article: the value of staying in touch

By Charlene McMillan - BrightWay Marketing

A great way to generate business leads is to stay in touch with your customers, partners and prospects. Your goal with each communication is to ADD VALUE, TO EDUCATE and to DIFFERENTIATE your firm clearly so people have a reason to continue to pick you.

Many business owners agree that they can’t educate someone on all the benefits they offer in a 1-minute elevator pitch. They also agree that depending on circumstances, people may not be in the market for their services at a particular point in time. Why then, do these same business owners send out a 1 time mailing and expect to get a response? Actually there are many reasons mailings and e-mailings get missed. Here are just a few of them:

1. I’m not in the market right now
2. I don’t understand why I need it – not interested
3. It got lost in the shuffle – I get so much stuff these days!
4. You didn’t get my attention
5. You didn’t give me a reason to call you
6. You didn’t give me a reason to hang on to it
7. I don’t know you – I don’t know if you’re any good

You can automate the generation of leads with regular communications via email, direct mail, or both. The beauty of this is, no matter which you choose, you can design your campaigns up front and execute them repeatedly over the course of a year. It takes a bit of set up, but the execution becomes automatic once you have honed your list, your message and your offers.

Ideas for Staying in Touch

So what are the key success factors for successful stay in touch campaigns? Follow the simple guidelines below and watch the leads roll in.

1. Do it at least 7 times a year. This way you are more likely to catch a prospect when they have a need.
2. Target wisely and narrowly. You can increase response rates by marketing to people who have demonstrated that they want, need or actively purchase what you have to offer. These are the people who have the highest probability of becoming customers. Past customers and sales leads are great because they have already bought from you or expressed an interest in your service. The next best targets are people who have a compelling reason to need your service; i.e they are moving, they just bought a house, just had surgery, etc. If you target everybody in a given location, you can be sure your response rate will be 2% or lower.
3. Get their attention. The big firms spend millions on this but a good headline, bright colors and the right offer will do wonders.
4. Always, always, always (did I say always? include a valuable offer. Not valuable to you – valuable to your prospect. Make the offer highly visible – right up front. Make them feel like they must act. You might put a time limit on the offer; however people soon figure out these are meaningless if you always have the same offer and time limit for all your ads.
5. Be sure your difference is clear and of value to your target. Make your targets think they would be making a mistake not to call you (when, of course, they are ready to buy)
6. Educate people incrementally on how you can help them – don't point the firehose at them. Over time with repeat communications you can educate them on everything you do, show examples, and client results.
7. Show proof. Photos of before and after, customer testimonials, links to case stories on your website all help validate that you actually do what you say.

Your Customers and Partners are Your Marketing GOLD. Be sure to stay in touch with them – sharing new information, products, offers, etc. Think about how you can help them be more successful through the use of your products/services.

Not sure what is valuable to your customers? Ask them. Questions like ‘what could we do to delight you?’ or 'what do you think is missing in regards to "spa services" (fill in your industry here...) I am amazed at how many emails and cards I get that are nothing more than thinly disguised sales pitches containing useless information that clutters my mailbox. If you can't add value, don't send it.

Value is:

* Great information
* A great offer - a great discount - or a referral discount
* A free trial * An invitation to a fun and/or informative event
* A gift
* Participating in or donating to a favorite charity.

Always offer genuine value and you will build a loyal base of customers and partners who refer you.

More ideas

* Conduct weekly or monthly calls – peer sharing, topic specific
* Events
* Invitations to Trade shows
* Hold Executive briefings
* Host appreciation events – invite your partners and customers and give them a chance to network (golf outing, ball club, etc.)
* Invite them to 1-on-1 social events: dinners, lunch, golf, ball games
* Host webinars, workshops, and seminars that add value
* Show your appreciation: Thank you notes, note cards
* Stop by and drop off a gift
* Send Gift certificates or restaurant dining cards (who doesn't like to go out and eat?)
* Send them a birthday or anniversary card
* Do you have customers your customers might be interested in marketing to? Delight them by offering to share your mailing list. Or offer to do some joint marketing. Wow! That’s adding value to their day! Here's a great example that really worked for this client... EXAMPLE: A ‘green’ cleaning service just signed an ‘organic’ restaurant as a client. They gave each of their household cleaning clients a coupon for $10 off at the new restaurant. How happy is that restaurant owner that they hired this cleaning service??? – and how loyal! This is a great example of finding ways to add value to your customers, which in turn will generate more referrals for you.

For more ideas and methods to stay in contact with your customers, partners and prospects, we invite you to request a marketing consultation with BrightWay.