From the course: Account Management: Maintaining Relationships

Treat them

- Done right, treating a prospect can take them from a business acquaintance to a genuine friend instantly, solidifying future sales opportunities and referrals from them for the foreseeable future. Done wrong and they'll simply think you're making a desperate attempt to sell to them, pushing the relationship further away. That's the best and worst case scenario for both. The majority of the time, they'll think it's a nice thing that you've done and will increase the relationship strength marginally, which is still useful. But let's focus on how we can do this right. How can we pay large deposits into the emotional bank account and reap the rewards in the future? The first thing I'll say is that we need to consider what they'll like. This could be a physical treat, like chocolate or wine, or an experience treat, like taking them to a nice restaurant or to a show. But whatever it is, the treat must match with them. There's no point in taking a football fan to the ballet, unless you know they like both. And that goes both ways. If they're not a fan of football, don't take them to a football game. And don't buy wine for someone who doesn't drink. Like I mentioned in an earlier chapter, consider what you've discussed in the past or what they've directly referenced to you, like being sports fans or a music fan or a certain food or theater fan. If they haven't mentioned anything directly, then check their social media. Look at the accounts that they follow, the pictures of them doing hobbies, comments they've made about their weekend plans, and so on. Then keep this information documented to use later on. When Christmas comes around, check your notes. You'll see it says, James likes a nice red wine. So buy him a bottle for Christmas. Or when you have access to a new theater show, check your notes then, and spot Amanda wants to see the new showing of Hamlet. Offer to take her with you. Or when your marketing team makes some branded beers to send out for St. Patrick's Day, check your notes and see Steven is teetotal. So don't send one to Steven. Maybe find him some chocolate instead. These are easy wins that mean a lot to the people receiving them. So next, we'll dig a bit deeper into making the most of meeting them at those events and lunches that you're treating them to.

Contents