Building rapport with your clients – BEFORE they’re your clients.

If I think back to the days before digital marketing and websites, let’s even go back to before the internet was a place to do business, the standard in sales in marketing was that:

Customers buy from companies they know and trustr
It takes an average of 7 touches for your prospect to identify your brand.
Store owners had the luxury of seeing you stop in, window shop or browse, but they could tell you were there, visibly. Rapport could be built by discussing the weather, just non-specific polite conversation. However, your prospects now are window shopping on your blog, reading your Facebook page, and scrolling through endless reviews on Google, without you knowing.

So how can you build rapport with your prospects, when you can’t engage them in conversation?

1. Get involved on social media, and I don’t mean just post, I mean interact and engage with others. Read the comments people post on your page and respond. Please don’t use a cut and paste response, it’s better than no response, but people will see through it.

2. Get personal on social media, your posts don’t all need to be perfectly written and staged but can be fun and show a little of your personality. Your prospects want to get to know you, not the perfectly perfect you, the creative, imperfect side.

3. Post regularly, and speak to your prospects and clients. Understand who they are and give them what they need. Create a picture of them in your mind, and then think like them. Does your prospect dread Mondays because they’re in a job they hate and are struggling with routine, or have a challenging co-worker that they need help dealing with? Then post some Monday Motivation content. Conversely, if your prospect struggles with loneliness and weekends are tough, then post fun Friday posts that motivate and inspire. What does your prospect need?

4. Think beyond the blog, and post inspirational quotes and photos, use video (Facebook Live or YouTube) to connect with your prospects.

5. Further to this, post worksheets, what tips could your prospect print off and use as inspiration? Maybe journaling pages with probing questions, or a meal planning worksheet. It may sound like a lot of work but could be created as a lead magnet available for download for subscribing.

I understand that it sounds like you’re giving away a lot of content without a guaranteed sale. This is where an appropriate call to action at the end of each blog and download comes into play. Let your prospect know that you’re there for them, understand them, and what the next step should be for them.

And of course, I also understand that this is a lot of content that you might not have time to create. Social media doesn’t need to be intimidating, but it does need to be strategic. Create a digital marketing plan with achievable goals for your business. The more content you create, the more likely your prospects will see you, and feel like they know you.

Using Social Media is essential to help you grow your business, but it doesn’t come without a strategy!

By Peggy Murrah, Founder of PMA Web Services