Building Alliances Between Your Customers that Bring You Business

Good business is all about building relationships. You want to KNOW the people you’re doing business with. You want to know that they’re knowledgeable and dependable. You want to know they’re the right supplier for your business or a good customer who pays their bills. Your business is counting on it.

Building those relationships involves entertaining or “getting to know you” time. Most companies will entertain a potential customer to land the account. Some take it a step further and regularly entertain their best customers to maintain that good relationship.

And then there are some companies that really know how to build profitable alliances …

Networking Your Customers Together

One of the best things you can do for your customers is bring them new business because the more they’re selling, the more they’re buying. From you. Your businesses both grow together.

The easiest way for you to help them get more business is to introduce them to your other customers.

By putting on a customer appreciation event and entertaining a group of your customers together, you’re creating a networking event where your customers can make deals with each other. Their businesses flourish and grow as a result, and the amount of business they have to give you goes up.

The best part; you’re right there to work with them and supply whatever they need to make their new deal happen.

Good Networking Events

A simple networking event might involve bringing a few key customers together where you see potential for them to work together. A bigger event that brings most of your customers together in one spot offers a lot more potential because it offers each of them more opportunity to strike a deal that fits their business.

Here are a few key points to staging a networking event:

1. Make it a schmoozing event. Save the game tickets for one-on-one customer appreciation. You want your customers to interact with each other rather than be a captive audience at a sporting event. Good events include golf tournaments, fishing trips, barbecues or dinner parties; give your customers a venue where they can mingle and get to know each other.
2. Introduce opportunities. The last thing you want to do is jump into the middle and try to run your customer’s business for them. Don’t push your deal ideas on them. Introduce opportunities by making sure that you introduce as many people to each other as you can. Be the host. Introduce them and introduce their strengths to get the conversation rolling.
3. Create a memorable event. A networking event is a great place to strengthen your branding. A great annual event is a great way to build a sense of membership. They give your customers something to look forward to and make them happy about being your customers and getting that invite. Think customer appreciation. If none of your customers strike a deal that brings you more business, you’ve still strengthened your relationship with each one of them.

Appreciating your customers is good for business.

Letting them appreciate each other is really good for business.