Maintaining Personal Relationships with your Clients
Monday, November 06, 2006
Elections are upon us. I have stopped answering my phone because I'm being bombarded by endless phone calls to vote for this politician or that proposition. It's not that I don't care about the issues - I do. I will be exercising my most important right as an American on Tuesday, for sure.But what I don't like is the fact that all of these messages have been recorded messages. Canned responses from the actual politician or some more important politician who recommends them. Now, I live in California but I do not expect a call from The Terminator himself. That's not my point. What I'm trying to say is that it's important to have real people reaching out to me, whenever possible -- not a recorded message. Not an impersonal, photocopied flyer or door hanger.
How does this affect your business? As a service professional, it's very important for you to maintain a relationship with your past clients. You have already paid a very large sum in your advertising and marketing efforts to acquire each and every one of your customers. Why not use that to your advantage and keep in touch with them? Send them an email newsletter. Send out holiday greeting cards with a company photo of all your workers. Make a follow up phone call to give them some free advice on how to maintain any of the products you installed or services rendered. Make it personal - either directly from you or one of your staff - and they will remember and refer you and your company.
It's understandable if you don't have a lot of time. You don't have to send out a mass mailing for every single customer you've ever had all at once. You don't have to call them all in one night. But pick a time, each week, and get in touch with some of your clients that you've only worked with once. Your regular customers will be happy to get a Holiday card in December.
If you had installed a concrete kitchen countertop and called to remind me that it was time to apply my penetrating sealer... I would certainly remember you when it was time to remodel my bathroom.
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