Business-Building Action from Terry Brock
[Be sure to catch the audio MP3 of this. Not exactly the same words but enhanced and amplified to bring you more goodies! You can listen online streaming or download and listen on your MP3 player of choice. Scroll to the bottom of this post and it is there waiting for you. 4:09 in length. Yes, I thought you’d like it that way! You’re welcome! – Leave a comment and let me know what you think – Thanx!]
Relationship Marketing requires constant and non-ending attention. I often refer to it as Relationship Farming because, much like in farming, you always have a lot to do. There is never a time of the year when a good farmer will be able to do nothing. Sometimes you have to work even harder.
That’s what Relationship Marketing is like. In real life farming, you’re always planting, cultivating, nurturing, weeding, harvesting or other tasks. Yet, this is the joy of seeing something grow that you have brought about with your actions. Yes, you have to trust nature. But working with it on your own brings about the joy.
The same principles of farming apply to Relationship Marketing. You are always in one of the various stages of establishing, building or maintaining relationships. This is where the challenge comes — you’re never “there.” You’re always in the midst of something. You’re working to make contact with that person. You’re sending out your blogs, your posts, your tweets, etc., etc. trying to make contact with, well, new contacts!
Then once you’ve made contact and they go through the Know, Like, Trust ladder, they eventually want to engage with you. That is the goal in business. The goal in farming is harvest. The goal in business is to create a customer.
A customer is defined as someone who is purchasing what you offer. Until they reach that stage of “have purchased,” they are not a customer but a prospect. Until you reach harvest, you can’t count the acres of corn you thought you would have. Something about chickens and counting before they hatch!
Remember that establishing, building and maintaining relationships in business is an on-going and never-ending process. Some might find this frustrating. However, it is also exhilarating when we see the result! Seeing a harvest is the beauty of farming — and in Relationship Marketing.
So, what do you think? I’d love to hear your comments and how this works for you. What do you find helps to maintain Relationship Marketing in your efforts? What works best? What doesn’t work? I’d love to hear from you. Thank you for your comments. I know it will help others.
Here’s a video that discusses this. I did it a while back but have had a lot of good comments on it. It is about Relationship Marketing and how it relates to farming. What do you think? Are they related? I look forward to your comments.
Terry
Terry L. Brock, MBA, CSP, CPAE
www.TerryBrock.com, Terry@TerryBrock.com
Twitter – @TerryBrock
Facebook – Facebook.com/MarketerTerryBrock
LinkedIn – LinkedIn.com/MarketerTerryBrock
Related articles – Here are some related articles that can help you as you build your Relationship Marketing. Enjoy!
- Best Question Yesterday = Worst Question Today (terrybrock.com)
