Contact Customers in Between — Sales

Having a customer is a great thing. This is a person or business who spends money on what you have to offer. Do you value your customer? Of course you do! How about this? Do you value your customer relationship?

Now you may be giving me a blank stare and wondering, what’s the difference? I’ll tell you. A customer is valued for that one purchase. Thank you ma’am for spending your money with us! A customer relationship is different. It is an ongoing conversation between you and the customer. It is what happens between sales.

The Customer Relationship

Most customer relationships happen something like this. Customer is wooed by you. Customer buys from you and falls in love with your business. You send customer a nice note, telling them how much you appreciate them (actually, more often, you don’t). You don’t call customer again for awhile. They happily use your product and maybe even think of you from time to time. If you are lucky, they tell a friend or two about you. Hopefully they remember your number, or at least your web address.

Time passes, you’ve each gone your different ways. But suddenly, one of you needs the other again. Maybe it is the customer. Maybe he or she needs more of what you are selling. So they look around for your number, or visit your store. Oh hey, I remember you! Thanks for coming back. And the cycle repeats. Or maybe its you. Maybe you need another sale, and of course you have the customer’s contact information. You’ve had it all along. You send a coupon or get on the phone. Remember me? Lets do business again!

Its actually a said story. You start with excitement, respect, even love. But that love is allowed to cool. The relationship is ignored until it becomes a necessity again. Its like some families on the holidays. You may have customers, but you don’t have customer relationships.Staying in Contact

I got thinking about all of this because of a tip I received for my free report on business success in 2010. You can get that here. This tip came from John Schulte, the President of the National Mail Order Association. Here is what he said:

    Every day, contact four customers or prospects. Pick up the phone. Drop them a note. Send a fax or an e-mail.    If you stick with this program, at the end of the year, you will have made 1,000 bonus contacts. And you’d better    believe it will produce business.    What do you say? If you contact a customer, how about a simple thank you for the business note? If the customer is    always prompt with payment, let them know you appreciate that. If you have a new item or service, let them know    about it. If you come across a clipping of interest, send it with a post-it note attached letting them know you    thought of them when you saw it.    Your bonus contacts needn’t be formal communications. They don’t have to be long. But every one lets the    recipient know that you were thinking about him or her, and took the time to let them know.

    Every day, contact four customers or prospects. Pick up the phone. Drop them a note. Send a fax or an e-mail.If you stick with this program, at the end of the year, you will have made 1,000 bonus contacts. And you’d better believe it will produce business.

    What do you say? If you contact a customer, how about a simple thank you for the business note? If the customer is always prompt with payment, let them know you appreciate that. If you have a new item or service, let them know about it. If you come across a clipping of interest, send it with a post-it note attached letting them know you thought of them when you saw it.

    Your bonus contacts needn’t be formal communications. They don’t have to be long. But every one lets the recipient know that you were thinking about him or her, and took the time to let them know.

Good Business Sense

If you think of customer relationships in the same terms you think of your friendships, you will instantly understand the importance of staying in contact. The only difference is that this relationship leads to more money. A customer who you stay in contact with is far more likely to send referrals your way, for instance. And buying frequency will generally go up. There are good business reasons to take time to stay in contact with customers between sales.What Do You Say?

Yet, you probably don’t do this, at least not as well as you could be doing it. That question that John asks is the tripping point for most of us, “what do you say?”

John provides a couple of ideas. I would just say this. Talk to your customers like they are human beings. Be personal, caring, and considerate. I would also suggest this. Start sending out weekly emails to all of your customers. The more you do it, the easier it will become. Think of these emails a quick note to a friend. You can add a few unique, personal emails into the mix every day, but for the most part, a general email to everyone will do the trick. Write as if you were writing to a friend. Don’t sell, at least not in every single one.

You can also connect with customers easily by becoming their friends on Facebook or Twitter, or joining their network on LinkedIn. Just reach out regularly. A personal hello goes a long way, and you never know what kind of conversation it will lead to.

Next time, before you make that sales call, will you already be comfortable with your customer? Making the sales is so much easier if you’ve committed to keeping the relationship alive in between sales.




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