Toni Miller, Ameris Bank
As a mortgage broker for Ameris Bank, Toni Miller understands the importance of building strong relationships. Bonds are solidified when she guides clients through the complex process of purchasing a home — but they’re cultivated well before someone takes possession of their new house keys. Because relationships are so important to her business, Toni has become a master at developing them. Below she shares a number of sales tips on how to develop relationships which turn into business:
1. Realize new opportunities are everywhere – Everyone you come across is a potential client or knows someone who could be a client. Recognizing that anyone can be a potential source of new business will open you up to opportunities you never knew existed.
2. Listen – Take time to really listen to people. People are fascinating. When you are actively listening, you gain more clarity on their needs and become better prepared to support them.
3. Ask better questions – Instead of using standard small talk, ask open-ended questions that will provide you in-sights about their needs, passions and goals.
4. Start one new conversation each day – Sales is a numbers game, and you need to be committed to engaging people to be successful. It’s important to make yourself available by starting new conversations daily. In our new age of social distancing, this can translate to sending one new LinkedIn connection request or InMail each day. But remember, the best conversations are always in person.
5. Take note of important events – Make the effort to send a handwritten card or a personal email. This makes people feel special and valued.
6. Surround yourself with new people – most people see the same people in the same office every day. I recognized that in order to grow my business, I needed to be around new people. So I joined ALX Community — Alexandria’s premier coworking community — where I was instantly surrounded by a diverse collection of small business and startup professionals I never would have encountered while working in a bank office. The result: I doubled my business in one year as a result of the relationships I developed from joining ALX Community.
Toni Miller’s growing mortgage business is a testament to recognizing the importance of relationships to your business-es, developing and sticking to a plan which focuses on building them over time and putting yourself in the best position to succeed. Fortunately, cultivating relationships are a learned skill and with strategy, commitment, and implementation of a few of the tips Toni provides above, any business person can develop the tools needed to develop relationships which transform into business opportunities.
Sponsored by ALX Community.
ALX Community is Alexandria’s newest and best coworking community. Learn more about our community, available desk and office plans, and meeting spaces at alxcommunity.com.
