Frequency of communication builds trust.

This is possibly the most underestimated aspect of

all types of business development communication strategy.

We always talk about matching the message to

the audience and delivering it in a way

that the audience is willing to receive it.

But we don't talk about frequency.

Here's the thing that really drives this point

home.

Think about the most important relationship in your

life.

There's a pretty good chance it's a spouse

or a significant other or a mother or

father figure, brother or a sister.

It's someone you care deeply about and someone

who cares deeply about you.

Think about that relationship in the context of

improving it or deteriorating the quality of it

based upon how often you communicate.

If you're in a committed relationship with a

partner, a spouse, a significant other, does your

relationship get stronger or weaker if you go

a week without speaking?

Candidly, if it gets stronger, the foundation of

that relationship is pretty bad and you might

want to seek some help.

But all kidding aside, frequency of communication increases

trust over time because of the familiarity.

So here's a five-step process that we

work on with our clients when we're helping

them improve their overall conversion rates.

So taking prospects to clients, taking suspects to

prospects, or deepening relationships with clients.

Step number one is whenever you communicate, you

need to deliver value.

So you and I are here today having

this conversation and I hope that you're finding

significant value in the conversation that we're having.

The second step is to deliver that value

to you as often as is comfortable.

So in the case of an intimate relationship,

intense frequency is the rule.

Multiple times a day, making sure that each

person is getting what they need from each

interaction.

When you're just getting to know someone, maybe

once a day is more appropriate.

In a business setting, maybe a couple of

times a week is appropriate.

And in a marketing or a business development

setting, maybe we're talking about just once a

week or a couple of times a month.

The key is delivering value as frequently as

is appropriate to increase the intensity of the

relationship.

Then step number three is to listen to

the feedback that you're getting from the person

that you're communicating with.

Now in a business development setting, in a

marketing setting, the feedback is going to come

in the form of replies or commentary on

a post like this.

It's going to come in the form of

anecdotal evidence where people grab you and they

say, hey, I got that direct mail piece

you sent and it was really impactful.

I got it on my refrigerator.

Or they're going to say, I saw that

post you put up on LinkedIn.

It really changed the way I think about

running my business.

Thank you for sharing that.

You're also going to get feedback on whether

or not people are responding.

And if they don't respond, that message isn't

resonant or the way you delivered the message

didn't resonate with the audience.

So listening for the feedback is step number

three.

Step number four is incorporating empathy in response

to the feedback that you get.

Now what do I mean by incorporating empathy?

If people say to you, Dave, I got

your marketing communication and it really hit me

because I've been in that situation before.

I understand how bad things can get and

I'm really glad that you pointed out that

there are solutions and there are options.

That type of feedback is incredibly valuable because

it tells you you should make more messages

like that.

Too many people post things on social media

or create ads online and offline in response

to what they feel their capabilities are.

The market, your audience doesn't care what your

capabilities are.

They care about what they care about.

So the empathy part of the listening and

incorporating empathy into your messaging moving forward is

essential because that's what builds the relationship over

time and that's the final step.

You have to adjust your message based on

the feedback that you get when you incorporate

that empathy.

So those five steps again, deliver value, communicate

as frequently as is appropriate given the relationship

status, listen to the feedback, incorporate empathy and

then deliver new messages based on the feedback

you've received and the empathy you've incorporated.

You can use this in one-on-one

interpersonal communication.

You can use it in direct response marketing

and you can use it on your social

media posts.

I'm here for you every day doing this

type of thing, creating a relationship with you,

communicating with frequency because I want you and

I to have a great and productive relationship

moving forward.

I'll see you back here again tomorrow.

Until then, here's hoping you make a great

living and live a great life.