Midmarket firms should enact consistent follow up and contact strategies in order to stay at the forefront of their customers' thinking. You know the saying, "out of sight, out of mind"? It holds true for how you maintain valued relationships with existing customers. Think about how busy your customers are. They don't mean to forget you, but especially in the busy middle market sector, it's easy to focus on particular issues while putting other situations on the back burner. It's up to you to find different ways to be at the top of your customers' priority lists when they need a product or service that you can provide. Here are four suggestions for doing just that:
Regular Contact
Schedule set meeting times so that you never fall behind when it comes to staying in touch with your top customers. These are the customers who you do seventy to eighty percent of your business with. If you set a specific, regular time on your calendar, you and your clients will get used to meeting every so often.
Never say that you are "just checking in" or "just touching base," though. Always have a purpose for your call. If the customer hasn't talked with you for some time, say that the purpose of your call is to find out if they have any questions about the service that has been provided or if they need help with anything.
You never know what you might be able to help with. Clients might say, for example, that they need more new sales reps. Even though I don't act as a recruiter, I know of sales reps who are looking for positions and I know a lot of places that could help get the word out. I don't make any dollar amount helping, but I garner the goodwill of a valued customer this way. Another strategy, especially for midmarket companies, is to offer insight to help them do their job better. Tell them what their peers are doing in other companies in the industry.
Semiannual Account Reviews
By having a formal account review with your customers, you convey the idea that they are an ongoing concern of yours. This also makes it clear that, by discussing changes over time, you can better serve them. Account reviews represent a good chance to understand what new issues have come up for your client. It's also a great time to ask about how well they think your team is doing with them. Some clients will save small issues until the regularly scheduled account review and have a stack of little problems to resolve.
Value-Added Calls or Visits
Do some research and gain insight into the executives of the company you're working with. Follow up and learn ways that you can offer value NOT related to your products and services. This can go above and beyond what is normally mentioned on a regular contact call. It could be a strategy for finding college graduates interested in your customers' open sales positions (if they are having a hard time finding new hires), or it could be a discussion about a favorite interest or hobby of one of the client's executives. Make sure, however, not to be pushy about bringing up any new ideas. Let the client initiate that discussion.
New Product or Service Features
Anything new is a great reason for a follow up visit — in person or virtually — especially when you can show how a new item or feature will help your customer in some way. This is especially relevant in the midmarket realm, with these types of businesses growing, changing, and needing new ideas. Understand that angle and create a conversation around what these new features could do for your client and how they could be rolled out to them. Then listen.
How much is too much when it comes to interacting with clients? Is there a limit to how often you should contact customers? Let us know what you think by commenting below.
Lori Richardson is the founder and CEO of Score More Sales. Lori is a thought leader on B2B front-line sales growth and works with (or in conjunction with) technology brands worldwide. Follow her on Twitter.