Day 18: Upgrade your box for better customer relations

Upgrade that old box

Having a strategy regarding your business is smart. Deciding to market in a particular way and to interact with your people on specific platforms is wise.

But the box you create your business in needs to be upgraded every now and then. In order to do that, you need to step outside of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to discourage anyone from being intentional about their business. It’s very important that you continue to do so. However, there are times when opportunities will manifest that don’t fall within your predicted strategy that you need to consider taking.

Why? Because while your business is the result of planning and strategy, sometimes your customers aren’t as predictable.

Loving customers is a relationship

As with any relationship, there are times when you are required to step outside of your typical strategy in order for it to grow. Our challenge is to gain your customers’ love, which means you need to do things that stretch you. Things that focus on your customers.

Sometimes you need to leave room in your well-thought plan to allow you to go outside of it.

A wise person once told me that relationships are messy because people are messy. If you are pursuing a relationship of love with your customers, expect things to be messy…or at least a little out of your box now and then.

Examples please

Ok, so enough theory. Let’s talk about some examples of stepping outside of your box and letting things get (manageably) messy.

Leave your computer
As much as we love the glowing square that is our monitor, people don’t live in front of them 24/7. I know, I know… some of us feel like we do, but not everyone. Not even most. Try meeting your people in real life. Meetups, tweetups, networking events. Or even one-on-one meetings and coaching sessions. As amazing as online relationships can be, there is still no substitute for meeting with people face-to-face.

Explore other online outlets
I focus the majority of my attention on Twitter. In fact, I treat it like a giant, ongoing chat room. It works for me and I enjoy it. However, a lot of my right people don’t use Twitter at all. (My wife hasn’t ever even gotten on it… can you imagine?!?!) Ask your people where they hang out when they aren’t with you. Then set time aside to periodically visit those other places and meet them there. The more places they see you, the more the relationship develops, and the more they are likely to think of you… and your product.

Email them individually
I’m continually surprised at how many people I speak with who haven’t emailed people who visit their site. These people are giving you the greatest online currency: their attention! Every time a comment is left, you have an email. Try emailing the people that comment on your site for even one week and note the results. Does your traffic increase? Does your customer loyalty strengthen?

Eric Pratum of EricPratum.com is great at this. Well over a year from my initial comment on his site, we are still in contact on a regular basis — I even interviewed him on my site. All because of how willing he was to step outside the box and connect with people outside of the norm.

Skype, Skype, Skype
If you are not using Skype, it is my personal opinion that you are missing out on a gigantic opportunity to connect with people. Buy a webcam if you don’t already have one and start seeking out people to talk to. While there is nothing that can replace meeting face-to-face with someone in the “real world,” Skype is a great option for when you physically cannot do so. A majority of my most loyal people are ones that I have Skyped with. It is a great way to have people fall in love with you. Be forewarned though, you may fall in love with them too.

Your turn

Your challenge is to look at your typical day/week and see where you can step outside of YOUR box. Try one of the four examples listed above or come up with something that is specific to your people. Stretch your comfort zone and chances are you may just find that you’ve stretched the boundaries of your business too.

I’m sure that you might occasionally find things that don’t work. However, I have personally discovered that more often than not, stepping outside of my box has led to a richer experience than staying within it.

And really, isn’t the reason we are doing business ourselves is because we desire a richer experience?

What are you doing to step outside of your box? Tell me in the comments below!

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