RAPPORT IS POWER

Treat the other person as you would like to be treated – that’s the fundamental base for marketing.  If we treat others as we would like them to treat us, then engagement will follow.

It is not enough anymore just to advertise your product.  You’re not so much advertising your product, as YOUR inner soul.

We are bombarded every day with messages from various companies for buying their products /services.  Customers won’t necessarily buy your product, but they will buy how the product or service makes them feel.

What is Rapport and its importance

Rapport is a connection or relationship with someone else. It can be considered as a state of harmonious understanding with another individual or group. Building rapport is the process of developing that connection with someone else.

Sometimes rapport happens naturally. We have all had experiences where we ‘hit it off’ or ‘get on well’ with somebody else without having to try. This is often how friendships start, a relationship or a business cooperation. However, rapport can also be built and developed consciously by finding common ground, active listening and being empathic. Rapport is commonly expressed as a feeling of commonality. As Tony Robbins said in one of his workshops  “No-one  expects perfection but they do expect to rely on you.”

More than anything, that means taking the time to find out what issues they’re having and helping work through them. In the timeless classic How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie wrote, “the only way to influence people is to talk in terms of what the other person wants.”

FEELINGS – COMMITMENT

Let’s play a game.  Close your eyes and think of food. Yes, food; let’s say a lovely vegan dish or a popular traditional meal for meat eaters.  My favourite dish is chickpeas with salad.

Now close your eyes and think back to where you had your best meal, specifically in which restaurant.  You are probably feeling hungry now, I know I am!  Now, write down why you thought of that particular restaurant.

My first choice was Tibits in Heddon Square, London. The reasons I thought of this specific restaurant are, in no particular order, as follows:

• Smiley very friendly staff
• They make me feel at home – comfortable and relaxed
• The atmosphere – low lighting but not dark; plants and lively colourful decorations
• Cleanliness
• Free tap water
• A sense of belonging, like being part of a community
• They really care without being neurotic, like asking you every five minutes if you need anything
• I reached out to organise a networking event and they were so positive and reasonable in relation to pricing
• Good food
• Reasonable prices.

All of my above points are based on my experience. It is not just about the food but also the ambience – how I am feeling sitting in the couch, in beautiful surroundings with lovely people.

My highlight whenever I visit a store, restaurant or whatever, is when they remember my name.  When I used to live in Kent, I went to my local Sunday church service and, from that day on, the priest remembered my name.  It felt so nice and made me more committed to my church.

Clients are nothing but humans like us, the providers.  Nadia Themis & Partners’ philosophy is to treat our clients like a family and I assure you that we do just that.  Join us and you will have another family.  Our coaching empowers this philosophy.  We give love to receive love and that applies to our company concept too.  In business terms, this might be called OFFERING CUSTOMERS REAL VALUE.

When I was living in New York, I was always visiting Starbucks.  Well, they are everywhere in New York, unlike here in the UK.  For those who know NYC, I was living in the financial district and my offices were in Brookfield Place.  The guys there knew my coffee as I was a regular.

One day, a beautiful blonde lady with sparkling green eyes suggested that I get a Starbucks card.  She explained to me that every time I buy a coffee and pay with my Starbucks card, I will get a discount.  So, listen to this now.  They get money in advance, so the company has more reserves, and I get real discount and not just points!  So, they convert my loyalty to them into real money!  The point here is KEEP IT REAL.  People have got fed up with points-based schemes that after, like, 15 coffees you will have one free.  Everything is moving so fast and we need to keep up with the times; Nadia Themis will always have your company ahead of the competition.

Having signed up on the cards, I was soon receiving emails with my gifts.  I loved this and it made me FEEL that I was part of the team, part of the Starbucks family.  The feeling of belonging might probably be the strongest feeling that a human being can have.  Why do we love our family?  Why do so many kids often join gangs?  And what about football – probably the biggest family of all?  I am a big fan of football and many times I will go to the pub to watch a game on my own, but I never really feel lonely; I am with my football family even though I don’t necessarily know them.

That should be your relationship with your clients.  They are not working with you because you are the best on the planet, but they are working with you because you are like a family.  As Nadia Themis & Partners, I have many contacts and a global network of more than 15,000 real people.  Even if a client left my company, I still cared about them, emailing on their birthday.  I was honest and loved them.  Those people supported me, even though they subsequently left.  In business, these things happen, changing hands, switching companies. The most important value is to stay authentic to your company’s principles.

Nike traditionally relied on media advertising to promote its concept of “bringing the athlete out of you.”  Recently it shifted more towards personalised customer service.  Rather than putting all of its resources into a single campaign for sneakers, Nike now advertises by giving customers workout advice and helping them build online communities around the theme of fitness.  Nike+, a membership website with apps and resources designed to make it easy to track one’s fitness progress, is part of this new effort.

Returning to my love of Starbucks, another reason why I like Starbucks is that there were many times when I would choose to work in Starbucks instead of working in my office, usually for writing my books.  That place inspires me and just being there I felt energized and inspired to write.  Of course, value and information are very important to people, but they do need to be inspired too!  Share your company’s vision, share your story, share your WHY.  Starbucks’ vision was to make all people around the world never feel alone.  They are actively promoting Fairtrade through videos of their vision about sustainably-produced coffee practices and for not abusing children for coffee farming.  Part of the price of your coffee goes towards helping a poor child in Africa and building a school somewhere.

Let’s have fun!

Create a game that will keep you connected with your clients and to interact with them. Can you imagine a customized game based on your preferences?  As you are my client, that means that I know your preferences.  I am not referring to your Wealth Planning structure that we did, but to what food you like, what kind of music you like, even what will cheer you up on a blue Monday.  N TAP is not a common company; it is your FUTURE.

STAY CONNECTED

As I have mentioned above, even when my clients became former clients, I always stayed connected with them. For example, now with the COVID-19 pandemic, I must say that many companies lack connection with their clients.  Where are my empowering newsletters?  Where is my support?  To be fair, I have received a few from my bankers.  As Nadia Themis in my coaching capacity, I offered free-of-charge sessions, live on Facebook, giving interviews to clients in the USA where I used to live about the situation here in the UK, giving hope to people as I would like to receive hope from my associates.  Where is my Starbucks email?When I used to be actively involved in Politics this was my main argument with the Political Leader. You don’t remember people only on the election period!

I will finish by quoting Prof. Mohanbir Sawhney, Clinical Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University:

“The ultimate goal of engagement is to build an emotional connection with the brand.  It’s a process that leads to intimacy and advocacy.  It’s not a single transaction, but an ongoing conversation.  You can’t expect customers to tune in only when you have a product to launch.  You need to have a constant presence.”

Yours truly,

Nadia