Can you say, Cardinal Sin?! If you have to remind your clients who you are and what your business has provided for them in the way of services or products, you are not taking care of your relationships with them like you should. Did you think that once services/products were rendered, you could move on? Small business owners rely on their loyal customer base for repeat business. And if you’re ignoring your current customers, how do you expect to ever attract new ones?
In this digital age, everyone is remotely linked. We email, we blog, we review and comment, we follow and we like all from a distance, but if you allow this distance to come between you and your clients, then expect not to have very many. Thank yous of appreciation and gratitude go along way with customers who feel their business is appreciated. They want to know they can come back and do business, especially if they too found value in doing business with you. And don’t just drop them an email with a short message. Send a personalized hand written note when you can. Poor penmanship? Pick up the phone. If you haven’t heard from a regular, call them and check in to see how everything is going. Let me know who you haven’t heard from them in a while and wanted to make sure everything was okay without trying to sell them something. People appreciate the human aspect of businesses and as a small business, that’s an advantage you have over larger corporations: the ability to connect on a personal level.
If a client has forgotten they’ve done business with you, gently remind them. But don’t let it happen again. Set up email or phone alerts so you can regularly check in with regulars. Send out thank you and appreciate notes. If you’ve exchange social media profiles, tweet them a hello, drop them an email, send them a Facebook message, mail out personalized message, something to show them you care and keep them interested in doing business with you. When you’re forgotten, it’s hard to be remembered.
Related articles
- Add-Value = Stable Referrals -Todd Duncan (arktechnologynetwork.wordpress.com)
- Don’t Forget To Say Thanks: Customer Appreciation (biznews4gushniks.wordpress.com)
- 5 ways to maintain client relationships while growing (agbeat.com)
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