People sometimes ask me, “Ez, what’s the secret to your success?”

To which I’ll humbly respond in one of two ways. (Or, if I’m feeling chatty, I’ll respond with both.)

#1 “I’m consistent.”

I show up every day with enthusiasm and I put attention on my goals. I feel like, with most things, it doesn’t matter how much natural ability you have; what matters is if you have the patience and consistency to get it done.

#2 “I prioritize relationships.”

This goes for my relationship with my wife, family, friends, team — just about everyone in my life. When you value people, and you care enough to put attention on them and really listen to what they have to say, your relationships will flourish. I believe I’m able to take this skillset and apply it to my business, which has allowed me to build a great team, connect with my audience, provide engaging content and attract loyal customers.

This blog post is all about #2: the importance of building customer relationships in ecommerce.

Whether you’re hoping to attract loyal customers to your brand, or you want to develop the ability to connect with an audience in any market or industry…

It’s crucial that you understand the importance of relationship-building as it applies to business.

Recently, I asked a panel of expert marketers and entrepreneurs how they approach relationship-building in their businesses.

Here’s what they had to say.

Nicole Walters – Sales Expert & Income Strategist

The number one focus of my business — and will always be the number one focus — is relationships. If it’s not about service, then you’re missing the whole point.

Obviously it’s great to be able to leverage all the latest tools, and things like Facebook, and you’ll hear people every day talk about algorithms…

But at the end of the day, I’m in the people business.

I’m about helping to improve lives. I’m about getting the greatest result, and what I’ve found is that if you focus on what people need, you work with a validated and effective idea, then what happens is all the other numbers line up as well.

You get people who stick around longer. You get a churn rate that goes down. You have attrition that is non-existent, and that’s because you’re actually serving and seeing your people.

Laura Hanly – Content Marketing Expert

I think ecommerce is going to become very relational, very much about building actual relationships with customers. We’re seeing this more and more, especially with Messenger marketing and the highly interactive nature of social media, particularly.

Building ongoing relationships with your customers is the best way to maximize the customer lifetime value and to ensure that you have a really raving audience.

Marketing is not just about the first interaction; it’s about building a lifetime relationship with that customer and helping them to see all of the value that you can deliver for them. Helping them understand what you can do for them and then not getting in their way when they’re ready to keep moving.

So don’t stop selling to them until they’re ready to stop buying.

Kim Walsh Phillips – CEO, Elite Digital Group

For 10 years I ran a P.R. agency, and our whole focus was, “Let’s get a lot of awareness.”

You know, get our name out there, get our clients out there. If people see who you are, hopefully they will take action. We can’t go after transactions; we have to go after relationships.

Build a relationship first, and only then ask for the sale.

Lindsay Marder – Co-Founder, DigitalStrategyBootCamps.com

A lot of people who get started in this business think they just want to sell something, but they don’t know how to put it in front of their audience.

Get to know your customer. That’s the first thing I would suggest anyone does.

And the best way to put any of the tactics that they learn into action is to go learn about your customer and figure out the best way to deliver those strategies to them while providing value.

Highlights:
0:10 Ecommerce is going to become very relational
0:45 Go after relationships
0:58 Get to know your customer
1:26 Focus on what people need
1:45 Building a lifetime relationship