It is vital to your success in any field!

In the business world it helps you sell your product or service by ensuring your message is heard and received.

It’s what theater people call “your believability”. It’s your sincerity, your humanity, which results in repeat business, sight unseen, by those you have “connected” with and via “referrals”, from the folks who trust you.

Connection and Relationship breed Trust.

In a personal relationship, or business context, connection means being present and giving your family member, your friend, your co-worker, or your customer, your full attention.

Remembering that the other person in the conversation is the most important person, and your interaction with him or her is the most important event happening, is essential to success.

So many times we see people texting while speaking to another face to face. While this might be OK for those in the techie world, sooner or later we will each encounter individuals and/or groups who expect acknowledgment and demand our undivided attention.

I remember several years ago, two colleagues and I were meeting with the Senior Vice President of the Wealth Management division of a local community bank. I honestly don’t remember any part of the ensuing conversation. What I do remember, is that during the forty minutes of our visit, he directed his conversation and comments solely to my male colleague, gave only cursory glances to my female colleague, and he didn’t once look at me. I remember thinking it unusual at first, and, as time went on, I began to think it rude.

For forty minutes we sat in his office discussing Wealth Management strategy, his products and services, and our business line and not once did he look at me, even when I was speaking!

The reasons for this don’t matter. What does matter is that he ignored two thirds of his audience. Your customer and your audience, whoever they are, will remember such behavior as well; and then they’ll buy from someone else.

I know many of you reading this are in the arts, and so you’re thinking, “Customers, what customers?

Face it, Artsy Types; your Audience is your Customer, and as the song goes… “It’s a business.”

The people who buy show tickets are your customer.

The people who arrange the bookings are your customer.

The people who cast shows are your customer.

The people who buy art and recordings are your customer.

You need to deliver quality goods and create a connection. Give the customer someone to relate to, someone they feel they can trust.

We, performers, do it all the time in shows.

Apply it to other areas of your life.

This works whether your looking to be hired for a cabaret show, a speaking engagement, having your artwork exhibited, are selling financial services, applying for a grant for community development or marketing the ultimate medical cure!

You see, my friends, it doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if you don’t create a connection. Without relating to your customer on a basic human level, you won’t get the sale.

Clinching the deal means offering a quality product or service that fits the customer’s need and being a person they connect with and trust.

The best sales people don’t necessarily have the best product; but they are the best at creating relationships.

This is what gets the repeat business. This is what gets the referrals. This is what “fills the pipeline”, as they say in the business world, and this what gets people in the seats for every show you do or every exhibit you have. As a business person, or an artist, you must deliver a quality product within the context of a professional relationship built on connection and trust in order to earn the business every time.

If you’d like help with this, let’s connect!

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