Close Close
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
ThinkAdvisor

Practice Management > Building Your Business

There’s No Substitute for Caring

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Your dream clients can tell if you really care about them or are just trying to make a sale. They can tell this from the words you use. They can see it in the actions you take—or fail to take.

In a world driven by commoditization, globalization and disintermediation, the pressure to behave as if all business relationships are business transactions can be overwhelming. Those who care deeply about their clients are therefore going to stand out from the crowd and be welcomed as trusted partners. There simply is no substitute for caring.

In word and deed. You can allow marketing to do your lead generation and send emails and links to your white papers. But if you want to prove that you care about your dream clients, you will send the email yourself and include a personal note letting them know that you were thinking about them.

If you want the people you are going to be working with and serving to know you care, you will spend time understanding their needs and making sure your solutions work for them. When things go south and you and your dream clients are faced with nasty, awful, relationship-challenging issues, meet with your clients face to face to resolve the issue. Tell them you want them to know that your relationship is important to you and that you can find a way to work through your challenges together.

You can’t pay lip service to caring. You have to prove it in both your words and your deeds.

Say it proud. Recently, a salesperson challenged me about the language choice I made when speaking with one of my clients. I had sent my client something and said, “I saw this and I was thinking about you.” The salesperson thought it sounded “too personal.” But that’s because it was personal. Business is personal. People choose to do business with other people, and they want to work with people they can trust, people they know care about them.

If you want to win and retain your dream clients, prove that you are concerned about them in both your words and your deeds.

Sign up for The Lead and get a new tip in your inbox every day! More tips:

Anthony Iannarino is the managing director of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, a boutique sales coaching and consulting company, and an adjunct faculty member at Capital University’s School of Management and Leadership. For more information, go http://thesalesblog.com/s-anthony-iannarino/.


NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.