Author, entrepreneur and business consultant David Blaise points out that while everyone intends to provide customers with great service, there may be a lack of effective follow up procedures. Some consider it “follow up” to simply contact clients on a regular basis and ask for more business, but this approach can grow old quickly.
Instead, Blaise recommends creating thoughtful, intelligent follow up procedures designed to benefit, rather than badger or annoy clients, and making them part of standard business procedures.
He offers the following four suggestions:
1. Require salespeople to submit a copy of the “thank you” note they sent to each customer immediately upon receipt of an order, along with the paperwork required to receive their commissions. This ensures immediate customer follow up that is good business and good manners.
2. Have salespeople look for newspaper and trade articles about their clients’ type of business, and send them along with a note saying, “Thought you’d want to see this!” It shows they are interested in what interests their clients.
3. Get industry success stories or case studies from suppliers, multi-line reps and industry publications that show how other companies have used promotional products successfully. Have salespeople adapt these successful ideas to clients’ businesses. It demonstrates creativity and forethought.
4. Put together a regular e-mail update for clients featuring good, useful information about how to better market their businesses. This will help salespeople establish themselves as solution providers, rather than order takers.
The new year is a great time to step back, take a deep breath and evaluate what’s working and what’s not working in your business
For more information, visit www.topsecretswebsite.com.
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- David Blaise