Yvonne A Jones - Small Business Coach & Mentor - Page 2 of 30

Why Business Owners Must Follow-Up

Business owners must follow-up. Imagine this scenario: You attended a live networking event. You made some great connections, and you had a great conversation with one person in particular. You seemed to connect on many levels and she had a service you were interested in learning more about. She promised to follow-up with you within 3 days.

Day 1 and Day 2 came and went. It’s Day 3 and almost the end of the day. You’ve not heard from her. No text. No email. No phone call. You’re thinking, “I really wanted to learn more about the service. Should I call her?”

You’re a confident person but this experience is beginning to make you feel a little less confident, a little devalued? Then you start reflecting, “Have I done this to others? Did I ever meet someone and promise to follow-up but failed to do so?”

Follow-up is one of the most important aspects in the life of a business owner, yet so many entrepreneurs and small business owners find it to be a challenge. Continue reading →

Networking to Build Relationships Online and Offline

Posted on by Yvonne A Jones

One of my favorite relationship marketing strategies is networking.

While you may do the bulk of networking offline, there are many opportunities online for networking to build relationships. And by networking online, I mean actually positioning yourself in face to face situations. This is as if you were offline, except that you may be hundreds and even thousands of miles apart.

Social Media for Networking to Build Relationships

Social Media allows you to meet people who share your interests. It provides opportunities for you to reach out to influencers and others who you may not have been able to connect with in offline settings.

Facebook and LinkedIn Groups allow you to connect with others easily as you can introduce yourself and participate in discussions. Be careful that when you’re doing your introductions, you’re not attempting to sell what you do as this will be a huger turnoff for those who are just meeting you.
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Customer Retention a Benefit of Relationship Marketing

Posted on by Yvonne A Jones

Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

Is customer retention a benefit of relationship marketing? Yes. It is. Customer retention means allowing your customers to build an emotional connection with you so that they remain your clients or customers over the long-term.

This emotional connection does not happen automatically. It has to be nurtured by the business. Relationship marketing is a strategy that builds on events and experiences. It takes more time than transactional sales.

Because the results are not instant, many business owners believe that relationship marketing is not worth the effort. The ROI appears to take too long to produce results. Continue reading →

Two Essential Qualities That Create Deeper Customer Relationships

Posted on by Yvonne A Jones

Empathy and awareness are two essential qualities that create deeper customer relationships.

What are empathy and awareness? How and why do they create deeper relationships with customers and clients?

Empathy in customer relationships

Empathy is formally defined as “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.”

Simply put, empathy is walking in someone else’s shoes so you feel what they’re feeling. Continue reading →

Entrepreneurs Be More Focused and Less Creative

Posted on by Yvonne A Jones

As we approached 2018, the words that kept coming to me repeatedly were –

Simplify. Be more focused.

It seemed that I kept hearing those words over and over.

As I worked on two different projects at one time.

As I created two coaching client packages.

While working on a new website with my webmaster.

Simplify. Be more focused.
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