Trust is the foundation of any healthy personal relationship. The same applies to business relationships, too. Without trust, there is no foundation for a lasting relationship.

For B2B marketers, a key part of your lead nurturing program is establishing your business as a trusted resource for information that’s relevant to your customers’ needs. The last thing you want to do in your marketing efforts is come across as another tunnel-vision marketer trying to force feed your message down everyone’s throat. Each marketing touch — whether it’s through a personal email, company blog, newsletter, or any other social media tool — should position your company as a knowledgeable, thought leader that provides useful information that helps prospects in their decision-making process.

While my last post provided tips on how to attract customers in a hurry, nurturing those relationships takes time. Building the foundation for a strong business relationship starts with an open dialog that not only shows that you understand your customers’ problems and concerns, but that you are there to help. Here are a few things B2B marketers should consider when developing a lead nurturing program:

• Demonstrate that you understand and care about your customers’ needs
• Communication should be conversational
• Content should include timely, relevant information your customers can use
• Make yourself readily available
• Reply to inquiries and follow up in a timely fashion

Today’s customers are hungry for information, and they’re turning to the Internet to find it. By establishing yourself as a trusted industry resource they can turn to, they will pay attention to your future lead nurturing efforts. Once you’ve done that, you’ve set the foundation for a trusted business relationship. After all, most business deals aren’t won through the products and services, they’re earned through the trust of the people behind them.