Man these are weird times aren’t they? Whether you are reading this during the 2020 pandemic or in the future, the content remains the absolute same. How can you stay connected with your clients when things are “weird”?
“Weird” will look different depending on what is going on in your life. It might be maternity leave, or a cross country move, or when you are taking leave because your spouse was deployed. Weird times might be when you take a semester off to homeschool or while you are grieving the death of a loved one. Or maybe weird times are during a forced and unexpected quarantine during a worldwide pandemic that took everyone by surprise. No matter when your “weird” time is, the meat of this post will remain the same.
Ready for the mic drop moment? You absolutely, 100% need to stay connected with your clients no matter what is happening in your life and in the world.
Why? Well honestly, that is a long list. But here are just a few of the reasons why connectedness matters:
You built your tribe of loyal followers, so don’t disappear on them.
Believe it or not, your community really does care about you.
Staying connected isn’t just for your sake, it is for theirs too.
Staying connected shows you ways that you can and should be serving your clients.
Okay, so hopefully I have won you over at this point. Hopefully now you see how important connectedness is. And you are wondering how exactly to go about it.
First let’s look at the definition of connected: adjective. Brought together or into contact so that a real or notional link is established.
Staying connected involved two things:
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Sharing of yourself. Communicating back and forth.
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Reaching out and offering support
To achieve the first is really simple when you think about the heart of it…
Just. Share. About. Yourself.
Yep, it really is that simple. Sharing about yourself reaches your clients and lets them know what is happening with you personally. It lets them know that you are okay, or not. It also gives them an opportunity to connect with you through shared experiences. That is the best part.
When you share the good, bad, weird, ugly and all the life moments, you are offering your clients an opportunity to connect with you. And I am not talking about on a business level. This is not to give a sales pitch. This is about human connection. This is about sharing your struggle and giving someone the opportunity to raise their hand and say, “Me too”. I don’t think I need to go too far into detail here but, the “me too” is a very powerful thing.
Let me share a personal example here:
In late 2017 and early 2018, I lost both my grandmother and my mother within 6 months of each other. It was a very dark season in my life. I struggled but I was open about my struggle. For the first time in my business, I refunded session deposits because I just couldn’t work. I was sad. I was angry. I was too down to even pray for myself and my situation. But I continued to share. I continued to show up, even though it wasn’t bright and shiny. And my clients, community and followers rallied around me in way that I could have never expected. They poured in continually with prayers, text messages, DMs, cards, gifts and so much more. They carried me when I needed it. Walking through that experience with my clients completely changed the way I think about my business.
In addition to sharing about yourself, reaching out and offering support is huge to staying connected with your clients. This might look like following up with clients when you hear about:
a new baby, a death in the family, a renovation, a big move, a hospitalized child, a cancer diagnosis and so much more.
I hope you are reading this and realizing that what I am promoting is forming a relationship. A real relationship. Not just one where you are hired to do a job, you do the job, get paid and walk away.
Nope. I am talking about forming friendships. I am telling you to treat your clients like your closest friends. I am talking about opening yourself and in turn, offering yourself to others. Yep, it really is that simple. Communicate. Get personal. Be vulnerable. Reach out when a client is going through stuff. Be a good human. Be a good friend. Mix business with real world relationship. THIS is the key to staying connected.
It is so easy and yet is so often missed.
I really believe that THIS is the difference between a thriving business and a dying business. I believe that this is the difference between a small business and a massive corporation. This is the difference between having a loyal tribe and always searching for customers.
So, what do YOU think? I would love to know your thoughts in the comments. Or if you want to take it a step farther, shoot me an email here.
