I am a small start-up entrepreneur, how do I get my customers to connect with me? I was in a seminar few weeks back and of the speakers in charge told us about how it was a good secret for entrepreneurs to have a close bond with their customers, he told us that when we build a good relationship with customers, it will allow them have more reasons to patronize us unlike when they only feel we are after their money. The question I started with came from one of those who was a student during the seminar as well and the speaker smartly gave the response below.
This is even a more important technique for start-ups who will most likely be the face of their business for some time before they begin to employ more hands to represent them. Do not be an entrepreneur who feels too big around his or her customers, irrespective of how much is invested into the business, buyers are needed in order to rally round, if you are an entrepreneur who feels he has arrived and speaks to customers in a disrespected manner, be sure that the business might not last or grow.
When customers are speaking to you, you want to give them your full attention and let them know that you are actively listening to what they have to say and you are willing to work on it either it is a correction or a means of improvement, do not let them feel as if you are only after what they can offer you but be willing to offer them something in return also by paying attention.
Bonding with customers, building a personal type of relationship with them, understanding the angle they are coming from and how you can relate with them successfully even if they want to talk about the downsides of your product, you should listen to them more and bond with them.
The speaker also made us understand that there is a lot of buying that goes on when we have to deal with emotions, people buy based on their emotions and as a good start-up who is trying to get into the heart of customers you need to understand how you can get into their minds and understand how that product or service of yours will be able to suit their needs.
Becoming an open minded and positive person is a very serious lesson I learnt from attending this seminar and I am really happy that I attended the seminar, for start-ups it is very necessary to bond with our customers and understand how we can get on emotionally with them but even for people who are not entrepreneurs we need to learn how to relate appropriately with others.