.com

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Hello, my name is Melvin Ram. I'm the CEO of a company called volcanic internet marketing. We're a company in Sacramento CA that helps companies build & develop relationships with potential buyers, customers & strategic partners... with the Internet usually playing a key role. I'd like to say thank you for taking the time to attend this webinar. I promise to respect your time by cutting out all the BS and just giving you information that is useful & relevant. So let's get started.


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First of all, I lied to you. You registered for a webinar called Relationship Building Secrets… but I’m not going to be talking about how to build relationships in this webinar.


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The real title of this webinar is Secrets of Developing Relationships. Building and developing a relationship are two different things.


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Let me make the distinction. Relationship building is about creating that initial relationship. For example, when you go to a tradeshow and meet people, you are building relationships. You are probably good... or even great at building relationships. Most people are.


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But most people & most companies are not good at developing these relationships. Let me ask you, how many people have you met over the years that you haven’t connected with in a while. How many of your customers have you not spoken to in a while. If you’re like most people, that list is really, really, Really long… probably a few hundred or if you’ve been around for a while maybe it’s a few thousand.


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Developing relationships is ‘bout going deeper into the relationship. It’s ‘bout harnessing the full potential of each relationship. It’s what you do after you meet someone at a tradeshow or a networking event. When you don’t develop relationships, you’ll have some serious problems… Problems that are not really obvious


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One of the biggest and most costly problems most companies face today is attrition… with both customers & employees.

What is attrition? Attrition is relationships fading away… customers who stop doing business with you… employees who quit… etc. Job and brand loyalty are not what they used to be. All companies have attrition… People move… people die… etc… but without a plan to consciously develop your relationships to that next level of loyalty, respect & commitment you’ll have high attritioncommitment, you ll have high attrition.


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The second major problem of not developing relationships is that you’ll miss out on referral sales that can come from recommendations. Anyone who is good at sales knows that you can’t beat the power of a referral. Referral customers are almost always more profitable, easier to close and easier to work with.


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And third problem is that you’ll miss the low hanging fruit called repeat sales. If you treated them right the first time, they probably know you & trust you… and it won’t be a stretch to sell them more things they need if you develop the relationship beyond the ‘supplier & buyer’ level


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Imagine this…. What if people were fanatics of your company?

What if they were absolutely in love with your company… not only because you delivered on your promises… but because you developed the relationship, consistently showed them that you cared and made it clear that they were very important to you.

Would that affect your attrition rate? Would that impact your repeat sales & the amount of referrals your company got? Absolutely!referrals your company got? Absolutely!


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Now lets get a little more personal… what if people sincerely cared about you… and consciously tried to help you?

You’d probably have more insider information… have access to people normally out of reach… and you’d probably be able to help friends and colleagues… by helping make connections that change their life's…

Your life would be richer in every sense of the wordYour life would be richer, in every sense of the word


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I’m going to be talking about 3 distinct strategies in this webinar. If you use them consistently, you’ll be able to develop your relationships & take them to the next level. For you, this will mean great financial success and personal fulfillment.


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So let’s jump in to see how you can develop amazing relationships.


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Strategy 1) Give something that will cause them to recognize & remember you… something that they’ll find valuable. Promotion items such as pens and mugs intend on doing this but almost always, it falls short. Let’s look at some ideas that do work.


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Send handwritten thank you cards to show people that you appreciate them. There are automated ways of doing thank you cards but I don’t feel comfortable using them. Handwriting them is a time‐tested method that sparks magic when it’s sincere & genuine.

One multi‐millionaire who is a rockstar at developing relationship recommends writing & sending at least 5 thank you cards a day. For me, developing this habit was difficult but I’ve trained myself to do this consistently by making it as easy as possible on myself. I’ll talk more about this latermore about this later.

Workshop: Write down the names of 5 people you’d like to thank today.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.


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Remember birthdays ‐ because most people wont. My friend Michael Dotterer calls around 5 people every day to wish them happy birthday. He does this, because whether we admitit or not, birthdays are special to people. And if you care enough to remember their birthday… and give them a call or send a quick note, you go from being a business contact to being a personal friend.

Ask them when their birthday is and put it into your calendar. It really doesn’t take long. Google calendar and the new Microsoft Outlook can even send you a reminder on your cellGoogle calendar and the new Microsoft Outlook can even send you a reminder on your cell phone.

Workshop:

1. Do you have your top clients birthdays? Call or email each one and ask them for their birthday. Add these dates into your calendar.

2. Do you have your employees birthdays? Ask each one for their birthday. Add these dates into your calendar.


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Educate them. The world is constantly changing … and it’s changing quickly. Give them useful information… and if you give them an insight that they end up using, they will remember you… and you’ll soon find yourself to be a trusted partner in their decision making. It’s exactly what I’m doing right now.

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1 What do I know that others would love to know?1. What do I know that others would love to know?

2. What do my contacts want to know? Can I go learn it and then share that info?


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Inspire & motivate them. We all have our good days & our bad days. And sometimes the bad days are particularly bad. Why do you think you often seen those motivational posters in sales departments? If you can find a way to inspire & motivate them, they will feel warm & fuzzy feelings for you. This tactic is one of the hardest ones to really pull‐off, because you have to have good timing & something interesting. I’ll give you my recommendation for this tactic towards the end.

WorkshopWorkshop

How can I inspire & motivate my contacts?

Two ideas: ‐ Ponder Pearls (we discuss towards the end)‐ Sending movie tickets to inspirational movies (such as the Peaceful Warrior).


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Lend your talents & resources. This is a technique I learned from Keith Ferrazzi in his book Never Eat Alone. The idea is to offer you talents and resources to people who need it… without asking for anything in return. Sometimes helping someone move over 1 weekend from Point A to Point B can build a relationship that creates 10 or 20 sales over a few years. Be a friend and you’ll find more friends.

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Which talents or resources of mine could I put to work for my contacts?

Ex. One service my company offers is website design. I’ve been able build serious relationships with by offering my web marketing skills to non‐profits connected to people that I wanted develop a deep relationship with.


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Help them look as good as they are in front of others. One of the best ways to do this is to recommend them to people who need them. Another way is to help them look good in front of their boss by show how successful a project is. Help them look good in front of others.

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How can you help you clients look good to whoever they report to?How can you help you clients look good to whoever they report to?

How can you help the key influences in your market look good?


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My friend Ilya does a great job of building relationships by inviting people to events… whether it’s a skiing trip up to Lake Tahoe or an exclusive business mixer. These types of invites show that he is thinking of you… and if you take him up on the offer, the time spent together invariably leads to strengthening the bond.

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What kinds of events both personal & business can you invite people to?What kinds of events, both personal & business, can you invite people to?

Ex. If you live in the Sacramento area, maybe arrange a group get together to go watch the Sacramento Kings or Monarchs play.

Or if you’re going to a business mixer, invite someone to go along with you.


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The second strategy is to make them your boss and show them they are very important to you. This is another philosophy I learnt from Rod Weckworth. So how exactly do you make them your boss?


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You start by actively soliciting complaints. Rod asked for feedback frequently… and he started soon after a project got going… asking how the paperwork process was, how we’re doing so far, etc. This makes the client feel involved with your company and it’s decision making process.

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Do you currently ask for feedback early?Do you currently ask for feedback early? What would you ask to figure out how you were doing?At what intervals should you ask for feedback?


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And when you make a change based on a complaint, tell them you made changes. This gets them to feel like they are in control… and they start to emotionally take ownership of your brand.

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Have you made changes to how you do things based on someone’s feedback? Have you told them yet? What are you waiting for? How will you reward them so theyyou told them yet? What are you waiting for? How will you reward them so they keep giving you good ideas?


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And sometimes we’ll mess up… we’ll drop the ball… in these cases, as my friend Greg Roeszler says, try to just walking into the lion’s den and apologizing… and try to figure out how to make it right. Often, it’s not as bad as you think it is. And if you messed up a while back, they probably don’t even remember why they were mad at you. This is a great way to win back lost clients.

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List down the names of people where you dropped the ball and messed up? Schedule a time to call or visit that person and apologize… simply for the purpose of making them feel good.

Name Date To Call/Visit1.2.3.4.5.


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The third and final strategy is the most important one of all. You need to make a commitment to yourself to be serious about relationships… because it takes time, planning & consistency to reap the rewards of developing relationships.


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A major part of developing relationships is being consistent. You need to schedule at least 30‐minutes every day for relationships… from sending out thank you cards to making phone calls just to say hello. Keith Ferrazzi calls this pinging. I call it touching. Reserve 30‐minutes for reaching out to people every day.

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The best times to do this is early in the morning or before you leave the officeThe best times to do this is early in the morning or before you leave the office. Dedicate an hour if you can, to simply developing relationships. Can do that on a daily basis? What time will you do your hr or ½ hr?


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Another lesson I learnt from Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone book is to make a list of people important to your current and future success. This helps you bring focus to developing the right network of friends before you need them… so if & when the time comes that you do need them, they’ll be more than happy to help you.

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Who is important to your current success? First, name general categories such as ‘my empoyees’ or ‘local real estate agents’ or ‘CEOs of top 100 companies’. And then research those categories and write the names of the real people.


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And finally, you need to identify relationships that are the most valuable to you and allocate resources accordingly. The 80/20 rule definitely applies to your relationships… 80% of your success will be the result of 20% of your relationships. Indentify this 20% and treat ‘em well… extremely well.

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Who are my best & most profitable customers?Who are my best & most profitable customers?

Who are people who refer me the most?


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Strategy 1) Give something that will cause them to recognize & remember you


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The second strategy is to make them your boss and show them they are very important to you.


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Make a commitment to yourself to be serious about relationships… because it takes time, planning & consistency to reap the rewards of developing relationships.


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And when you do all of these consistently, the Law of Reciprocation will kick into effect. It says, If you do something good for someone long enough, they will start to feel like they want to reciprocate that goodness back to you… and when it comes time to buying something or making a phone call to introduce you or work extra hours or whatever, they will feel like they want to do it.

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Do I believe this to be true? Have I experienced this in the past?


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A lot of what I just covered is stuff you’ve already heard and stuff you already know. It’s common sense… but my question is, how many of us really do it?

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Circle correct answerYes No I send thank you cards regularlyYes No I remember people’s birthdaysYes No I remember people s birthdaysYes No I educate people regularlyYes No I inspire & motivate people regularlyYes No I lend my talents & resourcesYes No I help people look goodYes No I invite people to eventsYes No I solicit complaints regularlyYes No I show people that I made changes based on their feedbackYes No I often walk into the lion’s den & apologizeYes No I set aside x hrs a day to reaching out & touching peopleYes No I know who my most valuable relationships are & I touch them often


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Will you be able to turn common sense into common action? 12 months from now, when you look back, will there be any changes if your relationships? You will make changes in what you do?


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If you don’t consciously develop relationships, your relationships will start to fade away and you will have a high attrition rate and will miss referrals & repeat sales


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If you use the 3 tips I covered in this webinar consistently and your relationships will improve dramatically over the next 12 months


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And on a final note, I’d like to introduce you to Ponder Pearls, a service I use to develop my relationships


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It’s based on the principles that Rod Weckworth used to help grow Rex Moore Electric from $200,000/yr in sales to over $100M in sales… in just 25 yrs using relationships as the backbone of everything.


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Every week, he would send out a newsletter, which contained 7 inspirational quotes from interesting people. He called it Rod’s Ponders and he sent it to everyone who made an impact on his life, including his clients, his employees, potential clients, his gardener, the president & more. And often, he’d add in a personally handwritten thank you note. Here’s how I use the updated version of Rod’s Ponders.


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They offer a variety of greeting cards… from Christmas cards to Thank you cards. What’s really cool bout these cards versus those you get at Office Depot or Staples, is that they really stand out. Not only are the designs extremely well done, the dimensions are all funky.


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I write at least 5 thank you cards a day and I’ll throw in a Ponder Pearls gift card. It looks and feels just like a Starbucks gift card.


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The back of the gift card will direct the recipient to go to ponderpearls.com and enter my gift code, which is ‘melvin’.


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When they do this, they’ll arrive at my profile page… where they’ll see my photo, news about me that I’d added and then they’ll click Download to download their gift.


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Once Ponder Pearls installs & launches, they’ll see a variety of inspirational quotes.


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And below it all, they’ll see my logo banner. From that day on, Ponder Pearls will show up every morning, with fresh new inspirational messages and my logo banner.


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Experts say that it takes 7‐10 touches for someone to recognize who you are. I use Ponder Pearls because it combines the high thought feeling of thank you cards… which as I explained earlier sparks magic when you are sincere & genuine… together with this software that lets you touch people 365 times in a year.


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Additionally, Ponders offers business coaching to help you integrate Ponders into your sales & customer service


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And no matter how you analyze the numbers, Ponder Pearls is a no‐brainer. It’s priced based on how many people are using your branded version of Ponder Pearls. They have three plans… 50 contacts, 100 contacts & 150 contacts priced at $25, $35 & $45 per month respectively. And the gift & greeting cards are $50 for a 100‐pack. Simply a no‐brainer when you consider the potential of your relationships.


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Ponder Pearls is a service I use to develop my relationships


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They offer really distinct & funky greeting cards


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I write at least 5 thank you cards a day and I’ll throw in a Ponder Pearls gift card. It looks and feels just like a Starbucks gift card.


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Send handwritten thank you


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Ponder Pearls works because it combines the high touch feeling of receiving a thank you card with the ability to touch people 365 times in 1 year.


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Coaching helps you integrates Ponders into your customer service & promotional gifting strategy.


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And no matter how you analyze the numbers, Ponder Pearls is a no‐brainer.


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To find out more about Ponder Pearls and to sign up with a trial, please call your Ponder Partner… the person who invited you to this webinar.


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I want to sincerely thank you for your time & attention… and I hope you’ll take action on the ideas that make sense for your business. I’d love to hear the type of results you get so please don’t be a stranger. And if you have any questions about any material I covered or Ponder Pearls, you can also call me directly using the contact info on your screen or email me at [email protected]. Again, thank you for your time & attention. This is Melvin Ram with Volcanic Internet Marketing saying, “Internet Marketing is Hot”… Adios


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relationship building secrets

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