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Need an excuse to maintain contact with a client who’s not quite ready to buy? Here are 12 legitimate reasons to pick up the phone today.
It’s a constant challenge for marketers and salespeople: coming up with good reasons to get in touch with a client or prospect. While the frequency of contact should depend on the individual client and the kind of rapport you have with them, “You really can’t stay in touch for enough reasons,” says Mark Yurkiw of Think3-D.com, a New York-based marketing agency. “People don’t realize how important it is to stay connected with a client you’ve made inroads with. If you want to ask them what kind of peanut butter they like, that’s a good reason – any continuity of contact with a client is worth its weight in gold.”
With this principle in mind, Successful Promotions tapped the experts to come up with 12 creative ways to reach out that go beyond culinary queries (though, in the right circumstance, those might be just the ticket!). A good contact usually means more than just mailing out a postcard – it involves making a memorable impression and communicating something about yourself. The following ideas will help you do just that. Follow our script, and start dialing today.
While there’s no magic bullet to ensuring a slam-dunk on your first attempt to introduce yourself, sending something to a potential client just before the initial contact can help get a relationship off to a good start, says Dave, who works for a promotional products distributorship. Dave recommends a Koozie can cooler or something that is likely to be sitting on the prospect’s desk when you later make a cold call. “Sending an item with your logo creates more than one point of connection, allowing your call to stand out from the pack,” Weintraub says. Then, when you call the client for the first time, you can ask how he liked the item. It’s an immediate conversation starter.
Potential clients who take the time to respond to initial sales overtures offer an excellent opportunity for establishing long-term relationships, so it’s especially important to make follow-up contacts memorable. In one great example of establishing and maintaining effective contacts, a provider of outsourced payroll services sent small-business owners who responded to a direct mail campaign a leather binder embossed with the firm’s logo. Along with a handy calculator, the binder contained information and tips concerning the human resource side of business. Each month, additional information was sent that could be easily added to the binder.
“It gives them an excuse to constantly have a touch point with this binder, which is really a handy tool,” sayts Roger Roeser, whose Cleveland-based Eisen Management Group set up the campaign. The binders, which cost $22 apiece, “built in 200-300 direct leads,” translating into millions of dollars’ worth of business.
When potential clients do not respond to an initial sales pitch, don’t get frustrated – get funny, Roeser advises. In a program conducted for a market research firm, he arranged for a two-stage mail campaign designed to convince companies to reconsider using the firm’s services. Potential clients were first sent tea leaves, then a Magic 8 Ball toy with the message, “You’re gonna need it” – in other words, in the absence of good research to back up their ad campaigns, they might as well put their faith in fortune-telling.
“ It was a tongue-in-cheek way to reach out to a pretty sizable audience,” Roeser says.
Promotional gifts provide a great way to follow up with new clients. Items that reflect a company’s mission or methodology can help to solidify a new relationship, says Renay M. Picard, vice president of marketing at Basho Strategies Inc., a firm specializing in sales force training. In order to highlight its core mission, the company sends new clients a book from a list of titles recommended to individuals and groups participating in workshops and seminars.
While sending items through the mail can be effective, delivering them in person can be even better, advises Louis Lautman, author of 31 Ways to Awaken Your Creative Sales Genius.
“Stop by to remind your clients of who you are and what you do and drop off a gift, or marketing piece,” he says.
Once a good business relationship is established, there’s never a bad time to say “Thanks!” and the occasion can provide a nice opportunity to send a memorable gift. Basho Strategies sends out classy “card writer” wallets as a thank you, along with 3x5 cards and a Leed’s pen embossed with the company name.
“This is not only a personalized, classy gift but also further reinforces our training and offerings,” says Picard.
Seasonal gifts are a tried-and-true way to stay connected with a client, but to avoid having your message get lost in the traditional holiday shuffle, why not pick a non-traditional holiday? Working with the National Arbor Day Foundation, Eisen Management Group sent out live blue spruce trees in honor of the April occasion with packaging featuring the logo of Cadence Network, an energy management company. The trees were mailed in poster tubes to a select group of Fortune 500 VPs and CEOs as a way to highlight Cadence’s emphasis on saving resources, both natural and human.
“No matter how wealthy someone is, they sure as heck are not going to throw away a tree,” Roeser says. “The lead generation and the results of the campaign were damn near 60%.”
For traditional holiday gift giving, items that connect with personal values or reflect the values important to a company can really stand out. Watering Can Press, which has worked with clients from the Boston Celtics to small insurance brokers on promotional giveaway programs, offers books aimed at children on themes such as giving, heroism and the grief process. The books make great gifts and can be customized with a business name and logo.
Peter Shankman, CEO of The Geek Factory Inc. and author of Can We Do That?!: Outrageous PR Stunts That Work – And Why Your Company Needs Them, gives space in his briefcase over to something that might at first seem a bit eccentric – a large number of pre-stamped envelopes.
When, during his travels, he comes across an article related to an interest of a client, he’ll throw it in the envelope, address it and send it off with a note.
A variation on this idea for the digital age is e-mailing Web site URLs to clients. “Keep your eyes open for Web sites or news articles that might be valuable to clients,” advises Jeff Greenhouse, president of Singularity Design, a marketing agency. “When you see one, you can simply forward it to them with a little note about how you think it might benefit them.”
Taking good mental notes when talking to a client provides reasons to contact them again, Shankman says. If a prospective client mentions their daughter is into Tae Kwon Do, “Why bother sending the concert tickets, when there happens to be a karate exhibition in town?” he says. “It proves you listened.”
Knowing what your clients care about can also open the door to contacts of a more playful nature, says Pinnacle Promotions’ Dave Weintraub. For his company’s internal marketing, he’s sent out divot tools in April as part of a golf-themed promotion to coincide with the Masters tournament.
If your company sponsors seminars, workshops or conventions, or has a relationship with a local institution that does, consider inviting your clients to participate as attendees or even as featured speakers.
Sales conferences are a great way to get in touch and build strong ties with clients, says Basho Strategies’ Renay Picard. The company has a relationship with MIT’s Sloan School of Management, whose May sales conference this year will include training sessions run by company CEO Jeff Hoffman.
A recent speaking offer Picard made to the director of sales at an online security company was “incredibly well received,” she says. “He’s thrilled, and our relationship is blossoming further.”
Basho clients attending the company’s sales training workshops are provided with high-quality “padfolio” notebooks embossed with the company’s name and logo, a very effective way to remind attendees of the event and its sponsor.
Industry meetings of any size provide great opportunities for salespeople and marketers to reach out in a targeted way to new and potential clients.
Such events are a backbone of Aflac’s sales strategy, says David Cloud, regional sales coordinator for the supplemental insurance company’s northwest Georgia area. Company representatives will concentrate on a particular industry or trade – say, heating and air conditioning – and stay on top of upcoming meetings and trade shows, arranging to speak at these events.
To get more mileage out of what he’s talked about at small group presentations, Mark E. Green, president of Performance Dynamics Group LLC, sends out high-end desk clocks to his executive clients. The clocks are imprinted with the words “Time for Change?” along with his logo and Web address.
“The kind of promotional product that’s going to get my attention is one that’s going to reinforce values that I’ve already provided or have the potential to provide,” he says.
Knowing your client’s business cycle can open up opportunities while demonstrating your understanding of the work they do, points out Lenann Gardner, a sales consultant and author of Got Sales? The Complete Guide to Today’s Proven Methods for Selling Services. It might make sense to call a summer-oriented business in the late winter or early spring when they’re gearing up for the season (summer would be too late). On the other hand, she says, if you’re offering an accounting or auditing service, you would want to call them right after the busy tax season, since they’re unlikely to change providers during the run-up to April 15.
For Adam Rauch of the consumer promotions company TSE Sports and Entertainment, being aware of seasonality factors means scouring trade publications for upcoming promotions from large corporations. “E-mail teasers are the backbone of our strategy,” he says, citing a recent example involving Miller Lite’s competing with Corona in a big summertime marketing push. To communicate TSE’s idea for a free trip contest, Rauch sent out a teaser featuring a picture of beer bottles on a beach. The company also looks for upcoming festivals or public events that would be a good fit for a brand and pitches the idea to both product vendor and promoter.
“ It shows we’re up to speed on what they do and are trying to do,” he said.
Birthdays are an obvious time to reach out to a client with a nice gift, such as a branded book or useful office item. Aflac encourages all of its sales reps to send clients birthday cards, while Mark Green of Performance Dynamics Group takes the idea of personalized greetings a step further.
“For certain very special clients, I’ll call them and sing ‘Happy Birthday to You,’ Green says. “For the investment of a 60-second phone call, the impact is absolutely unbelievable.”
As Think3-D.com’s Yurikow points out, when the goal is building a relationship with a
client, “any reason is a great reason” to stay in touch, even if you don’t have anything in particular to pitch at the time.
There’s never a bad time to send a promotional item if it’s used in a creative and memorable way, says Jay Abraham of the Los Angeles-based Abraham Publishing Group. A flashlight with a letter saying “Don’t be in the dark about …” or key chain that says “Our marketing strategies can help you unlock ...” can do the job for marketers seeking an any-time-of-year option.
“Another important thing to remember is to be committed to sending a promotional item once a month,” Abraham advises. “After a few months your prospects or clients will get to know you and it will give you an advantage when you call them.”
“When was the last time you called the client just to say ‘Hi,’” asks Shankman.
Frequent contacts increase the chance you’ll hit on a client who has a specific need for the product or service you’re offering, Yurikow stresses. Statistics suggest you’re more likely to find success if you find a strategy for staying “top of mind,” whether it’s stopping by in person, sending promotional goods or using a ticker on your computer system as a reminder to make a phone call.
“ You haven’t connected [with a sale] because they haven’t had a specific need for you yet,” Yurikow says. “Keep haunting them until you hit on the specific need and one day they will say, ‘Hey, I’m glad you called. …’”
Reprinted with permission of Successful Promotions, copyright 2007
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