{"id":2048,"date":"2023-05-05T00:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T16:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048"},"modified":"2023-05-05T05:35:11","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T21:35:11","slug":"three-essential-reasons-to-meet-your-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048","title":{"rendered":"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a business developer, your primary goal is to create sustainable<\/em> growth for your company. Attracting new customers and retaining existing ones is the primary method of achieving this. Understanding the needs and preferences of your target market is critical. Of course, the best way to gather this information to meet your customer in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting with your customers provides valuable insights into their issues, expectations and the way they operate. Interacting with them face-to-face, gives a deeper understanding of their needs and preferences, as well as the reasons why they choose to do business with you. This information can be used to develop more effective marketing strategies, refine service delivery and improve customer engagement. It also helps you build rapport with your customers, showing them that they are important to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Get started with business development:<\/strong> Grab Your Guide<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Personal connection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Establishing a personal connection with your customers is essential. When customers feel that they are understood and valued, they are more likely to be loyal and supportive of your business. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and higher levels of customer retention. Meaning that your recurring revenue is more secure. Additionally, meeting with your customers allows you to build trust and establish a positive reputation, which is a key factor in attracting new customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine preparing to purchase a service for your business. You have two possible suppliers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Supplier has sent an email detailing their service and pricing<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Supplier has met you, understood your issues and tailored an appropriate response that solves your problem<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The supplier who has taken the time to meet and understand your issue is obviously the front runner here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gaining feedback<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Meeting with your customers also gives you the opportunity to get feedback (both good and bad) on your services. By listening to this feedback, you can identify areas for improvement and if required, adapt your business. This leads to increased customer satisfaction and a stronger, more resilient business that evolves with the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Feedback also let’s you know where your company is performing well. Sharing this with the wider team is good for morale. It also let’s you know which parts of your business your customers value most. There might also be opportunity to double down on these areas of strength.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"\"
    Getting feedback when you meet your customer is critical<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Relationships and trust<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Finally, committing to meet your customers is an excellent way to build relationships with the people who matter most to your business. When you take the time to understand their needs and priorities, you can develop meaningful connections that will benefit you both. This fosters trust, establishing a loyal customer base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The importance of trust cannot be underestimated. If a customer trusts you to solve their problems they will seek you out. Securing a place as trusted advisor for your customers is an enviable position to be in. Really this should be one of your business development goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    For a business developer, meeting with your customers is a critical step in building and growing your business. By understanding their needs and preferences, you can improve customer engagement, establish a personal connection, get meaningful feedback and establish professional trust. By making a concerted effort to meet with your customers, you can build strong, long-lasting relationships that will help you achieve sustainable long-term growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Starting with your existing customers is a simple way to start. They already know you and are more likely to meet. Use this as a way to take the first step before committing to meeting new people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For more advice on customer meetings check out my blog post on how to host effective customer meetings<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So what are you waiting for? Contact your customers, get out and get meeting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    N<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you want a proactive approach to upskill your work winning check out my flagship course Business Development Academy<\/em>. Set over 4 modules and 10 videos this course leads you through the business development process step by step. Giving you the skills, system and processes to be more purposeful in the market place. To learn more click the button below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    Business Development Academy<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Meet your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Are looking to begin your Business Development journey but are not quite sure where to start? Download my quick start guide to business development. This gives a series of simple activities to quickly set you on the right path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

    For a definition of business development you can check out my take in this post here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you are getting value out of my weekly free content I’d ask that you consider buying my new book. It’s a simple yet comprehensive framework to base your business development activity around and full of practical application to get you started now. It is available to order on Amazon<\/a> now.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Order your copy now!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As a business developer, your primary goal is to create sustainable growth for your company. Attracting new customers and retaining … <\/p>\n

    MORE +<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49,3,67,51,24],"class_list":["post-2048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-action-phase","tag-business-development","tag-customer-meetings","tag-customer-relationships","tag-customers","featured-image-below","featured-image-size-"],"yoast_head":"\nThree Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the best ways to build rapport and foster trust is to meet your customers. In this post I explore three reasons why!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the best ways to build rapport and foster trust is to meet your customers. In this post I explore three reasons why!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tom Watkin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-04T16:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-04T21:35:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomwatkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"417\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7e1c58bd748e7906ab3c3f7258d6b9a\"},\"headline\":\"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-04T16:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-04T21:35:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048\"},\"wordCount\":812,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Action Phase\",\"Business Development\",\"Customer Meetings\",\"Customer Relationships\",\"Customers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048\",\"name\":\"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-04T16:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-04T21:35:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7e1c58bd748e7906ab3c3f7258d6b9a\"},\"description\":\"One of the best ways to build rapport and foster trust is to meet your customers. In this post I explore three reasons why!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1\",\"width\":627,\"height\":417},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?p=2048#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tom Watkin\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7e1c58bd748e7906ab3c3f7258d6b9a\",\"name\":\"Tom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c22fcff7c29a8e6f407f211b77652405c1cd5f1179f50500b3f5c470df8e0fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c22fcff7c29a8e6f407f211b77652405c1cd5f1179f50500b3f5c470df8e0fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c22fcff7c29a8e6f407f211b77652405c1cd5f1179f50500b3f5c470df8e0fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tom\"},\"description\":\"Tom is an author and business development leader with a passion to help professionals be more purposeful in their BD efforts.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/tomwatkin\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tomwatkin.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers","description":"One of the best ways to build rapport and foster trust is to meet your customers. In this post I explore three reasons why!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers","og_description":"One of the best ways to build rapport and foster trust is to meet your customers. In this post I explore three reasons why!","og_url":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048","og_site_name":"Tom Watkin","article_published_time":"2023-05-04T16:47:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-04T21:35:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":627,"height":417,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomwatkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048"},"author":{"name":"Tom","@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a7e1c58bd748e7906ab3c3f7258d6b9a"},"headline":"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers","datePublished":"2023-05-04T16:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-04T21:35:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048"},"wordCount":812,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomwatkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1","keywords":["Action Phase","Business Development","Customer Meetings","Customer Relationships","Customers"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048","url":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048","name":"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomwatkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1","datePublished":"2023-05-04T16:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-04T21:35:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a7e1c58bd748e7906ab3c3f7258d6b9a"},"description":"One of the best ways to build rapport and foster trust is to meet your customers. In this post I explore three reasons why!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomwatkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomwatkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1","width":627,"height":417},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?p=2048#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Three Essential Reasons to Meet Your Customers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/","name":"Tom Watkin","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a7e1c58bd748e7906ab3c3f7258d6b9a","name":"Tom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c22fcff7c29a8e6f407f211b77652405c1cd5f1179f50500b3f5c470df8e0fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c22fcff7c29a8e6f407f211b77652405c1cd5f1179f50500b3f5c470df8e0fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c22fcff7c29a8e6f407f211b77652405c1cd5f1179f50500b3f5c470df8e0fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tom"},"description":"Tom is an author and business development leader with a passion to help professionals be more purposeful in their BD efforts.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tomwatkin\/"],"url":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomwatkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/maranda-vandergriff-7aakZdIl4vg-unsplash.jpg?fit=627%2C417&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2048"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4287,"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048\/revisions\/4287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwatkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}