Next up in our series on how to maximize client retention is to follow-up with clients. However, just making a few phone calls may not be enough. Indeed, it’s important to be intentional about following up with clients. Being intentional with follow-up activities allows you to start an interaction with a new event in the client’s life instead of always staring off with a standard and often impersonal question.
Prioritize Keeping in Touch
If you don’t keep in touch, you won’t be on top of your clients’ mind, and you are easily forgotten. To remedy this issue, you need to establish a process that makes it easy to keep in touch and stay top of mind without being intrusive. One of the best ways to do this is to do a little research before you reach out to a client. Recent business success or accolades for a family member is a great reason to give someone a call. Consider setting up Google alerts on your top clients to help you stay in the loop on what’s happening in their business and lives.
Certainly, you can also set a cadence of post-sale activities or frequently asked questions to use when following up with clients. For example Mike Davenport, one of Chevrolet’s top producing salesmen, has mastered the art of staying in touch. “I have a rigorous follow up. In the first year of ownership, if I have a brand new customer, I touch base with them 14 times” — not to mention he usually also connects with all of them on Facebook.
Sound like strange activity for a car salesman? It might, but it works.
“They love it!” he told Dealer Magazine in a recent interview. “If I mail something to a customer and it gets kicked back that they have moved, I will email them and say, ‘Hey, I don’t have your correct address!’ They will shoot me back almost every single time and I think that is the proof in the pudding. They take the time out of their busy schedule to say, ‘Here’s my new address. Keep in touch with me.’ And that’s huge in the car business because I think it’s very, very rare.”
The Perfect Time fo Follow-up
A successful loan originator out of Ohio named Phil Forbes found that one of the most lucrative relationships to nurture was his realtor partners. He has a unique way of staying top of mind with them.
Phil tracks what properties his prospects are looking at and what financing they are calculating in real-time through CardTapp’s TappTracker app. He then forwards that information to his realtors. By staying in touch with them and offering valuable buying insights, he has created loyalty with them as referral sources.
Bill Neail from First Liberty Funding Corporation also uses TappTracker. He shared, “I just landed a new client,” he told us. “I saw a couple using my app to research rates for a $400,000 purchase of a FHA loan. I called them up, and it was perfect timing. These people downloaded my app 6 months ago and without the app I would have lost touch with them.”
Build Strong Relationships with Intentional follow-up
The more you’re involved with your clients, the stronger the relationship. Being interested in their family, hobbies, and community activities helps you better connect. This connection not only helps you better meet their needs, but it results in more satisfied clients.