CIB: How to make someone fall for you!

(Frans Nel, Marketing Manager for CIB Insurance shares how, by treating their clients more like a budding romance they have managed to make their brokers fall for them.)

By now, you will have been in a relationship with someone you were madly in love with. You will have pursued that relationship from an initial pensive date where you get to find out a little more about that other person and from that, you will both have found enough in common or been interested enough to arrange to see each other again.

How you did that would have been through dialogue and discovery, an exchange of information, that would have let your date know some important details about who you are and what things you like. Some more subtle hints of your persona would be revealed in how you look, the clothes you wear and other peripheral clues would be given in the car you drive or what you do for a living and even the place you chose for that first date.

You would have spent a significant amount of time on making your date feel comfortable. You will have asked what they like, even what they dislike and not by interrogating them but through an easy shared conversation that you would both have played equal roles in. During this first date you would have found common ground by letting your date know of similar likes or dislikes, you may even know someone they know, or have a friend who knows someone who works in their field. Anything that you can find to make your date form a connection with you in some way and feel like you both share something in common. All of this would have lead you both to wanting to get to know the other better – to become more deeply involved.

To improve your relationship and make your client fall for you, you need to look at some of the things you did that made you fall in love with that significant other and them with you in the first place. To become deeply involved with your clients you need to change the way you used to treat them where you simply saw them as a one-way relationship, and move into the era where you make them fall for you.

We need to learn to respect our clients as human beings, listen to their opinions and value them. As in any healthy relationship, you both have power and it is through shared power that the relationship enjoys its strength. The process is not one-sided but rather a joint, collaborative one.

We need to change our perspective by looking at the situation from our client’s point of view. We might be selling insurance, but our relationship is all about security and peace of mind.

We need to stop being selfish about what we do. When last did you send a client that just recently had a claim paid out successfully and timeously, a thank-you note for doing business with you? Even an email with a link to your site where they could send this on to their friends. Other people standing around a braai hearing about that last experience might love to want to chat to you.

We need to think of our clients as “we” rather than as “us and them”. A process of inclusion in sharing your business and understanding theirs makes clients feel a loyalty to dealing with you. Constantly showing interest in your client will make them want to share more with you.

Every client you have, filled out an application form or gave you information about themselves at some point or another. How many times have you used any or all of that information? Your clients would love to get some ideas or interesting articles that reflect their tastes and lifestyles, not to mention being addressed by their name rather than “Dear Valued Client” in their letters. Most clients would happily give you information about themselves, if only they felt it was going to be used and not be asked again. This would be like forgetting your dates’ name after the first few times you saw him/her!

We need to make our clients feel like they belong, like they are loved. By knowing what your client likes and how they want to be communicated with, you show your client that you care about their needs. Simply by sending all your clients that ride motorbikes for example, the latest copy of Bike SA, you have shown that you know their passion and have been thinking about them.

In your relationship with that special someone in your life, you will have at some time presented them with a nice spontaneous surprise. Maybe a bunch of flowers or a secretly arranged weekend away, or it could be something simple like making breakfast on a Saturday morning and serving it in bed. These unexpected acts of kindness are remembered for years to come. In much the same way, try doing something nice for free for your clients. Theatre tickets for two to see “The Lion King” simply sent to their office with a note to, “enjoy!” would let your client know they are loved and thought of.

If you have been in a loving relationship for a while, you will know that it is easy to fall into a rut where you start to forget those special things you used to do, that got you this far to start with! We do that with our clients too and we need to remind ourselves how we made them happy and rejuvenate what we used to do. A client that has been on the books for a few years needs to constantly feel loved, so a personally penned birthday wish, a call on their policy anniversary and even a reminder of something like their car license being due, can make all the difference.

Quality time is a phrase so synonymous with couples today because of our hectic lifestyles. We need to schedule times where we can spend quality time with our clients too. Obvious ones would be on renewals and at claims stage, but any significant event can be utilized to have a quality conversation with your client.

Lastly, true love is a matter of trust and respect. If you want your clients to love you, tell them things the way they really are. For instance, if your client’s claim has being rejected for whatever reason, a straightforward honest approach together with a measure of sympathy, has the ability to let your client know you understand their situation and have tried your best.

So if you want cupid to shoot his golden arrow into the heart of each of your clients, treat them like someone you love and make them feel like they belong and they in turn will love you back.

(Wunderman SA is CIB’s advertising agency and extracts are reproduced with permission from Wunderman South Africa )