ConnectIT
21-May-2008
Keep in
touch! 7 tips for staying in contact
with your clients
by Colleen Francis
Have you ever lost contact with a client and
wondered why?
Maybe a client stopped reordering from you
for no apparent reason. Or perhaps they
stopped calling you or even returning your
calls, and for the life of you, you can't
figure out what went wrong.
The answer could be entirely out of your
hands. The client might have changed jobs
and forgotten to let you know. Their son or
daughter may have started working for your
closest competitor. They might have
inherited a fortune from a long-lost uncle
and decided to take up immediate residence
on a private island in the South Pacific.
Or it could be that maybe you yourself broke
the "contact chain," and allowed the client
to drift away for good.
The contact chain
Staying in contact with clients is an
essential part of sales success.
For most of us, it's easy to remember to
communicate with our family, co-workers and
friends. After all, we tend to see or chat
with them on a weekly or daily basis.
Your clients, on the other hand, aren't
likely to be hanging out at the neighborhood
pub or waiting with dinner when you come
home each night. Your clients may not even
be in the same time zone as you, let alone
the same zip or area code. Because clients
aren't an automatic part of our daily lives,
it can be all too easy to take them for
granted or let them slip our minds.
In my work as a sales coach, I have seen far
too many of my clients lose contact with
their customers because they assumed they
would get in touch with them whenever they
needed something. By not proactively
maintaining their existing contacts and
following up on leads, they run the risk of
losing a lot of deals -- and a lot of
business.
Client contact tips
How can you stay in touch with your clients
on a regular basis? Start by remembering
some basic rules of etiquette. Then try
incorporating the following seven habits
into your sales regimen:
1. When addressing an email or letter,
always begin with the person's name -- even
if finding or remembering it is a nuisance.
People respond best when they read or hear
their name being used. Always say "Dear
Name," "Hi Name" or "Hello Name" when
addressing a client. Using "hey" or, even
worse, no salutation at all simply does not
cut it.
Solution: Developers Advantage lets you
merge hundreds of contact fields in the body
of your email - so that every customer gets
a personalized message.
2. Plan regular contacts with all your
customers. According to the American
Marketing Association, people can handle up
to 200 contacts per year. Even I think that
might be a little overkill, so how about
agreeing to contact your clients once every
two weeks? This will help guarantee that
your clients never get the chance to forget
who you are or slip away unnoticed.
Solution: Use
TaskoMatic follow up sequences in Developers
Advantage to bullet-proof your follow up
communications.
3. If a client contacts you first, thank
them for getting in touch. In your next
email or on the phone, start the
conversation with something like: "Thank you
for your note, it's great to hear from you."
4. Never multi-task when talking to a
customer. I can't stress this enough. In the
era of Blackberry's, cell phones and
Bluetooth, we all think we can do a thousand
things at once. If you're checking your
email or updating your schedule while on the
phone with a client, believe me -- they can
tell! Whether you're with your client in
person or on the phone, give them your full
attention. Turn off the cell phone, email or
PDA and stay focused on the person you're
actually talking to. This won't result in
you missing out on other opportunities. It
will increase your likelihood of getting
more business from the customer you're with!
5. Show your sincere appreciation. Every
time a customer buys something from you,
gives you a referral or goes out of their
way for you, don't just sit back and expect
that they will continue to do so in the
future. Acknowledge what they have done and
thank them for their business, assistance or
generosity. Remember: reciprocity is, by
definition, a two-way street. When people
give you something and you don't acknowledge
it, most of them will think long and hard
before helping you again.
6. If you haven't heard from a client
because they are out of the office, busy,
sick, traveling or just plain ignoring you,
don't stop trying to reach them. Keeping the
lines of communication open will maximize
the chances that you will get a response
when the person is better positioned to give
you one. If your usual methods of
communicating aren't working, try something
innovative, like sending a message by
courier, fax or snail mail. Sometimes simply
shaking up the way you communicate is enough
to recapture a client's attention.
Solution: Use
TaskoMatic follow up sequences in Developers
Advantage to automate your follow up
communications and reminders.
7. Last and most definitely not least,
always think of your clients first and put
their needs ahead of your own. This doesn't
have to be a grand gesture or heroic act of
self-sacrifice. The next time you read an
article that you think might interest your
client, just send it along to them with a
little note (if appropriate) that says: "I
thought this might be of interest to you."
Like we're doing for
you with this article.
If you're guilty of not following some of
the tips outlined above, you could be about
to lose more clients faster than you
realized.
If that's the case, now is the time to get
out there and start renewing those
relationships. Because, in the end, it's
always more profitable to sell more to your
existing customers than it is to have to
find new ones!
ConnectIT is a
publication of
Integratedmar.com
