I have a running joke that I force my agents to get to know me, and honestly it is kind of true. When I call an agent’s office or we hop on a Team’s call, I don’t want us to be strangers to one another. I want to be able to hear about how you spent your holidays. I want to hear about your big life milestones. I even want to hear about how your kid’s soccer game went. I also want to be able to tell you what I did over the weekend, how my dog is, and any other life stuff I have going on. When I was hired for this position, I was asked, what are you looking forward to most about this job and my answer was always “getting to talk to people” and it still holds true 3 years later.
Why Does Building Authentic Relationships With Customers Matter?
If we are being real, no one enjoys being sold to. No one enjoys having someone pretend to care just to make a sale. Real people want to do business with real people. Think about a time when you worked with someone who genuinely took the time to get to know you and your goals. You’ll probably always remember them and may even work with them again.
Building these relationships will organically build a sense of trust between you and your customer. Wouldn’t you want to work with someone who has made you feel comfortable? Your customers are not going to get that sense of “peace of mind” from a 30-minute sales pitch. It comes from intentional conversation.
Also, if you provide good experiences for your customers, they will want their friends and family to have the same experiences. The word spreads from there.
How Do You Actually Build These Relationships?
It isn’t rocket science. Tune up your listening skills, pay attention, and ask questions. Remember their kids’ names. Reach out after big life events, i.e. having a baby, getting married, buying a house. Show you care, not only about their business but for them as people.
I once made someone I worked with so happy because I remembered that she had said she was the first female business owner in her family. I also had someone I worked with remember my birthday and they made sure to reach out on that day. It sounds cliché but it’s the little things.
Bottom Line
In a world of constant evolving AI and a lack of human connection, business is still personal. Make your customers feel like more than a number or a sale and I think you will see them stick around.
So, ask how that soccer game was, ask about their weekend, ask what’s new and exciting in their world, build that authentic relationship.