Frequency of communication builds trust.
This is possibly the most underestimated aspect of
all types of business development communication strategy.
We always talk about matching the message to
the audience and delivering it in a way
that the audience is willing to receive it.
But we don't talk about frequency.
Here's the thing that really drives this point
home.
Think about the most important relationship in your
life.
There's a pretty good chance it's a spouse
or a significant other or a mother or
father figure, brother or a sister.
It's someone you care deeply about and someone
who cares deeply about you.
Think about that relationship in the context of
improving it or deteriorating the quality of it
based upon how often you communicate.
If you're in a committed relationship with a
partner, a spouse, a significant other, does your
relationship get stronger or weaker if you go
a week without speaking?
Candidly, if it gets stronger, the foundation of
that relationship is pretty bad and you might
want to seek some help.
But all kidding aside, frequency of communication increases
trust over time because of the familiarity.
So here's a five-step process that we
work on with our clients when we're helping
them improve their overall conversion rates.
So taking prospects to clients, taking suspects to
prospects, or deepening relationships with clients.
Step number one is whenever you communicate, you
need to deliver value.
So you and I are here today having
this conversation and I hope that you're finding
significant value in the conversation that we're having.
The second step is to deliver that value
to you as often as is comfortable.
So in the case of an intimate relationship,
intense frequency is the rule.
Multiple times a day, making sure that each
person is getting what they need from each
interaction.
When you're just getting to know someone, maybe
once a day is more appropriate.
In a business setting, maybe a couple of
times a week is appropriate.
And in a marketing or a business development
setting, maybe we're talking about just once a
week or a couple of times a month.
The key is delivering value as frequently as
is appropriate to increase the intensity of the
relationship.
Then step number three is to listen to
the feedback that you're getting from the person
that you're communicating with.
Now in a business development setting, in a
marketing setting, the feedback is going to come
in the form of replies or commentary on
a post like this.
It's going to come in the form of
anecdotal evidence where people grab you and they
say, hey, I got that direct mail piece
you sent and it was really impactful.
I got it on my refrigerator.
Or they're going to say, I saw that
post you put up on LinkedIn.
It really changed the way I think about
running my business.
Thank you for sharing that.
You're also going to get feedback on whether
or not people are responding.
And if they don't respond, that message isn't
resonant or the way you delivered the message
didn't resonate with the audience.
So listening for the feedback is step number
three.
Step number four is incorporating empathy in response
to the feedback that you get.
Now what do I mean by incorporating empathy?
If people say to you, Dave, I got
your marketing communication and it really hit me
because I've been in that situation before.
I understand how bad things can get and
I'm really glad that you pointed out that
there are solutions and there are options.
That type of feedback is incredibly valuable because
it tells you you should make more messages
like that.
Too many people post things on social media
or create ads online and offline in response
to what they feel their capabilities are.
The market, your audience doesn't care what your
capabilities are.
They care about what they care about.
So the empathy part of the listening and
incorporating empathy into your messaging moving forward is
essential because that's what builds the relationship over
time and that's the final step.
You have to adjust your message based on
the feedback that you get when you incorporate
that empathy.
So those five steps again, deliver value, communicate
as frequently as is appropriate given the relationship
status, listen to the feedback, incorporate empathy and
then deliver new messages based on the feedback
you've received and the empathy you've incorporated.
You can use this in one-on-one
interpersonal communication.
You can use it in direct response marketing
and you can use it on your social
media posts.
I'm here for you every day doing this
type of thing, creating a relationship with you,
communicating with frequency because I want you and
I to have a great and productive relationship
moving forward.
I'll see you back here again tomorrow.
Until then, here's hoping you make a great
living and live a great life.