Relationships are EVERYTHING. Make new ones every day!
Build a relationship. It's the mantra that resonates throughout every bit of training we do at ABR. I teach it in Your Practice Mastered when I teach lead generation, and the process of writing your own book and using it as a lead magnet. It is also a main theme through the module about lead conversion techniques specifically when I cover the specifics of how your staff must interact with prospects. I share its critical importance with my private clients when we discuss building a culture of referrals, and on and on. What’s more, I teach the value of building those relationships in person, via the web and the telephone and across different platforms and media in every way you can.
I believe when done right, relationship building can transcend a business from ordinary to extraordinary! If it's not being done, its absence can be the anchor that holds you from accomplishing your goals. Or, if it's made part of your DNA, and it can become a cash machine that allows you to live your wildest dreams. It can and should be used as a compass when creating any lead generation, lead conversion or referral creating tool. It doesn’t happen overnight and it can’t always be measured but it does work, of that I’m sure.
When I first started in business the way to build a relationship was by doing local grass roots marketing. Joining local civic organizations like Rotary, Lion’s Club and The Elks or Mason’s. Sometimes I didn’t enjoy the event, the content or in some cases the people, but I always found ways to connect with potential or current clients. I always learned something about their life and they learned something about mine, and that made all the difference. When they decided to make a buying decision, often times they chose me because they had a relationship with me. Back then, I also spent a large amount of time with local church groups and membership organizations like the German American Society of Lackawanna County. My favorite, by far, was the German American Association. The average median age was 73 (not including me, I was 23) and this group joined together monthly to drink Rolling Rock beer and eat Limburger Cheese and Liverwurst. Yeah, the smell of Limburger, Liverwurst, and raw onions was enough to keep my newlywed wife from giving me my much desired hugs and kisses, but the times I shared with those men were irreplaceable. Today, many of them are gone and for that I’m sad but I’m also very happy I chose to build a relationship with them while I had the chance.
Today, I see so many business owners failing, confusing activity with accomplishment. They spend their days writing emails, updating Facebook and LinkedIn and not building relationships. That’s a mistake of immense proportion. Nothing replaces getting kneecap to kneecap with your target audience and sharing a piece of your life or a beer and a Limburger sandwich with them.
Today, I love the business I’m in. I truly do love what I do and the benefit we bring to our clients. While this business allows us to serve a national audience it doesn’t always allow me to build real true relationships. I teach my clients that a newsletter is the number one way for you to build lasting relationships with those who buy from you and I know its true.
I love communicating through our blog and through our monthly newsletter, Kneecap To Kneecap. Members from our Silver program on up through our Titanium program receive our newsletter in their mailboxes, the old fashioned way. When my audience reads my newsletter, I want them to believe that they are sitting right with me in the club chairs in front of my desk, hashing out business opportunities, creating new and exciting lead generation sources, and learning to stay on track with the things we know already work.
So I invite you to join me every month on this journey. To find out more about Automated Business Results and me, Richard James, watch this brief video. Afterwards, you may begin to believe that you can change your law practice, and your life.
Together, let’s build you a practice that supports your lifestyle rather than the one you already have that undermines it.
Building a better business, one knee to knee session at a time…
