Social distancing has caused many people to feel isolated. This likely applies as much to you as it does to your clients. Helping clients is key. So what can we do to allow our prospects and clients to feel less alone and create more of a connection?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, cohost Chris Templeton and I will be talking about helping your clients to feel less isolated and creating solid connections. Welcome Chris.
Chris: Hi David. You know, the ability to create connections, especially now, is so important. We’ve discussed how to use technology in previous podcasts, but there’s a psychological component to this. So what are some of the things we can do to help our clients and ourselves, David?
David: Well, that’s a great question. And we had touched a lot on fear in the previous podcast and how do you overcome feelings of fear? And I think it’s possible a lot of this also applies to feelings of isolation and feeling like we’re all in it by ourselves, we’re in it alone. And the fact of the matter is that we’re really not. And so a lot of it starts with, I believe, recognizing that fact. That essentially if everybody’s in the same boat, then we’re about as far from alone as we could possibly be. Everybody’s pretty much in the same situation. Now, if you’re where you are in California and I’m where I am in Pennsylvania, if you and I are not connecting, then sure, we’re going to feel a lot more isolated than we will feel if we’re having a conversation like this one, where it’s as if we’re together and we’re able to have a conversation and we are able to feel more connected because we’re be able to have those conversations.
David: So I think a lot of it starts with that, recognizing that we are far from alone. We’re all in this together. And I think adapting that mindset is really important for everyone right now to recognize, yeah, we may not always agree with everyone else, but we are certainly all in this together and the clearer we can get about that, and the more we can understand that the common goals remain the same: to have better lives, to be able to continue to move our lives and our businesses forward. And then, you know, how can we help ourselves to do it and how can we help those around us to do it? If we recognize that everybody’s in the same boat, then maybe we can all start paddling the same direction and feel less isolated about it.
Chris: And I think the thing that you said that really resonates with me, and I, I think it’s easier to walk right by is this is about as much for ourselves as it is for clients or for prospects. If we’re trying to build relationships with our clients and prospects right now doing that is as good for you as it is for anybody else. You know what I mean?
David: Yeah, no question. And it’s like what we talked about before, you have to be able to do some of this stuff for yourself before you’re going to be able to get good at helping other people. It’s like what they talk about when you’re about to take off in a plane, you gotta put your mask on before you try to help someone else. And it’s the same exact advice here, you know, how can we allow ourselves to feel less isolated and more connected? And the way that we do that is essentially going to be by establishing connections. Just saying things like, who do I want to be connected with right now? Who would I like to be able to interact with right now? And then just reaching out and making it happen. And this applies as much or perhaps even more and our social lives as it does in business. But I think the two are very much related.
Chris: Absolutely. And you know, we talked off air about having Zoom meetings with our friends that I’ve, I’ve had, I think four or five of them in the last month and a half, two months. And they are so refreshing to be able to see the people that matter and doing the same thing. And I think you really hit it. Now, who are the people that are prospects and clients that you really do want to connect with? Who are the people that you would enjoy? Just having a conversation with what a great way to help me and to help those people by just checking in, like we talked about in the last podcast, how are you doing? How are things going? I think that’s just huge.
David: Yeah. And one of the things that I’ve done for years is I would put together a list and I would usually do this at least on a monthly basis, who are some of the people that I would like to interact with this month? Who are some of the clients that I’d like to interact with, who are some other people that are in our industry that I’d like to interact with, who are some friends that I’d like to interact with? I don’t really have to document it as much with the friends, cause that’s going to happen anyway. But I find that in business, if I really think about who do I like to interact with, who do I get a lot of good vibes from, right? And then just make it a point of actually reaching out and establishing connections with them. To, as you said before, just to see how they’re doing to find out what’s going on in their lives to see how they’re coping with things. Because when we do that, we’re just helping each other. And we are essentially forcing ourselves to feel less isolated by interacting with people that we enjoy interacting with.
Chris: And you know, that kind of conversation, right now, is more powerful than it’s been because we don’t have to come with a sales agenda. We don’t have to come with a, Hey let’s do business agenda. Being able to connect with somebody and saying, boy, how are you doing through all of this is really important. And it can really help to put things in perspective can’t it?
David: It can. And I think it’s a little different for different people in different businesses right now. And I think it’s important to acknowledge that. When you’re in a situation financially where you know you can get through it and you know you can deal with things, it’s mentally, psychologically easier to say, “okay, well, who am I going to connect with this week?” I mean, you sort of have the luxury of being able to do that. For some other people, if their businesses have been stopped dead in their tracks and they’re dealing with things like, “am I going to be able to get my staff back? Am I going to be able to get my business up and running again? Am I going to be able to reach pre-pandemic sales levels and then build from there,” it becomes a little harder. And that’s why, you know, what we were talking about in the last podcast, as far as being able to get beyond the fear, getting over the fear, and then being able to think through “where do I want to be and how am I going to get there?” All of that becomes necessary in order to be able to help ourselves first and then help our prospects and clients beyond that.
Chris: Can you imagine being on the receiving end of a call of, “Hey, how you doing how’s things looking for your business, have you thought about kind of how you can recover from this?” Having that conversation… talk about leadership, because what you’re doing is you’re changing kind of the default thoughts, loaded with fear, “I have no idea how I’m gonna make this” to “what are you thinking about how you can make it through this?” I think those kinds of things, really are leadership at its finest, because it’s so simple. And yet it’s something that we have such a hard time, especially when we’re alone, looking at that, getting that perspective between the good and the bad and the ugly.
David: Yeah. And I’ve had many of those conversations over the course of the past few weeks and months. And once again, depending on the mindset of the person that I’m talking to, I’ve talked with people who are normally really focused, really on it, very strong, determined business people who, when I’ve asked them, how’s it going? It’s just terrible. They tell me how, you know, how terrible it’s been and all the things I’ve been struggling with. And I did a video recently, Jeff Solomon from Free Promo Tips asked me to put together just some thoughts on what’s going on. And one of the things that I mentioned is that there are people who have sort of lost sight of important things right now, the idea of being able to determine the difference between an investment, something that’s going to bring back high returns, versus an expense, just money that you’re putting out that isn’t going to be coming back. And a lot of people are throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Chris: Yeah.
David: So part of what I’ve found is that you can have those conversations, you can do your best to try to inspire and to try to provide guidance and recommendations, to help people back from the brink. Some people are not coming back, you know, mentally until they get there themselves. They’re just not ready to step back. They’re looking out over it, in fear or whatever it is that they’re dealing with. And they’re just not even at a point where they can think clearly enough to be able to start pulling themselves back and focusing on the fact that they are in fact, not alone, even when you’re interacting with them. And that it’s going to be necessary to not sever connections, not isolate ourselves, but to reintegrate as many positive voices into our lives as we can.
Chris: And again, I think that the first step of that is just creating that connection. Isn’t it?
David: Yeah. I think connections are just absolutely critical at this point. So when we look at it and you just try to put things into perspective and recognize that there are bad aspects of what’s going on, and there are good aspects of what’s going on. Many of us have been able to reestablish connections and relationships with people that we might not have interacted with in quite some time. And we’re really finding out who the strongest influences are in our lives. When we do that, when we’re able to connect with people who are on the same kind of wavelength, we recognize that we are in fact all in this together and who are looking to pull together to find solutions that will help everyone. Those types of conversations and interactions are extremely helpful right now.
Chris: And you know, that’s kind of the value of creating community. Isn’t it? It’s not that we’re necessarily having big meetings with big numbers of people, but creating community starts one person at a time and creating that connection is the way to creating that community.
David: One of the things that we’ve been doing for years, we have an Inner Circle community. So it’s our clients who have been with us for a long time. Many of them have been with us for a really long time, some as long as 10 or 12 years. And we get together in various forums, we’ve got an online community, we’ve got a Facebook group we’ve got in person get together as a various industry functions, not as much of that likely to happen anytime soon, but we interact via teleconferences and videos and all that sort of thing. And it allows people to feel connected to a like-minded community. People who are focused on the growth of their businesses, the growth of their sales, their ability to get clients. And so a lot of what we’ve done over the course of the past couple of months is to put together content like this podcast. That’s designed to get people to think in terms of potential next steps, what are the obstacles? And one of the things that we can do to overcome those obstacles. And so our community is such a source of strength for our clients who participate in that and for myself as well. It’s just inspiring to see what some of our clients are doing, the actions they’re taking to be able to continue to lead through this difficult time.
Chris: And, you know, David, if part of what you do is, as you do this outreach to prospects and clients, is just to talk about that. Like, how are you working to connect with the people that are important to you and your business, and you know, what are you doing to create community among your people? And now it’s easier than ever. I think a free account with Zoom will let you host, I think it’s a hundred people and if it’s not, it’s 15 bucks a month and you can have a hundred people on a call. Not that that’s right, the way that I would go, right. You know, there are ways that we can reconnect with our prospects and clients the same can be true in terms of saying, Hey, it’s our prospects and clients, what are you doing with your prospects and clients to create that connection in that sense of community,
David: right? And when you do that, that does position you as the leader, it positions you as the authority. A lot of the things that we work with with our Total Market Domination clients is exactly it’s. How do you position yourself as the leader in your market, among the people who have the biggest need, desire and ability to interact with you? And the better we get at doing that, the better we’re going to be able to continue to generate business and continue to help our clients. So it’s extremely valuable.
Chris: Absolutely. Okay. I think that’s all we have time for today. Anything that you want to wrap up with?
David: No, I think again, it’s just a matter of focusing on where we are mentally and allowing ourselves to feel less isolated by connecting with the people that are going to give us the biggest boost. The people that we think have the most to offer and the people that we have the most to offer. Okay. That’s not quite correct English, but if we know that we’ve got something that can help people and we can reach out to them and we can offer to do that, that becomes a big boost all by itself.
Chris: And I think that the biggest thing that you can do, right now more than ever, is to have personal connection with your business clients and prospects. This is the time to do that. And I think it will make a world of difference for you making the calls a world of difference for the people receiving those calls. And hopefully down the road, will line you up for more business because you were the person that had the guts and the courage to say, Hey, how you doing
David: Exactly. Be that person.
Chris: I like it. Okay. If you need help minimizing the short term damage to your business and positioning yourself as the go to person for the recovery, which is really what we’ve been talking about. Go to TopSecrets.com/call to schedule a strategy session to find out if David and his team can help you. That’s TopSecrets.com/call. David. Thank you.
David: Thank you, Chris.
David: These are very strange times, and it’s likely the next 90 days in business are going to be critical for you. So if I offered to work with you, virtually, over the next 90 days, to help you to minimize the short term damage to your business, and position yourself perfectly for the long-term, as the go-to person in your market, while everyone else is too afraid to move, would you take me up on that offer? It’s important to understand that this is not for everyone. Specifically, you must be serious about doing what’s necessary to grow and scale your business right now. This is what’s going to help you to minimize short-term damage and position yourself as the leader in your market during the recovery. You must be ready, willing and able to invest in yourself, your business, and getting new clients. You must be willing to follow very specific instructions. You must be friendly and coachable. And, you must be ready to start now. This is not for those who want to “wait it out.” If you meet all five of those criteria, schedule a one-on-one strategy session with us to determine if we’re a good fit to work together. Please, only schedule a time when you know you’ll actually show up. Just go to TopSecrets.com/call. That’s TopSecrets.com/call.
Ready to Grow Your Sales & Profits?
If so, check out the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors grow:
- Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help.
- Need Clients Now? If you’re already grounded in the essentials of promotional product sales and just need to get clients now, click here.
- Want EQP/Preferential Pricing? Are you an established industry veteran doing a significant volume of sales? If so, click here to get End Quantity Pricing from many of the top supplier lines in the promo industry.
- Time to Hire Salespeople? If you want to hire others to grow your promo sales, click here.