The Women’s Business Club is on a mission to empower women to succeed in business. Women grow and thrive in our club and more often than not we see miraculous growth in their business but also in their confidence. The secret to our success is one very simple thing, relationships. We do not encourage hard selling but we do encourage the women to take time to get to know each other. The results have been phenomenal!
We have seen and proven that relationships build sustainable businesses
So why are relationships so powerful? I believe and have seen evidence to my beliefs that relationships offer the following benefits that good old fashioned hard selling or cold calling lack:
1) Loyalty
If you are using any of the hard sales methods you might win a sale but you are unlikely to win the person. As soon as you lean in for the kill people tend to back off. It might have worked in times past but people are so accustomed to this method now that it is mostly off-putting. Taking time to develop a relationship means that you win the person and once you have won the person you have won a lifetime of sales.
People buy from people. If they like you they are more likely to buy from you. It’s not rocket science it’s just human nature. At Women’s Business Club we have worked very hard at crafting our culture around this one secret. We have seen over and over again that the women who come to our clubs simply to sell seldom make sales, give up and don’t return. But those who come and connect with the other women and get to know them are thriving because of the loyalty and support of the other members. I am certain that our Women’s Business Club ladies will do most of their Christmas shopping from other club members this year because they get so much more delight from supporting each other’s businesses than they would ever get from buying from a large chain. Also, because I am encouraging them to do so! You could not get these kinds of sales from hard selling or cold calling, this is the result of the loyalty that is formed through relationships.
We live in such a fast-paced, instant messaging, short sentence (140 characters of less), online, instant microwave society that too many have stopped taking the time to cultivate quality relationships – especially in business. Are we taking the time to understand people? Are we matching needs to solutions or are we trying to shove our business down their throat whether they need it or not? In my passion and enthusiasm for what I do I have been guilty of doing just that. I have assumed that every businesswoman I meet needs every single service I offer. After making quite a few mistakes I quickly realised that not everyone needs me and my insistence that they did was very off-putting for them. I cringe when I think of some of the things I have said and done to make a sale when I first started!
– I have been guilty of overpromising just to make a sale and then not being able to deliver. I have since learnt to under promise and over deliver so that my clients are super impressed that I exceeded their expectations.
– I have been guilty of undercharging or doing favours and freebies just to make a sale. I have since learned that people value what they have to pay for and I was selling myself short in my desperation to sell. Now our prices are set because we are worth every penny.
– I have been guilty of focusing on the sale and not the person which meant I didn’t treat people in the way I should have. I have since learned that if you treat people right and value them then the sales will come at the right time and in the right way. And they will keep coming over and over again because people do need to feel respected.
2) Collaboration
Relationships in business either B2B or B2C can lead to exciting ideas, partnerships, collaboration and synergy. Two are better than one. There is no business owner that is skilled in every area of business. We all have strengths and weaknesses. We all have fear and insecurities. We are all part of a great big business jigsaw puzzle. It’s obvious that if you are willing to find your fit and be a part of the big picture that you will do very well. At the Women’s Business Club we have seen some amazing results in this area. Several women have partnered together because they realised that their success was limited on their own and that their chances were far great if they worked with other women. Businesses are growing and thriving as a result of these sorts of relationships.
3) Referrals
Referrals are when other people use their time and effort to help you build your business. Why would someone bother to do that? They might do it if the product or service was particularly great but then they might simply point someone to the product or service instead of directly to your business that offers the product or service. Relationships encourage referrals. Word of mouth is so powerful, especially in our social media age. If used wisely, social media can grow any business as people talk about what they love and hate on social media.
So what do we do at Women’s Business Club? We support women in their businesses and in case you haven’t already realised, our top priority is building relationships. We support women through one on one mentoring, through network events and through our business growth workshops. It’s not rocket science, we haven’t invented anything new, we simply offer great business training and facilitate relationships. That’s it. I hope that our little story has inspired you in some way and if there is anything that I can do to support you in your business please get in touch with one of our team.