In the initial stages, you need to supply information so that a suspect gets to know you. You might want to make an offer that encourages them to take some action. If they do, most likely they become a prospect. At this stage, you need to continue to develop the relationship by supplying them useful and practical information for their business as it relates to yours. Eventually you will turn some of them into customers, at which time you need to build trust and loyalty.

Once you have turned the prospect into a customer, you need to continue to build the relationship. Understanding their needs, providing them superior customer service, and working with them to help them succeed turns a customer into a partner. You become more than another vendor to them, and in fact, you become an extension of their company. Once you have reached this type of a relationship with your customer, you have nurtured an advocate – a resource that speaks highly about your company to prospects, media, and analysts, and works with you to promote your products and services through testimonials and success stories.

Relationship marketing has to be:

• Personalized. Personalization can be a highly targeted direct mail piece, a phone call or email. The messages must be meaningful and connect emotionally in order to establish a lasting relationship.
• Targeted and relevant. If you are targeting prospects, your marketing has to instill confidence, trust, and success. If you are targeting current customers, your marketing has to establish and reward loyalty.
• Interactive. By making your interactions with customers interactive, you hear feedback, determine what is working and what is not. If your customers or prospects respond to a request, offer them something that makes them feel valued.

The best way to build loyalty with your customers and prospects is to listen to what they need from you and make them feel comfortable working with you. If you focus on solving their problems or meeting a particular need rather than selling them a product, you gain their trust. Always act in your customer or prospect’s best interest and never try to sell them something they do not need. Several times when we’ve been in an initial meeting with a prospect, we have suggested that what they needed was not our services. We then point them to someone who can deliver what they need more cost-effectively. This helpfulness will be long remembered and those customers and prospects are more likely to come back to you when they need your type of product or service. Building goodwill with people goes a long way to getting referrals and additional business.

Brand and the Customer Relationship

Why do companies spend money on brand? Remember that a brand is more than an image; it is the essence of your business, a promise waiting to be fulfilled. The success of a brand lies in its ability to create and cultivate a strong and lasting relationship with its customers, a relationship that is loyal and profitable.

Each customer-brand relationship contains perceived values and real benefits that are unique to each customer, in both tangible and intangible forms. People choose a brand for their own reasons. They may be influenced by external means, such as advertising, success stories, research studies or even personal acquaintances, but the decision to use a particular brand is the sole decision of that customer. The brand creates a direct relationship with the customer

Direct marketing programs that “touch” your customers and prospects builds loyalty and repeat business. They can encompass many forms such as mail, online, or email correspondence of some type. Get in front of your customers and prospects with some of these tactics to garner trust and build a meaningful relationship.

• Plan events that mix knowledge with fun. Educate while offering entertainment and social interaction.
• Send out a monthly eNewsletter with useful content relevant to your clients and prospects’ needs. Show them that you care about their business and value their time by providing them useful information. Do not sell. Instead, provide industry and product news with some entertainment value.
• Send customers thank you cards or gifts after making a purchase or sending you a referral. You can also send a thank you gift to show appreciation for their business on the account anniversary date.
• Look for ways to help your clients and prospects beyond your own capabilities. Refer them to other quality vendors, share an article related to their business or about their competition, or put them in touch with someone who can help. This will go a long way in building a relationship.
• Make phone calls. Email is easy but picking up the phone and thanking someone for using your company can go a long way. Don't forget the value of real conversations and face-to-face meetings.