Be Interested Rather Than Interesting
In his classic book ‘How to win friends and influence people’ Dale Carnegie wrote: “It is better to be interested than interesting”.
I have long known that really taking the time to be genuinely interested in your clients is an imperative part of creating “raving fans” for your business.
Raving fans are those clients that quite simply love you and your business…or more accurately, what you and your business do for them.
Why is it that Apple has people camping outside their stores for days just prior to the latest product release?
It’s simple. They know how to create “Raving fans”!
Now here’s the question:
Are Apple’s products really that much better than their competitors?
Whilst as an Apple fan I may like to think that, but they are probably not. But, and it’s a BIG BUT….
Apple serves you by creating world class products and then delivers an outstanding service to back you up. Apple is genuinely interested in you.
So that leaves us with a question:
How do you create “Raving Fans” in your business?
It’s simple. You have got to up your game.
It starts with being genuinely interested in what your client is up to in their lives.
Recently when working with one of our clients we were looking at different strategies that may increase their sales.
The CEO told me a story:
He was in the office late one night and got a call from a client that he hadn’t spoken to for about 2 years because the client had been away travelling.
“So what happened?” I asked.
“Oh I asked him how his trip was and what was the part he enjoyed most. I must have spent about half an hour on the phone to him. It was great to reconnect with him!”
Here’s the lesson:
“Two weeks later and out of the blue, he phoned me back and asked would I mind if he introduced another client to our business!”
By showing a genuine interest in his client and really serving, his client became the marketer and promoted the business and hey presto, a new client.
Oh and the client acquisition cost?
Zero.
Okay, so if you’re an accountant, it did cost him 30 minutes of his time having a meaningful conversation.
So how about you?
Who could you have a meaningful conversation with today that could grow your business?
Will you be genuinely interested in them or just in the sale?
Would you find it helpful to have a no obligation strategy call about any challenges currently facing you and your business? If so, my colleague Paul Adamson and I would love to hear from you. Simply click here.
