R: Relationships, Revival, Restoration, and Responses
Business is all about relationships. One great way to build those relationships is to pick up the phone and call your clients. Talk to them. Ask them how they’re doing and tell them how you can assist them in solving a problem that they’re currently experiencing in business.Letters are great, too. People like getting letters that are written to them personally. I’m not talking about form letters. I’m talking about letters that show you care. Those letters should mention specific things that you remember about your client.
In this day and age of e-mail and social networks, letter writing is practically a lost art. But you should revive the art of letter writing and use personal letters to build and deepen your business relationships.
When was the last time you received a heartfelt letter that was personally signed by someone? It’s probably been a long time. But, when you opened the envelope and read the message, didn’t the letter restore your faith and enhance your belief in that person or business?
When someone takes the time to send me a handwritten letter, it restores my faith in humanity. If the letter is from a business, it restores my faith in business. That’s important because we live in an era when frauds and scams are ruining people’s lives.
Nowadays, there’s an abundance of unethical businessmen. Bernie Madoff is a prime example. He ran a hedge fund that turned out to be a giant Ponzi scheme. He fleeced investors of their hard-earned money. Due to people like Madoff, you must put in extra effort to show that you have integrity. You must restore the faith of potential clients by building business relationships on a consistent, daily basis.
The act of restoring faith can also be physical. For example, you can update your office to change the experience your customers have when they arrive. Paint the walls if the paint is fading or chipping. Replace broken-down, dirty furniture. Make your place of business look fresh and inviting. That will make a great impression on people.
When my wife, Christie, and I invested in real estate in North Carolina and Florida, we invested money in restoration. We knew that in order to rent the properties to tenants, everything had to be clean,
organized, and inviting. So, we installed upgrades such as high-end carpeting, ceiling fans, drapes, and other things that make a house into a home. We also repainted the walls with high-quality paint so that scuff marks could easily be removed.
As a result of our diligent restoration efforts, we’ve been able to successfully rent our properties. People love the interiors. Everything looks brand new. So, people have responded by renting from us. You can get the same positive response from clients by reviving the time-tested aspects of customer service
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My grandfather, Papa D, taught me the most important principles of customer service
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He ran the family art gallery business, and he told me: “You never ever let a woman, a mother, a wife carry a piece of art out of the gallery. You have her pull her car up in front, and you open the car door and you put the art in the car.”
Now, that’s extreme customer service !
In September 2001, John Di Lemme founded Di Lemme Development Group, Inc., a company known worldwide for its role in expanding the personal development industry. As President and CEO, John strives for excellence in every area of his business and believes that you must surround yourself with a like-minded team in order to stay on top of your game.
In addition to building a successful company, John has changed lives around the globe as an international motivational speaker that has spoken in over five hundred venues. Over the past thirteen years, he has shared the stage with the best of the best including Rich Devos, Denis Waitley, Jim Rohn, and Les Brown only to name a few. This is truly an amazing feat for someone that was clinically diagnosed as a stutterer at a very young age and told that he would never speak fluently.
John truly believes that everyone needs personal development to reach their full potential in life, and his determination to reach all forms of media with his motivational messages has catapulted his career. John has produced over four hundred fifty products and is an accomplished author of thirteen books including his best-selling book, “47 Secrets of Extreme Customer Service.” As a Strategic Business Coach and Small Business Expert, John’s students include doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, consultants, CEOs of million dollar companies, and various other occupations that are thriving in a so-called poor economy. John’s success with his students has made him one of the most highly sought after business coaches in the world.
John’s passion is to teach others how to live a champion life despite the label that society has placed on them. Through his books, audio/video materials, sold-out live seminars, numerous television interviews, intensive training boot camps, weekly tele-classes, Strategic Business Coaching, Closing & Marketing University, Millionaire Affirmation Academy, Small Business Motivational Marketing Daily Tip, and Lifestyle Freedom Club memberships, John has made success a reality for thousands worldwide.