Do you play golf?   I don't, its appeal is lost on me.

I could perhaps learn to like it but I see no reason at this point to cultivate a new, expensive habit that would likely only serve to annoy my wife.   I've got enough old habits that do the job just fine.

Where does golf fit in?   Somebody recently sent me an email where golfers are on a driving range – where there is a net a couple of hundred metres long and fifty metres high – and on the other side of the net is the parking lot.   Can you sense there's something bad about to happen?

A ball travelled 150 metres, went through a small hole, and smashed a car windscreen.   I'm willing to bet that the best golfer (I have no idea who that could be) couldn't have made that shot even one in a hundred tries.   (I also don't know why there is film of someone achieving it by luck?   Would you film every player hoping one would get lucky?)

Here's the point of this.   What if we had a thousand golfers, a thousand cars, and a thousand holes in the net?   I would expect a lot more hits because the chances go up so much more.   (Even if I could calculate the Probability that's half an hour of my life I'll never get back).

At its best, this is how relationship marketing works.   In other words, it's not about closing the perfect client with the perfect offer on the perfect day.   That would be great if you could do it all the time.   I doubt there are few who can.

Relationship marketing is like having the 1,000 golfers working on your behalf.   It's a numbers game and the more numbers working in your favour, the more likely it is that somebody, somewhere, is likely to send a prospect your way.

What matters therefore is keeping in touch with enough people, regularly and repeatedly, and in a way that helps them understand what you do.

That means …….

1) Keep all your contacts in one place, accessible, accurate, informative .   If you don't know who you know how do you know if you're keeping in touch?

2) Simplify your explanation of what you do .   Not a lengthy elevator statement, but a brief, simple label that the world can quickly grasp.   ("I get the best tax result for people in business").

3) Work at it every day .   Building a relationship is like exercise; it's easy and fun (although not at the gym I go to, but they say it will be eventually).   Long periods of inactivity limit results and can cause a lot of pain.

4) Here's the bottom line.   You can build your business sequentially and all by yourself, targeting people and companies that seem like desirable prospects and going after them in some way.   Or, you can focus on expanding and maintaining your relationships.    Do that well enough and often enough and before you know it, all kinds of people will start hitting the ball for you through the net.

Test Questions:

1. Do you play golf?   (For extra points …….. why?)

2. Have you ever had a perfect day at work?

3. How do you stay in touch with your relationships?