Business is like dating (no really). In religious Jewish circles, there is a form of dating called “shidduch dating,” where the potential mates are set up based on common interests and marriage potential. After a few dates (and sometimes only one) the parties both know whether the relationship is going anywhere, and in as soon as a one to three months, they can know whether they will be married; sometimes they are married in this short space of time.
It may sound a bit foreign to secular folks, but shidduch dating can produce great and healthy marriages. In business, creating customer relationship, especially through social media is a lot like shidduch dating. You present your business to the matchmaker, i.e., the social media platform, hoping that your great match will be everyone. Just as when dating you ask questions to get to know your potential partner. Then reality hits, and you find that not everyone is for you; the customer, your true love, belongs to a smaller segment than you thought and you focus your efforts on serving them. You find your true love, in Hebrew we call this “besheret,” and these people are your evangelists. You are lucky to have them because they will gladly tell proclaim their love for your products to the world (there are fewer marketing opportunities as great as this). This is getting married.
Of course you have to continue to grow with your customers for the relationship to mature and last. It is a continuous series of “what can I do for you, customer, my love? How can I be of maximum service to making your life better? When this is your focus, you will be able to spend 120 years in a great marriage with your customers.
Check out these slides from a talk I gave on this topic:
