Don't practice hit and run sales; follow-up instead
The key to strong customer relationships is communication. Imagine that you’re trying to start a fire with flint and steel. It takes a lot of effort, so you’re vigilant and keep the fire stoked and roaring. Keeping a client relationship alive requires the same. Getting a client is hard work, so don't let that flame die. In this article, you’ll learn why you should follow up with your existing clients and the best way to do it.
Imagine you purchased writing services from The Content Reactor earlier this year. A few months later, you receive an email from me checking up on you, and it says:
Hello Charles Bingington,
It was a pleasure to create those blog posts for you in March, and I wanted to see how they’ve performed. Do you feel site traffic has increased since then? Have you received any customer feedback?
Content marketing needs constant attention. I thought of a few things to help you get the most out of your content. It’s been a while since we posted them on your site, so we could try posting them to another platform like LinkedIn. We could also freshen them up with a new title and adding any recent insights. And, don’t forget to promote them on social media to expand their reach.
I hope these tips help. If you’d like me to work on them, then please give me a call.
Looking forward,
Elisha Montgomery
elisha@contentreactor.io
Now compare that with this:
Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for your business; I hope we can continue working together. If you need help re-purposing some of your older content feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Elisha Montgomery
elisha@contentreactor.io
Even though these are both follow-up emails, which shows more interest in the client? It’s tempting to create a standard template and send it to all your customers. I understand that this may be necessary when dealing with large amounts of clients. But you can still do a few things to make your emails more personal. For example, why not include their name instead of just saying “valued client.” Using the first few sentences to include details about your last interaction is another great way to show you remember and care about them. Even if you do have a standard template for following up with your clients, invite them to respond with a well-thought-out question. Listening to your clients’ opinions is one of the best ways to show them that they are valued.
In the good example, we provide the client with valuable advice for getting more out of our last service. Perceived value is important because you want to give people an incentive to read and react to your message. It also increases the trust they have in your company’s ability to help them. Strive to provide value in all your content, whether it’s an email, blog post, or content offered.
Ending with a call to action is important when creating any sales material. But, it depends on how hard you want to sell. In the good follow-up message, I ask for feedback and offer to help them use the tips provided. A good call to action is dependent on the content and at what stage of the buying process your client is in. Since this is a previous customer, I didn’t shy away from offering my services. With new clients, you may decide to educate first and sell later. Whichever path you take, don’t forget the call to action entirely, even if it directs them to other articles you’ve written. A good call to action will keep your clients engaged with your company.
When you use your time to handle client communications, it’s important to prioritize. Although you want to give the same attention to all your clients, it’s not always possible. Figure out which clients are most important to your success, and make sure to spend the most time on them. Why? Because of the 80/20 rule, in business, that means that 20% of your customers produce 80% of your revenue. Considering this, you should concentrate on your most important and profitable clients first. This doesn’t mean you forget the others, but it will help you decide how much time to spend on communicating with each client.
Don’t waste your clients nor let their spark of interest burn out. Improve your emails today by implementing a good follow-up routine and experience better results at no extra cost.
