This thought hit me the other day. I was feeling a bit oozy. Well, I wasn’t feeling that way from the fact that the thought hit me – I often get hit with thoughts – like most of you – without the expense of added injury. But in this case, I’d just come home from visiting the dentist, getting some work done on my chompers.

Last time I checked, nobody was jumping up and down for joy because they were going to get their teeth cleaned – or drilled into. Unless you’re a rare exception, chances are this might not be your favorite free-time activity.

But hey! Why am I picking daisies here?

Well, as you are learning about selling on the internet – developing and building your contacts, and so, I was going to mention something very important – something that will really impact your business development.

It’s called: K-L-T.

K – Know
L – Like
T –Trust

Think about someone who is a friend. Do those terms apply to them?

You KNOW them.

You definitely LIKE them.

And you certainly TRUST them.

You might ask them for help if you need it, right? Would you take their advice?

Most likely. At least anything to do with your teeth, or gums. Right?

Well, that’s the idea behind it – that’s where you get started.

So let’s take a flashback to where I was sitting in that dentist chair a little while back.

It wasn’t comfortable. I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. As I was sitting there (lying there actually), with his hands inside my mouth, him poking around in there, I was thinking, “Boy! I must trust this guy to let him do that to me!”

And really, that’s the truth. I would let him do that – subject myself to that ‘torture’ (don’t tell him I said that), because I believe he’s helping me, saving me – my poor tooth, at least.

I know him – at least I know what he’s doing. I like him – well, at least as a dentist, because whenever I need my teeth looked at, I go to him.

And I do trust him – because he’s a professional. I know that he will do what is best for my teeth, and if he recommends something to me, it means that it’s probably best for me – now get this: EVEN IF IT COSTS SOMETHING. Why? Because he has always delivered the goods.

Okay, I think you’re getting the point. We need to develop that kind of relationship with our buyers, our prospects, our leads – where they know us; they like us – and, they trust us.

Sometimes we are so eager to ‘make a sale’ that we try to sell them too fast. This ends up turning people off. There is a big hullabaloo nowadays about social network marketing sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc., and how you can leverage the power of these sites to your marketing advantage. But if you are just trying to get followers and then hit them with offer after offer, you’re not going to get anywhere. You will turn people off! You will perhaps get some followers, but you will never build brand loyalty. And trust? You may as well forget about it, because that’s built over time. And guess what? They will soon ‘unfollow’ you.

The dentist never runs after you with a pair of pliers and a drill, does he? Yet that is what he does for a living! (Pardon me, any dentists out there, for this rather crude representation of your profession!) Yet, you refer to him as ‘your dentist’.

So what’s the moral of the story of my dentist visit?

K-L-T!

If you really want to develop your business, spend time on building a relationship with your prospects. They won’t mind the sale – they will appreciate you for it.

As for me – I survived that dentist trip. I guess I’ll live. For now.