Staying In Close Contact

Staying In Close Contact

To consistently add value, you must maintain an accurate bank of information on your clients. Here are eleven guidelines for making the most out of your automated contact management system:

1. Make sure you know who originally referred your clients and whom your clients refer to you.

2. Determine the most effective and efficient method of communication (email, cell phone, home fax, etc) for your clients and log it into your system.

3. Record as much relevant data from your client interview as possible, including your clients’ values, needs, the rules they told you to play by, their buying strategy, and any other details you feel will help the relationship proceed smoothly.

4. Never talk to a client about a next step or action without immediately logging and alarming that event.

5. Alarm all events that you don’t want to miss (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc.) Learn your clients’ favorite restaurants, sports teams, colleges, etc. so you can add value in relevant ways.

6. Alarm all points of contact during a transaction that you do not want to miss.

7. On all multi-event scenarios, like the quarterly dialogue calls or annual client reviews, schedule them for the life of the relationship.

8. Automate your time blocking schedule and make sure your assistants can access your calendar for maximum efficiency.

9. Automate the details and dates of your value-adding campaigns, designing auto processes or activity series.

10. Build templates with merge capabilities for main client communication events so that you don’t have to do so manually or repeatedly as you go.

11. Update key data regularly.

The role of a contact management system is to efficiently utilize client information for the purpose of increasing and securing client loyalty. Consider your client data as a long-term asset that must be managed well in the short-term so that you can maximize the earning potential of each relationship.

In the end, however, it’s not the sophistication of your contact management system that will determine how well you succeed. It’s whether you consistently and relevantly add value to your best clients over time. Remember: Adding value is the only way to secure long-term loyalty and trust. The more you add value, the more business you will get.