We are facing the worst financial crisis in our history right?

New business is harder than ever to source…

Banks are not lending money!

So how do you grow your business?

Well, you may be surprised to learn that there are ONLY 3 ways to grow your business anyway;

1. Get more customers,
2. Increase the number of times they buy, or
3. Sell more…

Mmm, when you look at it like that, 1 and 2 don’t look real viable right now, but strategy 3 SELL MORE (especially to existing customers) just might work?

I believe that if you have great relationships with your existing customers, and you can communicate clearly what it is you do for them, and how you are valuable to them (i.e. your personal brand) then you will have a much better chance of selling more to them!

(This article over at the SEM Clubhouse blog also reminded me of the importance of relationships and community)

So, how is your relationship with your existing customers (or your relationships in general?) do they;

• Know what you stand for,
• Know what you love and enjoy,
• Know how you help them create value,
• Refer you to other customers because you are ‘available’,
• Talk about you to other people over dinner beacuse you are likeable?

In other words, are you POPULAR amongst your existing customers?

If not, then you may have some difficulty achieving strategy 3…so how do you start to develop deeper relationships with your existing customers using your personal brand (if it not too late?) - well you will have to drop back here, or subscribe to our RSS feed, as I write several articles on tactics to;

• Turn strangers to prospects
• Prospects to clients, and
• Clients to raving fans…

Using your Personal Brand!

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When was the last time you disagreed with something and actually spoke up and voiced your concerns?

With the comfort of 20/20 hindsight; it may be easy to say…”I knew this financial crisis would happen; those greedy buggers on Wall Street had this coming”

Well, a couple of weeks ago I made contact with someone who actually did voice their concerns with “Financial Malaise” in May 2008…and not surprisingly, they were howled down.  Now this very same person is being asked to comment on the crisis that has since erupted!

Bruce Robinson of Winterbourne wrote this article on the 26th May this year “the financial malaise is spreading”

The message here is that never be afraid to voice or publish your concerns.  People may not always want to hear what you have to say, but it is still important that you say it!  For those of us who sat back and said nothing, nor took any action to address the impending disaster, then we have no reason to complain.

If any of us could have chosen to not accept the extra credit offered by the bank on our credit card, or said no to the no deposit home loan to buy that next investment property - then we should have.

Remember your principles and integrity are a very significant element of your personal brand…and this means if you disagree with policy, decisions or someone’s actions - speak up and make your case…you will be respected more in the long run!

Are there any examples where you wished you had spoken up or disagreed and did not.  Or, are there examples where you have spoken up and things worked out better as a result?

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