Calling All Rockers!
In my next post, I will get deeper into what I mean by a Unique Business Relationship (UBR), an integral part of Crux Rainmaking. But suffice to say that it involves building truly unique relationships with our potential and existing clients, customers, or donors, as the case may be, and our referral sources. In this post I’d like jump ahead a bit and give you one practical way to help build UBRs.
Everyone has something that represents a significant interest in their lives. Some people are into fine wine, a particular sport, or any number of other “interests.” One way of growing a UBR is to identify a special interest of a person and add value to that individual’s life based, in large part, on such interest.
Something that tends to capture the interest of a lot of people is music. I, for one, am deeply moved by great music. Given my experience as a semi-professional drummer for many years, my taste in music is fairly diverse. Some people may be more limited in their musical taste. In any event, music is typically something that just about everyone enjoys. Most people have a certain style of music or musical artist they particularly enjoy. Don’t ignore the potential power of a person’s interest in music to develop your relationship with that person.
For example, if your prospect or existing client, customer, or donor loves rock music, why not make it a point to stay familiar with new rock artists and new rock releases that hit the market? It’s rather easy to do. Pay attention to new artists you hear on the radio and take a look at some of the rock music magazines periodically. Once you have a new artist or new release you think your contact would be interested in, send her an email or call her, saying something to the effect of, “I recently heard these guys, and thought you might be interested!” No need to get wordy here. Better yet, pick up the new CD (or order it online), and have it shipped directly to your contact’s office, with a nice note. Your contact will be very appreciative, and you will have deepened your relationship greatly, putting you further on the path toward building a UBR with that person.
It just so happens that I have a recommendation for you. Feel free to pass this on to any of your contacts who like rock music. Very rarely do I have recommendations for new bands because I hear so much new music and few new bands capture my interest. But once in a while, I come across something that moves me and reminds me how good it is to be alive. So, here it is: The Damned Things. This is a brand new band (supergroup, actually) formed by members of Fall Out Boy, Anthrax, and Every Time I Die. I first heard these guys on Octane (a Sirius radio station), and fell in love with their music. I immediately went out and bought their debut record, Ironiclast. If you like original rock music that has a no-nonsense vibe, with a bit of an edge (but not too heavy), I would highly recommend this new group to you. Check them out at http://www.TheDamnedThings.com. If you do, and love these guys, let me know!
If you have any contacts who are rockers, use this as an opportunity to reach out to them and add some value to their lives. Recommend The Damned Things to them. An email or call costs nothing, and the CD not much more than that. Your contacts will be appreciative and the fact that you remembered their interest in rock music will further endear you to them.
Periodically, I would like to make recommendations to you that may lend themselves to further communication by you to your network of contacts. Based on the amount of business development I engage in on a regular basis, I come across great recommendations all the time that could be highly useful to you in your business development efforts, especially as you endeavor to establish and grow UBRs with your clients, customers, or donors!
J.B.
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