Building relationships on Small Business Saturday

Want to build meaningful client relationships? Connect by sharing common interests. Leveraging events like Small Business Saturday can help you grow your presence and commitment to local service within your community. Here are some tips.

Promote local businesses in your social networks.

• Talk to a few of your clients and let them know you’d like to feature them on your Facebook page to help promote them for Small Business Saturday. Ask if they would mind shooting a short video with you to talk about their products.

  (Tip: introduce them as your valued client!) 
  
  

• Have a prospect in your sights? Offer to do the same promotion just to increase their reach.

• Bonus: if you’re out shopping on Saturday, start a Facebook Live session at a business or two.

Open your doors to local shoppers.

• Even if your agency isn’t open for business on Saturdays, what better time to show your support for the businesses in your community? Offer a place for shoppers to “recharge” – coffee, snacks, iPhone/Android chargers, and a place to sit.

  (Tip: lay out some promo items and don’t be shy – this is a great time to network!)

Partner with local businesses.

• While you can’t offer coupons or 20% off of policies, you can team up with clients or local businesses for referrals.
  
  
• Talk to some of the business owners about mutual referrals and establish a landing page on your website for “Partners.” You can feature each business, run their promotions to help spread the word about their business, and link back to their website. Ask if they can do the same. At the very least, give them some business cards to keep on hand.

Face Time.

• Join the action! Open your office for the day and treat this one day as a perk for clients who can’t make it to your office during normal business hours. Notify your customers that your agency will be open and you’ll be available to discuss all of the life events that may impact their insurance needs. Take advantage of the face time and ask probing questions to determine if anything has changed during the year.

  (Tip: you may still want to offer coffee in case they’re out shopping.)