This morning I got an email from a man in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. (He had just purchased my Listing Presentation Book and wanted to say "thanks".) Vietnam. I got an email from Vietnam. I think that's just amazing.
And then I realized that last month I spent over an hour on the phone with a friend of mine in Australia whom I've never met. We got connected through a mutual friend whom I have also never met. She and I just shared similar interests and so made a connection that turned into a business partnership. Then I realized that I have several business partnerships with people I have never met. It's amazing to me. The vast majority of the people I do business with and who do business with me (since I sell products and train on the web), I have never met. And yet, we manage to create relationships.
This is something that I struggle with all the time. How do I improve my relationship with people whom I will never meet? How, in fact, do I improve my relationship with people I will never even personally speak to? There are people who buy products and training from me on the web with whom I will never have a personal interaction. I want them to have a relationship with me. And yet, since I don't speak with them, it's hard for me to determine who they are enough to be able to create that relationship. By definition, a relationship is a two-way street.
But in today's world (as I said yesterday), people are too busy. They don't want to talk to me. If I send out a survey, I'm lucky to get 10 people to respond to it (out of thousands). I'm at a serious disadvantage. I need to get out and talk to people directly. That's one of the reasons I blog. It gives people a chance to speak directly to me. And it gives me a more casual forum to share the less "professional" side of me. Thankfully, a blog isn't always meant to be serious. Because, quite frankly, I find serious boring.
So here's my question for the day. Let's do some brainstorming. How can we improve the quality of the relationships we have on the web? What do you do to make yourself more accessible, more personal, more likeable to prospects and clients?
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Kelle Sparta
Thought Alchemist
Kelle: We have to accept that not all business connections on the web will develop into business relationships--and not all business relationships run on a two-way street.
All we can do is make ourselves available to potential clients. It is fun, though, when they reach out from across the world!
I don't use generic email scripts. Sure I have a template that I use as a guide but I take the extra minute to put a personalized comment or two in. Always use their name; I can't say how cold it looks to get an email without my name in it. Sure between friends and if it is a several re re re one I leave it out but otherwise always use their name. I use lots of explanation points to show excitement and energy! Personal notes are good, random and out of the blue; email or handwritten just getting one sure makes my day and I hope so for the one receiving as well. I have been using the Internet to develop relationships for over 14 years and you do have to think about it differently. Kelle I have to say I love this topic!