Dial back on social media, global thought leader urges New Zealand SMEs
Small business owners to dial back on social media in favour of authentic relationships and purposeful business, which are the real keys to successful business, entrepreneur Mike Handcock says.
Speaking ahead of the Global Speakers Summit (GSS) to be hosted at Sky City in Auckland in late February, Handcock said personal relationships remain the core of business success throughout the world and contrary to what many people say, you cannot have a relationship through social media.
Many brokers use social media to connect with clients, especially younger clients, and to promote their services. And while that’s a good way to use social media, once connected, the relationship should be taken offline, Handcock explains.
“You go online to take people offline. Social media is only useful in so far as it provides a huge pond of potential customers, but as soon as you make contact, take them offline and start focussing on relationship – nobody wants to do business with machines; we want authentic connection,” Handcock said.
“Authentic relationships and treating your customers as human beings is one of those two fundamentals, but you get to relationship by answering the question ‘why’. Your reason ‘why’ is the second fundamental of doing business in this age.
“While social media is often all about what we’re doing now – reporting and reacting in real-time – people aren’t interested in that. They do, however, want to know your ‘why’. They’re not interested if you just want to make a million dollars and retire early – they want to know how what you’re doing is making the world a better place,” Mr Handcock said.
Handcock said that while social media does have its own place, his advice would be to keep it simple – focus on one, maybe two, social media platforms your customers frequent and go about using those platforms to connect with customers through your ‘why’.
“A sale happens after trust and confidence is built and the fastest way to trust and confidence is through authentic relationships – not using technology to keep people at arm’s length.
“The moment you connect on social media – and that person fits your customer profile – you should be looking to move the relationship offline. This may be an exclusive event targeted to their interests,” Handcock added.
Related stories:
The case for robo-advisers, HSBC report
Brokers need social media to target Gen Z
Speaking ahead of the Global Speakers Summit (GSS) to be hosted at Sky City in Auckland in late February, Handcock said personal relationships remain the core of business success throughout the world and contrary to what many people say, you cannot have a relationship through social media.
Many brokers use social media to connect with clients, especially younger clients, and to promote their services. And while that’s a good way to use social media, once connected, the relationship should be taken offline, Handcock explains.
“You go online to take people offline. Social media is only useful in so far as it provides a huge pond of potential customers, but as soon as you make contact, take them offline and start focussing on relationship – nobody wants to do business with machines; we want authentic connection,” Handcock said.
“Authentic relationships and treating your customers as human beings is one of those two fundamentals, but you get to relationship by answering the question ‘why’. Your reason ‘why’ is the second fundamental of doing business in this age.
“While social media is often all about what we’re doing now – reporting and reacting in real-time – people aren’t interested in that. They do, however, want to know your ‘why’. They’re not interested if you just want to make a million dollars and retire early – they want to know how what you’re doing is making the world a better place,” Mr Handcock said.
Handcock said that while social media does have its own place, his advice would be to keep it simple – focus on one, maybe two, social media platforms your customers frequent and go about using those platforms to connect with customers through your ‘why’.
“A sale happens after trust and confidence is built and the fastest way to trust and confidence is through authentic relationships – not using technology to keep people at arm’s length.
“The moment you connect on social media – and that person fits your customer profile – you should be looking to move the relationship offline. This may be an exclusive event targeted to their interests,” Handcock added.
Related stories:
The case for robo-advisers, HSBC report
Brokers need social media to target Gen Z
