Ryan Stephens Marketing

… find ways to build genuine relationships. I always say that you have to approach people the way they want to be approached, but sometimes your employer might force you to do things their way. In these instances you can still customize the experience to make it authentic, to make it your own. Some of the best ways to do this are through surprise and humor.

Just the other day, it was pouring down rain and I needed a special cord for my camera. I tried Target and Wal-Mart to no avail. Finally, I went to a specialized camera store. There’s no parking very close and I ran through the rain to the door. I tugged on it and it was locked.

All the lights were on and the employees were already there, but the store didn’t open for another hour (10:00am). The employees clearly saw me soaking wet and tugging on the door. It wouldn’t have been hard to let me in for a few seconds. I certainly didn’t expect it, and I didn’t blame them for abiding by the times on the sign, but had they let me in I would have bought the product from them, bought more products in the future, and told a lot of local people about the store. Easy enough, right?

I received an e-mail this morning from a good friend I played college ball with a few years back. He shared with me one of the tactics he’s using at his new job. I thought it was an innovative and humorous way to build relationships with potential customers through a practice (door to door) that is not usually very conducive to building intimate business relationships.

I’ve been doing some face to face prospecting, door knocking in neighborhoods (the first stage of building a business the Edward Jones way).  It’s extremely old fashioned, but if you consider the target market, which is 50 – 65 retirees, it’s the best way.  Anyway, I’m frequenting your website lately to add to my toolbox.

Here’s how I have been overcoming the objection of “I’m not interested” or “I don’t have the money now”…

“Oh that’s okay Mr. (or Mrs.) Prospect, it’s just that my biggest fear is that you will win the lottery on Saturday night and I’m not the person that you want to help you out,  so I’ll promise to keep in touch and let you know of a great investment idea from time to time.”

And when I call back in a month I say, “This is ***** from the EJ Investment Office and I was just checking to see if you won the lottery yet?!”

If you owned a business, would you let a customer in before operating hours? If my friend knocked on your door would you remember him? What ways do you use surprise and humor to build relationships that grow your company’s bottom line?

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