Too many small business owners and entrepreneurs have the wrong mentality when it comes to potential customers.  They become elated when a prospect calls and makes an appointment, but fail to recognize it as an “opportunity” rather than a mere “incident.”

In Dan Kennedy’s article, Think ‘Process’ and ‘Relationship’ Not ‘Sales Incident,’ (which is excerpted from his new book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy,) he refers to this type of scenario as “the start of work to be done, not an end result or outcome.”  Basically, his point is that if you celebrate the appointment, reservation or other event and misunderstand that this is just the beginning, you are missing the mark.  If you want to build wealth, you have to develop and cultivate relationships with your customers.

It doesn’t matter what type of business you might be in, there are always opportunities to increase your wealth.  Mr. Kennedy gives several examples in his article, including a restaurant owner who can go the extra step after someone makes a reservation, by sending that person a special voucher for a free bottle of wine if they bring a friend.  An oil change shop can even improve its process by selling a coupon book to a customer for pre-paid services or finding out about the other cars owned by family members.

When a customer steps foot in your store or office, you have to think about the long-term relationship. After all, your customers are your assets.

To find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, visit Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.