If you want to develop relationships with customers, you need to keep the conversations going. Its like a game of tennis. The goal is to always get the ball back over the net. Of course, unlike tennis, you want your customer to send the ball back, so be sure to practice your lob.
Start
There are a lot of ways to get into conversations with prospects and customers. One way is to put a lot of balls in the air, so to speak. Being active on social networks, blogging, writing a newsletter, all of these have the potential to be conversation starters.
Of course, you could also be more specific. You can directly communicate to a person, perhaps via phone or email. This works best if there is some kind of prior history there.
Another way to get into conversation is to join one that is already started. I call this response marketing. By seeking out conversations that are already happening, or invitations to a conversation by someone asking a question, you are actually playing the first return ball. Your success rate for engagement will be higher here, assuming you actually listened first and provide a piece of information that is useful.
Lob
If you want the conversation to continue, you need to make it easy for the person on the other end to respond. There a
re a few ways to do this.
You can ask a question. Do this if you want to clarify a point, or if you have given some piece of information and want thoughts back in return. In any case, asking questions is a great way to elicit response.
Another thing you can do is keep your communication brief and to the point. If you say too much, you are going to be harder to respond to. Think of the difference between a brief email that makes one point and asks one question of you versus a multi-paragraph email that jumps all over the place and asks a bunch of questions. You have a far easier time responding to the short and specific email.
You could also give the person something to do. Be careful here. Make sure what you are asking will help the relationship. For instance, you may invite them to join your newsletter, or to attend your webinar.
Finally, you can go a long way just by showing interest in a continued conversation. Make it clear that you want to provide a full answer, or that you want to learn more about the person’s situation. Be friendly and caring and make all your resources available to the person. If you have shown genuine interest, they probably won’t mind when you check in on them a month later, or when you invite them to visit your web site. By caring and communicating, you are building trust.
Return
Perhaps the most important thing you can do to keep conversations alive with customers is to always return the ball. Here’s the thing, you may have to return it more than once. But its your job to keep the conversation alive, not theirs.
Being annoying isn’t allowed. Until you have built up trust, you need to work extra hard with each person, providing personal communication. In each communication, you can invite them to join the larger conversation on your blog, newsletter, or forum, but don’t push that stuff into their inbox until they have given their implicit permission.
So when you respond, make sure its a real response. Hit the ball they send over the net. If its a question, answer it wisely and follow up. If its a complaint, don’t ignore it. Solve the problem. If its communication, communicate back. Show that you are listening and respond in kind. Drop the form letters and be human. Whether someone is contacting you directly or just talking about something on Twitter, be personal and generous in your response. And don’t forget to make it easier for a person to hit the ball back.
photo credit: ????k?? ?????
