Panhandler Tip # 1

Do something that gets the potential client to notice you.

• Give something out to someone deserving. Provide a free download on your web site that tells about your business and its abilities to enhance your potential customer’s life.
• Be willing to trade or barter knowledge or skills that have value. Offering to provide a service for others willing to return in-kind that benefit provides an opportunity to build a relationship.
• Be gracious and accept willingly all gifts. Acceptance and gratitude are qualities of caring individuals that see the potential for mutual benefits in collaboration.
• Show that you have quality and will be there to support their growth. Being consistent in your actions and continue to present your skills beyond the customer’s expectations speaks volumes for longevity of service.
• Illustrate your sincerity. Always do the right thing or better yet do more than you are expected to do by looking for methods to increase those around you in whatever manner.

Relations with Your Public

Relations with your Public

Knowing who your public is just may be the most important piece of information you can have. Your public is not your customers, target market, or neighbors. Although, they could be; how does a service business identify them? Great question!

Your public is the people that influence how you do business, how other people hear about your business, and even shape your public’s view of your business. The public voice of your company can be externally provided for you or you can feed them your information through your actions.

Your public is the media resources that occur every day of the week. They are constantly researching the internet, emailing remote sources, and listening to audio files they receive. So, with that in mind, where is your voice? It is in the email someone received from a customer? Is it in a customer’s employee newsletter? It is in the phone message your customer sent to a friend. Are these in your favor or against you? It matters because they will be replicated through our modern media systems and become a viral public voice. All is not lost just because you have no control over these systems.

Your company has a choice for how they build relationships with their public. Install company policies and procedures about how to treat customers at all levels of the company. Focus on those employees that have direct contact, but through any other communications mode. No, you cannot please everyone, but you can conduct your business relationships with both integrity and respect. How your relations with customers rate will also influence how your public rates you.