Make a Positive Impression and Seal the Deal

With so much competition for people’s time and money, half the battle is getting to your clients. Let’s say you do manage to book the meeting, now what? You’ve made a great presentation; you’re sure your new clients will be lining up to do business with you… but are they? Did you follow-up with them, or did you leave them flat and wanting more?

What is the best way to follow-up? Email, a formal proposal, a personal note … let’s look at the options.

Email seems to be the standard these days. It does the job of conveying the information you need, yet it can be impersonal and get lost in the sea of emails. Email is a great tool for quick follow-up, but does it differentiate you from the competition? Does it leave your client with a feeling of “that was really nice”?

How about sending a formal proposal? Again, it conveys the information you need it to, you may even include some great charts, graphs, and cool graphics. But what feeling does it leave behind? Yes, it shows that you are thorough but does it add to your relationship?

The best follow-up tool is a personal note. Joe Girard, the Guiness Book World Record Holder for best salesman, built his career on personal cards. Thank you notes, thinking of you cards, birthday cards and holiday cards are a great way to stay in touch with your clients while building loyalty and referrals. The Thank You Note has become a lost art form. It is something we are taught to do, we know we should do, but few of us actually follow up with one. You may actually have bought a box of cards, only to sit in the bottom drawer, awaiting your handwriting and a stamp. Many of us feel we don’t have time to handwrite cards. There are programs available that can make the process quick, inexpensive, and yet keep it personal.

Once you do land that new customer, are they made to feel appreciated and wanted? Why is it so important to make your customers feel appreciated? The truth is that the majority of customers leave because they don’t feel appreciated.  Customers have a choice of who to do business with, and they will give that business to those they like and feel appreciated by.

Did you know if costs five times more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an old one? Did you know the best sales force and advertising you have is in your current customer base? What are you doing today to make your customers feel appreciated and valued? Are they telling their friends and co-workers what a great product or service you offer? Or are they going else where for a better deal since they really don’t feel the need to stay with you since there is no strong relationship?

The effort you put into following up with your clients sets the tone for the entire relationship. Leave your customers feeling special and valued and they will reward you with a profitable relationship.