Aren’t we all trying to find ways to add value, to build a more tangible presence? Isn’t the question your customers are asking, “What can you do that no one else can?” We become a, “must have,” by making ourselves unique not only in our business interactions with our clients, but in how we effect them personally! Isn’t that true? If it is not a relationship, it is just a transaction, and just about anyone can complete a transaction!
The more intimate we are with our clients, the stronger the relationship. Isn’t it harder for your competitors to steal your clients if you have taken the time to build a relationship? Think of it the other way; how many times have you lost a sale because your clients says, “Well, he is a friend of mine,” or “I golf with that guy,” or “We are friends!”
How do you start to steal business away from your competitors, while shoring up your own clients so your competitors don’t eat your lunch? You start inviting your clients to do things with you.
Today, our lives are at a pretty fast pace, so how do you find time to build relationships with multiple people and still find the time for family? The challenge would be in finding the time to arrange for good events.
I believe in numbers; the more people I have to work with, the higher my income will be. It is just like cold calling, the more doors you knock on, the more sales you make. However, I don’t know about you, but I hate cold calling.
One of the ways to get warm calls is to get your current clientele to send or bring you more people to work with…they are called, referrals. How do you do that? A lot of people take two or three people to a ball game. To see 15 of your clients, you would have to go to five ball games. It would get expensive, and seeing someone once doesn’t really do the job.
I have come to realize that some of the tools we have at our disposal through the SNG need to be explained. While they are things I have done forever, I feel they are a new idea for some of the members. Today, I want to talk about how you can make the events we have work for you. I want to share with you the big picture.
I built my business on events. Some members think the events put on by the SNG are only for connecting with fellow SNG Members. That is one reason, but if that is where your thinking ends, you are missing the bigger picture. If you are not inviting clients to the events, you are missing the greatest opportunity to build and protect your clientele.
TREAT OUR EVENTS AS . . . YOUR OWN
Why not tell people that YOU put together an event, and bring YOUR clients and friends. All the work has been done so every SNG Member can get the most benefit out of the SNG. For example, we can reserve tables of 8-10 or more at the Comedy Castle for YOUR group. People are just not getting the most out of their SNG Membership because they are not thinking efficiently.
For instance, why can’t you contact your people and tell them that YOU have made arrangements for them to attend the Comedy Castle for only $5; you have seats reserved, and want them to enjoy an evening out seeing a great comedian! How do you think your clients would feel about you . . . better, or worse?
SNG MIXERS
If you were to call up your clients and say, “I am helping put on an event tonight at a great facility, the food is free you just have to pay for drinks, and you might be able to drum up some business!” You have to ask yourself, would that help build a closer relationship?
SNG TIGER CLUB DAYS
Instead of 15 clients to 5 ball games, take the same 15 clients six times to sit in the prestigious Tiger Club on a $14 ticket. Your clients will buy you lunch or dinner, as they do for me; they are just thrilled that they got invited.
I never pay for my clients. I have had up to 125 people at the Tiger Club, and it didn’t cost me a dime. How did I do it? I asked others to bring people. A number of the people who came to the Tiger Club events became financial clients of mine and SNG Members.
Communicating our events to your business friends couldn’t be easier; all you have to do is forward our emails with your personal note added at the top.
Let me give you the best example of what I am talking about. It is the, SNG! We started with five people sitting around a table for breakfast, but we also started planning fun events so each of us could invite as many people as we wanted. With all of us working together to fill the room, it didn’t take long to build an organization. As we built the organization, we became closer friends, and the more people we built around us, the more business we all did.
The SNG will make you look good. When your clientele sees the group of people you travel in, don’t you think it would set you apart? It does for me, I get a lot of respect from running the SNG…it is nothing more than a large group of people in one place.
I have taken the time to arrange for the events, so that part of the work is already done for you. You simply have to get your own group of people together to come to our events and ask them to bring a certain number of friends. I am sure you have all done something like this at one point or another…just start doing it consistently!
The absolute BEST part of your SNG Membership is that we do the planning and arranging for you to interact with your client base. People go on Websites for pre-made templates. This is the ultimate pre-made template to build your business. That, and breakfast, for only $40 per month…it is a steal!
Bringing people to events is called, building multiple relationships in the shortest period of time, with the least amount of effort. If you are NOT inviting people to participate, you are missing a golden opportunity for success!
Copyright Wayne A. Curto 2019