Music. Hey everyone welcome back to retail for the rest of us I am your host Janine Malone. And today I will be your tour guide through the relationship cycle we are going to go on a journey together and it is going to be so good so grab your cute little khaki Safari outfit and hop in the golf cart with me. Really odd one already today if you're new to the podcast welcome I'm not always like this except I absolutely am we are doing a community mini-series right now and this is episode 3 out of 4 so if you're interested in hearing more about why Community even matters in retail why we focus so much on it at feel good retail my company and also just get an overview of the relationship cycle which will be diving into today, I would go back and listen to episode one and two. However I'm going to try to be as clear as possible and you know stay here go back either way I'll be here on the podcast platform of your choosing today we are going to dive deeper into the four phases that we touched on in the last episode of the relationship cycle which is what allows us to build community inside of our business because we don't want to come on too strong. We want to just invite people on this journey with us we don't want to force people we don't want to spam people and that is a delicate dance so we're going to we're going to do a little Tango today. If you are loving this series and you have not yet downloaded our building Community dashboard, what the hell are you doing JK but seriously this resource is a companion to this podcast series and it includes. Reflection questions details like we'll talk about today of the relationship cycle, a checklist of the things you need to get started building a relationship Teamwork Makes the Dream Work playlist it's really fun and it's a great way to get your wheels turning about community building and start to visualize not only what your dream Community looks like and how that could support your business but also tactically what it will take to, begin that process really intentionally and thoughtfully so you can grab that dashboard at feel good retail.com Besties Bes t.i. as it's totally free it existed notion which is an awesome platform and there's a lot in there so. Definitely jump on and grab that if you are interested in having something to work alongside my voice so to reiterate, we talked last week about the steps it takes to take someone from a casual connection to a rider die Community member and those four phases are connection. Customer client and community. So I want to take today's episode to dive in a little bit deeper into each phase in the opportunities that are available to you and the messages that you can utilize at each stage, to sort of invite people and talk to that segment of your customers even if it's just Instagram post even if it's just parts of certain emails. I think it's really critical to be considering people at all four of these phases. When you're creating content around your brand at the time of recording there is an amazing sound going around on reels that I'm going to just try to get word for word but I'm sure I'm wrong and it's basically like hello I'm a small business owner which means unfortunately I'm also a content creator and I just think that's like hilarious and perfect thank you to jewels of Salem style for dming me the sound because it was too funny I had saved it and we just had a good laugh about how. It's the truth right if you're a retailer for selling products and means you're also creating a lot of content and I think. Understanding the relationship cycle is really really important to make sure that your content is speaking to your actual audience and the people you want to get to know a little bit better right. So let's Dive In we're starting where we start. Step 1 connections so your connections are members of your direct audience who have yet to make a purchase. They clearly have seen something that they like but they really haven't made the first move so when I say direct audience I want to be really clear your connections are not necessarily. Your. Audience members so when I say audience I mean people who are following you on Instagram following you on Tick Tock repin your work repost your stuff like. That's awesome we love our followers we love getting in front of new eyeballs it's really important for small businesses but that is more at the awareness stage of just like. Ethereal 'its they understand that your brand does in fact exist and so when I talk about Connections I mean people who have made a move to hear more from you and to be in direct contact. We'll pop a link to a blog post in the show notes all about indirect versus direct audiences and what that means so you can understand a little bit better about Connections and who they are but really these are the people who maybe they went to your website and you have a little pop-up that says you get ten percent off your first purchase or you get this cool gift with purchase or you get free shipping they enter their email address but they never use the code. So how can we connect with them the impact that you're making at this stage is really about your first impression and you know what they say about first impressions. Yeah only get to make one so it's really important at this first phase that you're giving people a really strong brand introduction they are telling them. What they want to know or what you want them to know. Connections don't have a ton of time to give new brands because they aren't bought in yet right at this point they're just a consumer and there's nothing wrong with that but I think it's important to keep it really short really sweet and essentially give them your elevator pitch what are the things that you want them to know off the bat, what are your best sellers who are you and why should they care right so that's your opportunity is making that amazing first impression. Because if you can do that you're converting them into a customer your customers are more casual so they've stopped once or twice but they haven't fully gotten in the pool yet we could say. This is the time to differentiate your shop and get a little bit more personal because odds are, they're shopping a lot of different places we all are and we don't want anyone to feel ghosted after they swipe their card we actually want to offer more and show that we are in it for the long haul and that we have a mission or a vision or a perspective behind our brand so the impact that you're making is that you're creating depth right. You're taking it from a transaction to a relationship by engaging them after the purchase when odds are you don't have a ton to gain. So this is an opportunity to show that you're just interested in them you want to learn more you want to know about where they're shopping you want to tell them more about yourself right there's been a little bit of a crack in the door and you want to open it even further. So this is the time that you can add some context once you've received that first sale you want to add the what the why the how and the, give your customers a better sense of your Brand's point of view, this is the opportunity for something like an awesome newsletter that's regular going out to your customers that isn't a sales email, but is a love letter from you to your customer letting them know what's going on a little bit more of a personal take than maybe we're sharing on Instagram asking questions things like that where you're really again creating. An ecosystem around the brand so that they understand who you are as a business as opposed to the singular product or products that they purchased. That's how you get people to become clients and those are the people, those clients the names you recognize they walk in you know their name you asked about their dog you know where they live you you know they ask you questions about yourself right they feel like friends. And they're your regular reliable Shoppers and they go out of their way to support your shop. Their enthusiasm for what you do should be matched with your enthusiasm for them. This is the time that you want to make them feel really seen and really heard. Basically the door is opening to co-creation with your customers when they become clients calling in your clients. Helps build loyalty right your sort of evening the playing field in a way I mean there's not really a hierarchy between business owner and customer you know unless someone's like can I speak to your manager and your like I am the manager that feels good but but I think when you think about like relationships when we think about typical retail relationships we think about like customers are the ones who give money for product right and the product purveyor the maker the curator the creative director however you call yourself, is the one who is making the final call about the kind of product that that consumer should be interested in. But when you get to this client phase you trust them they trust you there's like a little tin attack there's a give-and-take to the relationship and so there's a lot of opportunity here to provide personalization so when a customer becomes a client it's important to show them that you really understand them as an individual. And you get it so. They should feel that personalization whether it's like shooting them a quick note being like hey we just got this product in we know you love this line or asking their opinions, asking for their feedback because they are someone who understands your brand on a deeper level I think getting reviews on individual products is great but here I'm talking more about like what kinds of Brands they're interested in what podcast they listen to how they find out about new businesses your clients are a wealth of knowledge. Your clients are a well of knowledge for you that you can tap into to better suit and attract. More people like them right and so those conversations are not just. Conversations anymore they become a part of your business and that is a really beautiful space to be in where, someone who started as just a shopper is actually assisting you and coming in and recommending. Ways that you can improve not in a way that's like you know patriarchal or paternalistic but. They genuinely care and they get your brand right they're out there they're coming to your brand with fresh eyes and that's really critical lastly we have our community members. Our ride-or-dies and honestly not every client is going to become a Community member and that's perfectly fine. Your community is pure gold in terms of retention. Impact and even acquisition your community members along with your clients can be the most incredible, brand ambassadors for you just out in the streets and their regular life their gifting your product they're bringing their friends who are visiting to town they are. You know. Sharing about their sharing about your products or their experience with your products on their social media and that is. Truly Priceless so when you think about community members. This is the time that they should be treated like the VIPs that they are your community members will feel, and honestly take pride in a sense of this shared ownership of your business this kind of love can't be bought. And so at this point it's really important that your community members are being valued for their expertise as well as just. Engaging and spending money with your brand it's important to highlight the trust that you have in them and so I always like to think about. How there's a lot of offers out there for like first-time customers like I said at the beginning free shipping 10% off gift with purchase whatever but what about the people who are like actively supporting your business all of the time how can we reward them just as a thank you, I think that that can be a really powerful tool and. It's very scarcity mindset to think will they would spend the money anyways because it's not about incentivizing them to spend money it's about thanking them for being there for being a huge supporter for offering their opinions when asked for sharing your business and loving your business and that is really critical to me and something I don't see too too often but when it's done well it is done really really well. So hopefully those insights those messages those opportunities gave you a sense of how this. Journey kind of plays out both on an individual level and on a brand level you can maybe start to see like okay maybe there's a customer that came to mind and you're thinking about the first time they came in and now where they're at with your business now or maybe you're thinking like actually we have a ton of people who are community members or our clients and I should send them some kind of feedback form there is a lot that you can that I'm sure is bubbling up. And a great place to put all of that is inside our building Community dashboard which you can get for free at feel good retail.com Besties. This is the companion resource to this mini-series and is going to help you get the wheels turning around building Community inside of your business. Next week we're going to dive even deeper on some of the program's automations and systems you can create within your business so that these things are happening on autopilot or at least booked into your marketing calendar so that you're not forgetting. We don't want to leave community building up to chance so we'll dive more into those tools and systems next week. Until then cheers to feeling good. Retail for the rest of us is a podcast by feel-good retail if you'd like to learn more about how we can help you scale and grow your shop in a way that. You can visit us at feel good retail.com the show is produced by softer Sound Studio and if you'd like to support our independently run woman powered podcast, you can leave us a 5-star review take a screenshot share it to social media tell your shop BFFs or join our retail resource Library a communal space for Indie retailers to access resources and tools that will support their shop. For just five dollars a month you can not only support the show but get access to an archive of our most popular resources and exclusive seasonal content we'd love to see you in there in the meantime thanks for listening cheers to feeling good.