When I build deals in my pipeline on HubSpot, I don't just see a name or a business. I see relationships growing. I view efforts and problems being solved again and again. I notice a team of business owners tackling market problems together. I watch a network strengthening. What I am witnessing is the results of building strong relationships, a pipeline filled with deals.
Business is very personal. For most of our human history we did business person to person. Now with the advent of online businesses, many businesses are crumbling. The success rate for news businesses are plummeting. Only 34.9 % of businesses survive after 10 years. 20% of businesses close within a year. We must go back to our roots and build the foundations for deal making.
Every deal has three elements to its foundations. I am not talking about the deal itself, but what allowed the deal to come forth in the first place.
- Know your customers, partners and co-workers
- Liking your market, having your target market like you
- Building trust with your market, customers, partners and co-workers
Know thy people
Your ideal customer should be known to you and your business by now. If not it is time to sit down and work on this form provided by HubSpot .
You want to spend time knowing your audience. People do not just buy your products and services because of a need. We live in an era of many choices, the difference being we want to do business with who we know, like and trust. Knowing is only 1/3 of the battle. But it is very important.
Never make assumptions. Study your target market audience. Spend time with them. Have coffee with them (or a beer). Make friends. Help them (if you can).
Most importantly, get to know people on a deeper level. Not just what you can find on LinkedIn. If you find getting to know someone difficult, pick a different market.
Which leads to point two.
Mutual interest, Mutual Like
It is your choice on who you get to know. Just make sure they are people you can invite over to meet grandma. Having mutual interests helps build likeability. Likeability is a foundation to business success. You can get to know someone and even trust their word. But if they are not a likeable person or, not a person you want to associate with, why do business with them?
This is where knowing your market comes in handy for marketing and sales. Often knowing a particular segment of the marketplace takes years. But you will know right off the bat if you like this segment. Not everyone likes to do house projects. Not everyone wants to build cars on the weekend. Some people would rather watch paint dry than read books.
Finding your interests often takes time, and maturity. If you have no idea what you like, then it is going to be hard to start your own business. Once you find your interests, learn more about them and build a network in this interests.
Your network is your net-worth.
Create Trust
The hardest thing to build and the easiest to destroy is trust. Trust and credibility are mutual terms that go with a brand and the people associated with the brand. Gain a person's trust and you will open up the path to knowing them better and possibly liking them. Trust is the foundation of the foundation. It enables everything else to happen.
Trust is associated directly with your word (your sword) and how you hold it and use it.
The tongue is a two edge sword and it can easily bite you as it bites others. How you create your words is just as important as how you keep your word.
We humans have this amazing capability no other species has. To create ideas, fleshed out by our words and upheld by our deeds. Justice is such a concept. Justice is not something you can tangibly see or directly interact with. You cannot just wear it physically like a cape. You cannot eat it. It is immaterial. Yet we have thousands of movies and books dedicated to it.
Be clear and concise in your words. Be true and honorable in your words. This is how you create trust.
For a full list of things to do to create trust, go here.
I hope this helps you in some way. Some of this is obvious but it is still worth thinking deeply about. Because your business decisions should not be rash; but built carefully with knowledge, likeability and trust.
