Want To Get Married on the First Date? Neither Do Your Clients

Have you heard of “Married at First Sight”?

It’s a TV show where couples meet for the first time on their wedding day. Can you imagine? Personally, the idea horrifies me!

My husband and I have been married for 22 years and I love him very much. But I can tell you right now, that it took a lot of wooing, dating and time spent together before I built up the trust to properly let him in and commit to a lifetime together.

Your clients feel the same way.

That may sound extreme, and you are not asking anyone to commit for life, but asking people to buy from you is a big commitment. Chances are that a stranger won’t buy from you on the back of a Facebook ad, a Live or a Webinar if they’ve never heard of you before. That’s why building the Know, Like Trust factor is critical to attracting engaged fans that buy.

You may have heard this term before, or maybe not, but it is the key ingredient in converting followers into customers.

So what is the Know, Like, Trust factor, and how do you create it?

Quite simply, it’s all about creating relationships. Just like going from first date to marriage, it’s about transitioning someone from not knowing who on earth you are to wanting to engage, interact and buy from you. As you can imagine, this process takes time. But if you’re patient and invest in helping your customers get to know who you are, you will have a loyal following that keeps coming back.

Getting to Know You

The Know step begins with building awareness and getting visible. At this point, you want to help your potential customers know who you are and why you exist. You need to get out there. Some ideas include:

• Posting on social media
• Doing lives (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn – wherever your people hang out)
• Writing blogs
• Sharing videos
• Publishing on sites like Medium or Quora
• Guesting on other people’s podcasts or blogs

 The key here is consistency. If people see you showing up a lot, talking about things that resonate with them, they’re going to start wondering who you are. They’re going to get interested and start checking you out. 

Do You Like Me?

You may get to know someone a bit on the first date, but you won’t start going out with them if you don’t like them, right? So how do you get your audience to like you?

1. People are nosy. In this era of reality shows and instant gratification, consumers are savvy and they like people that they relate to. That means that you need to let them in and get to know a bit about you. I don’t mean that you have to air all your dirty laundry in front of them. But sharing little unique insights (like how you take your coffee or your favourite playlist) can take you beyond being just another business to being a real person. Pictures of family and pets are always a winner here!

2. Be yourself. You can’t please all the people, but if you show up showcasing your values and beliefs, you will attract your Will you alienate others? Probably. But that’s a good thing. Those are people who aren’t your ideal customers. They would never buy from you and even if they did, you wouldn’t enjoy working with them. By being yourself, you will stand out from your competitors because only you can do you. Even if you’re selling something that lots of other people offer, only you offer it in your way. Let people know your style, values and beliefs and the right ones will want to know more.

The Trust Factor

Now they know you and like you, but can they trust you? This is where the relationship building happens. Now you’re dating. The best way to do this by far is by getting your potential customers on your email list and providing consistent, high value content. Listen, having a legion of blog readers, Insta followers or LinkedIn connections is truly awesome, but never underestimate the importance of getting your peeps on your mailing list.

Easier said than done? Your best bet for getting people on your list is to create a very cool, extremely valuable “ethical bribe” (also known as an opt-in offer or lead magnet) in exchange for their email. A lead magnet can be a video, a checklist, a workbook, an eBook, etc. Most importantly, it’s some sort of free value-driven product that you are giving them in exchange for their email. Once they’re on your list, you get to consistently share strategy, ideas, inspiration and motivation. You get to nurture them and demonstrate that you are an expert in your field.

Eventually, you will promote to them and make offers, but not right away. You don’t ask someone to get married on the second date, right? Once they see your content regularly, they're going to say, "Oh, this is really useful and valuable. If this is what I get for free, I wonder what the paid stuff is like?”

The Result? Lifelong Customers That Buy

When you invest the time and resources to implement a Know Like Trust strategy with your business, the result is almost guaranteed: lifelong customers that will continue to purchase from your brand for years to come. Since the consumer is buying from you because they believe in you rather than what you sell, they’ll stick with you through thick and thin.

However, once you've won someone over, it doesn't mean that it will be smooth sailing forever. After 22 years of marriage, I can tell you that there has been a lot of compromise and patience to make it work. In your business as in life, you need to keep working on these relationships too.  You don’t want to reach the coveted trust stage and then click cruise control. People will leave if they feel you don’t care. The more you invest in ensuring that your customers know, like, and trust you, the more you will build an unbreakable foundation that keeps customers coming back again and again.

Where you are on the know, like and trust journey? Let me know in the comments below one action step you can take today to move you forward in building those awesome relationships!

Committed to your success,

Marina x