Follow Up Marketing Experts Blog

The 10 Elements of Great Customer Follow-up

 

Last week my youngest son, Eric, took me to a Phillies game as his Father’s Day gift to me. We had an amazing time, and more importantly, the Phils beat the first-place Braves. Everything about the day and the game was perfect.

The following morning I got up, and was greeted by an email from the Phillies. It was the type of email that I’d probably just delete without even opening, but since I had been to the game the day before, the subject line drew me in:

Game Recap and Thank You from the Phillies

So I decided to click and was glad I did. The email was incredibly well crafted and very inviting. Last week Stacey Hood wrote a guest post here about ways you can get customers to return to your website. This particular email was a perfect example of that. And the Phillies understand, as Mack Collier has pointed out, that fans have gravity; that there is power in catering to your hardcore fans. 

Taking this email from the Phillies, and I’ve attached an image of the entire thing, I think it illustrates well the 10 elements that are factors in great customer follow-up:

1. Personalize it

As you can see, the email is addressed to my son, Eric, who purchased the tickets for us. Something as simple as addressing someone by name can make a big difference in how they respond to you, and whether you can bring them back.

2. Thank them

Right up top the Phillies thanked us for our ticket purchase. They didn’t launch right into some sort of sales pitch; they just simply thanked us for purchasing tickets and attending the game. And they knew we were there because we printed our tickets out online and then they were scanned when we got there. If something had prevented us from going, they would have known we weren’t there. I have no idea if they would have sent this, or another email, but they had the information they needed, either way.

3. Help them relive the experience

This might not work for every business transaction, but a baseball game is truly a participatory experience. You’ll notice that not only do they provide links to recaps and the box score of the game, but also video highlights so that we could relive the experience. And since it was a win for the Phils, we are more likely to click on those highlights. When you watch the game in person, you don’t have the opportunity to watch the action from close-up or from different angles. This is something we could click on to further enjoy the experience of the previous day.

4. Ask for feedback

This wasn’t a case of thanking us for our money and then sending us on our way. They wanted to know how we felt about the experience, and provided a link to a short survey. The questions related to how well we could navigate the ballpark and concessions, and about our interactions with the staff at Citizens Bank Park. It was short, but included great questions that covered a variety of important topics. Of course, like any other feedback, what matters most is how they respond to our answers, particularly if they are negative. Thankfully, our experience was incredible, and they got nothing but positive responses from me.

5. Invite them back

At the end of the survey, as well as in the original email, we were given opportunities to purchase tickets for future games. They wanted us to come back, and used this customer follow-up opportunity to do so. And they gave us several options.

6. Reward them

Not only were we offered the chance to come back, but because we completed the survey, we were offered tickets at a generously reduced price. We were being rewarded for not just being fans, but for being engaged fans.

7. Keep it simple

Check out the image above. That’s the entire email. Easy to navigate and simple to understand. The more simple your approach, the more likely I am to respond and engage.

8. Proper timing

This will be different for everyone, but for the Phillies the morning after was perfect. Timing is very important; you want to make sure they receive your customer followup at just the right time. Not too early, not too late. For some types of businesses, you might want to wait a bit longer, to make sure your customers have had a chance to really try out your product or service. Not only will it be a proper reminder, but you’re more likely to get accurate feedback.

9. Calls to action

This particular email has a variety of calls to action. They asked me to do a variety of things, and I did most of them. About the only thing I didn’t do was purchase more tickets. Granted, that’s probably what they wanted most, but I still responded and engaged. They didn’t just send me an informational email that I would read and discard. They gave me things to do, and I did them.

10. Promote social sharing

It’s not readily evident in the email, but not only were there a variety of calls to action, but along the way, as I clicked through, I was given plenty of opportunities to share my experience and my actions with my friends across social channels. If I’m a brand advocate, a fan, they want to make sure I have the chance to tell others. Whether I watched highlights or ordered tickets, I was offered the chance to share those experiences on Facebook, Twitter, and the like. Not everyone will share, but you should at least make it easy for them to do so if they wish.

Yes, the Phillies are a large organization with lots of money and technology at their disposal, but even the smallest of businesses or organizations can adapt these to use for their own situations.

What positive experiences have you had in terms of customer follow-up? What other elements would you add to this list?

Read more: The 10 Elements of Great Customer Follow-up http://inklingmedia.net/2013/07/15/the-10-elements-of-great-customer-follow-up/#ixzz2ZDoIDzI1
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Why Follow Up and when?

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Top Customer Follow up Techniques | Follow up Techniques | melinaabbott.com

Sometimes following up on prospective customers can be as nerve racking as making that initial first cold call. You know that you need to ask prospects to make a decision, but you don’t want to appear to be a pushy sales person.

Most businesses do not follow up enough and the results are that many customers slip through their fingers. Finding the right medium is sometimes difficult. How do you follow up in a way that encourages prospects to buy from you?

 

The Art of Following Up with Prospects

Remember that at the beginning of the buying process you will have spent some time qualifying your prospects. During this time you should try get an understanding of their buying habits. Are they someone who is likely to make a decision quickly? Or will they need lots of information and encouragement? This will help you to plan your follow up tactics with each particular customer. Traditionally most follow ups are done manually. Following a presentation you may ask prospects if they are ready to make a decision.

A week or two later you may give them a call and ask them the same question. What many business people don’t realise is that you need to follow up more than once or twice. In fact sometimes you may need to follow up as many as 20 or 30 times.  But not every one of these follow ups needs to be a manual call asking for the sale. It could be a reminder about a fast action discount expiring, a newsletter with some client testimonials, an information sheet demonstrating the value that you offer. You can get creative in the way that you keep in contact with prospective customers and get them used to you contacting them. In the process you will be building a relationship with them and demonstrating the value of your business to them.

How to follow up to increase your Conversion Rate

• Realize that each prospect will react differently to your follow up process.  Some customers will be ready to buy sooner than others. Use your discernment to match your follow up techniques to their buying behaviour.

• Don’t limit the number or types of follow up methods you use. Marketing studies show that often people need to receive information at least seven times before they may act on it. Don’t give up just because you get a no on the first follow up call, it may be that the prospect just needs a little more encouragement or information to make their decision.

• Provide prospects something of value each time that you follow up with them. It could be a special offer or incentive to get them to make a decision now. It could be copies of customer testimonials that demonstrate the value of your business. With each follow up you should show them ways in which they can benefit from working with your company.

• Have a schedule with reminders that prompt you to follow up, don’t rely on your own memory. When follow up’s are less strategic they are often less effective.

• Focus on building a genuine relationship with your prospective customers. When people trust you they will be more inclined to buy from you. Even if they don’t buy today, because they have a relationship with you when they are ready to buy you will naturally be their first choice.

You need to be creative and flexible in your follow up process. But you should still have a follow up plan carefully mapped out. By being deliberate in your follow up efforts you can make sure that each time you contact prospects you are offering them something of value. Even if it takes some time, the process will lead the clients through the buying process and show them how they can benefit from working with you. You can also then track your progress and know which prospects you should be investing the most time and effort with.

How To Use Follow Up Marketing To Uncover Increased Profits

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Follow-Up or Fall on Your Face

Guerrilla marketing preaches to the skies the importance of customer follow-up and prospect follow-up if you have even the vaguest notion of succeeding in business.
Why do most businesses lose customers? Poor service? Nope. Poor quality? Nope. Well, then why? Apathy after the sale. Most businesses lose customers by ignoring them to death. A numbing 68% of all business lost in America is lost due to apathy after the sale.

Misguided business owners think that marketing is over once they've made the sale. WRONG WRONG WRONG. Marketing begins once you've made the sale. It's of momentous importance to you and your company that you understand this. I'm sure you will by the time you've come to the end of this online column.

First of all, understand how guerrillas view follow up. They make it part of their DNA because they know it now costs six times more to sell something to a new customer than to an existing customer. When a guerrilla makes a sale, the customer receives a follow-up thank-you note within 48 hours. When's the last time a business sent you a thank-you note within 48 hours? Maybe once? Maybe never? Probably never.

The guerrilla sends another note or perhaps makes a phone call 30 days after the sale. This contact is to see if everything is going all right with the purchase and if the customer has any questions. It is also to help solidify the relationship. The what? The relationship. Guerrillas know that the way to develop relationships, the key to survival in an increasingly entrepreneurial society, is through assiduous customer follow-up and prospect follow-up. And we haven't even talked yet about prospect follow-up.

Back to the customer. Guerrillas send their customers another note within 90 days, this time informing them of a new and related product or service. Possibly it's a new offering that the guerrilla business now provides. And maybe it's a product or service offered by one of the guerrilla's fusion marketing partners. Guerrillas are very big on forging marketing alliances with businesses throughout the community -- and using the Internet, throughout the world. These tie-ins enable them to increase their marketing exposure while reducing their marketing costs, a noble goal.

After six months, the customer hears from the guerrilla again, this time with the preview announcement of an upcoming sale. Nine months after the sale, the guerrilla sends a note asking the customer for the names of three people who might benefit from being included on the guerrilla's mailing list. A simple form and postpaid envelope is provided. Because the guerrilla has been keeping in touch with the customer -- and because only three names are requested -- the customer often supplies the names.

After one year, the customer receives an anniversary card celebrating the one- year anniversary of the first sale. Perhaps a coupon for a discount is snuggled in the envelope.

Fifteen months after the sale, the customer receives a questionnaire, filled with questions designed to give the guerrilla insights into the customer. The questionnaire has a paragraph at the start that says, "We know your time is valuable, but the reason we're asking so many questions is because the more we know about you, the better service we can be to you." This makes sense. The customer completes and mails the questionnaire.

Perhaps after eighteen months, the customer receives an announcement of still more new products and services that tie in with the original purchase. And the beat goes on. The customer, rather than being a one-time buyer, becomes a repeat buyer, becomes the kind of person who refers others to the guerrilla's business. A bond is formed. The bond intensifies with time and follow-up.

Let me put this on numeric terms to burn it into your mind. Suppose you are not a guerrilla and do not understand follow-up. Let's say you earn a $200 profit every time you make a sale. Okay, a customer walks in, makes a purchase, pays, and leaves. You pocket $200 in profits and that one customer was worth $200 to you. Hey, $200 isn't all bad. But let's say you were a guerrilla.

That means you send the customer the thank-you note, the one-month note, the three-month note, the six-month note, the nine-month note, the anniversary card, the questionnaire, the constant alerting of new offerings. The customer, instead of making one purchase during the course of a year, makes three purchases. That same customer refers your business to four other people. Your bond is not merely for the length of the transaction but for as long as say, twenty years.

Because of your follow-up, that one customer is worth $400,000 to you. So that's your choice: $200 with no follow-up or $400,000 with follow-up. And the cost of follow-up is not high because you already have the name of the person.

The cost of prospect follow-up is also not high and for the same reason as with customers. Prospect follow-up is different from customer follow-up. For one thing, you can't send a thank-you note -- yet. But you can consistently follow up, never giving up and realizing that if you're second in line, you'll get the business when the business that's first in line messes up. And they will foul up. You know how? Of course you do. They'll fail to follow up enough. Free samples sell everything from cereal to software, so why not use them for your business?

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follow up « All Things Marketing®

 

Let’s get right to the lessons:

1. Follow up.
2. Follow up.
3. Follow up.
4. Follow up.
5. Follow up.
6. Follow up.
7. Follow up.
8. Follow up.
9. Follow up.

Studies of sales practices continue to show that most salespeople don’t follow up more than one or two times after making a presentation or giving a quote.

Marketing is no different.

Most businesses will attempt to deliver one or two marketing messages and rarely follow up afterward. Unfortunately, one or two delivered messages will rarely produce tangible results.

We live in a world where people are bombarded by marketing and sales messages every day. So it’s unrealistic to expect one message — no matter how creative the graphics or how great the sales copy — will make it through that clutter.

Our logical minds would tell us that if our target audience wants the product or service we’re selling, they’ll take us up on the first offer we provide. But that’s not how it works in real life.

The reality is that most people’s busy, scattered lives often get in the way of acting on an offer, even if they had every intention of doing so. Whether we like it or not, the rules of the game have changed. For better or worse is debatable.

So what’s the solution?

Follow up. How many times? Start with two or three, and build from there.

Customers don’t always go for the lowest price. They buy from whoever they perceive will provide the best option. Businesses that communicate their value proposition regularly capture most of the attention and position themselves as the most obvious choice. By doing so, they make the buying decision easier.

Can you follow up without being a pest or nuisance?

The best salespeople aren’t pushy, but they are persistent. They present their case by providing valuable information so the prospect makes the best decision. That’s how your messages should be presented — useful information without the hype.

To get your messages read by your best prospects and your cherished customers, you must deliver them consistently and across several marketing channels. For most businesses, a combination of print, email, social, and web-based messages works effectively.

So what makes an effective follow-up marketing plan? Start by creating a compelling message that would have value for your audience. Spread that message across the most effective marketing channels for your business. Do it consistently. Rinse and repeat.

Following up on your marketing messages will make you stand out the same way as the salesperson who doesn’t give up after one presentation or quote. In the end, you’ll become the most logical choice when your prospect is ready to make their purchasing decision.

Saying Thanks Is Good Marketing

C.J. Hayden, MCC

Never underestimate the power of a thank you. Recently, I thanked someone for helping me solve a technical problem. She replied to my note of thanks by inviting me as a guest speaker for a group she chairs. I didn't even know she chaired this group and had never considered speaking there. This speaking opportunity would never have occurred if I hadn't taken a moment to say thanks. It started me thinking about how often saying thank you turns into paying business.

Here in the U.S., it's Thanksgiving month, when we often pause to reflect on our gratitude. So it's an excellent time to consider seven ways of saying thank you that can bring you more clients.

1. Thank those who refer clients. When you thank people for sending referrals your way, several positive results ensue. Being thanked encourages them to send more referrals, as they know you appreciate them. Expressing thanks gives you a reason to get in touch with them, find out what they are up to, and let them know what you're doing these days, which is always good for business. It also shows them that you are a professional who follows up and follows through.

2. Thank those who refer prospects who never become clients. Referrals that don't result in business may seem as if they don't warrant thanks. But it's essential that you thank people every time they refer. When a referral doesn't turn into a client because he or she chooses someone else, the two of you aren't a good fit, or you're too busy, the prospect frequently tells the referrer that "it didn't work out." As a result, that referrer is unlikely to send you any more business.

Instead, say thanks for every prospect, no matter what happens. It you end up not working with that person, tell the referrer why. If the referral wasn't on target for your business, say more about who would be a good client for you. If you're too busy, explain that it's only temporary and future referrals would be welcome. And if the prospect chose someone else, express thanks for the great opportunity and that you'd appreciate more just like it.

3. Thank your clients. Even when you are interacting with clients daily, taking a moment to thank them for their continued trust will increase their respect for you, boost their loyalty, and encourage them to refer others. Thanking past clients for the work you did together is often a much more powerful and gracious way to stimulate repeat business or new referrals than asking for those outcomes directly.

4. Thank the leaders of groups you belong to. Association officers, program and membership chairs, and special interest group leaders deserve your thanks for the hard work they do. And, these high-profile individuals are often asked to refer someone with a particular specialty for an interview, speaking engagement, or business opportunity. Expressing your thanks gives you a chance to get better acquainted with them so they'll think of you first.

5. Thank people who mention you in articles, blogs, and social networks. It has happened to me more times than I can count that I have thanked people for mentioning me or my work in an article or Facebook, Twitter, or blog post, and they have replied by asking me to speak for their group, be interviewed for an article, or contribute to their blog. Saying thank you increases the affinity between you and those you thank. It makes them want to find other ways to engage with you.

6. Thank those who provide good service. A lovely way to thank people who serve you and your business is to offer a testimonial they can use in their own marketing. Making your thanks public can result in higher name recognition for you and your business, inbound links to your website or social networking profile, and sometimes even gains you priority service because the recipient of your testimonial wants to keep your goodwill.

7. Thank prominent people who inspire you. Those who generously give of their time to help and inspire others are seldom thanked enough for their efforts. When you go out of your way to give thanks, you'll stand out and be remembered, adding influential people like these to your personal network.

So many ways to give thanks may suggest that you could spend your whole day thanking people, and that's not a bad thought. Saying thank you isn't just a nice thing to do, it's a practical approach to strengthening relationships, encouraging referrals, staying in touch with your network, and reminding people what your business is about. With thank yous leading to business in so many ways, perhaps they should become a significant part of your marketing strategy.

And by the way, thank you for reading this article, buying my book, and sending referrals my way! I appreciate your trust and look forward to serving you for another year.

Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden

 

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients Now!™ Thousands of business owners and independent professionals have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of "Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You'll Ever Need" at www.getclientsnow.com.

44 Ways to Follow Up with Your Prospects - Get Clients Now! E-Letter

C.J. Hayden, MCC

You know you need to follow up with prospective clients, but you often find yourself putting it off. "I already called them three times," you think. Or, "They never answer the phone anyway." Or, "I hate hearing no." Or, "I don't want to bug them." Or, "What do I say that's new?"

It's only natural to resist placing phone calls to prospects who didn't return your last call, never seem to be there, may not be ready to buy, or might say they're not interested. But here's the good news. Calling prospects on the phone and asking them to hire you is not the only way to follow up!

Yes, you can call your prospects on the phone, but you can also email them, send a letter or note by postal mail, fax them, overnight them a package, send a text message, or instant message them online. And those are just the different communication channels you might use. The type of messages you deliver can be much more varied than simply asking prospects to do business.

Consider the following 44 ways that you can follow up with your prospects via any communication channel you choose, in order to build a relationship, remind them of what you do, and present yourself as a valuable resource and expert in your field. Many of these follow-up approaches can also be used with potential referral sources and networking contacts.

1. Ask if they have new questions about what you last discussed.
2. Tell them about a book, article, or website that might help with what you talked about.
3. Send a personal note with a copy of your brochure.
4. Point them to a vendor who can solve one of their issues you don't address.
5. Prepare a personalized marketing kit for them focused on their unique issues.
6. Tell them about an upcoming event that addresses an issue you think they have.
7. Invite them to an event where you are a speaker, organizer, or sponsor.
8. Attend an event where you are likely to run into them.
9. Send a nice-to-meet-you or good-to-see-you note with your business card.
10. Call or email to ask what's new in their world.
11. Leave a brief benefits-oriented commercial on their voice mail.
12. Ask them to meet you for coffee, a drink, or lunch.
13. Invite them for golf, tennis, a bike ride, or a walk in the park.
14. Invite them to a concert, play, reading, or art opening.
15. Offer to stop by their place of business.
16. Send a letter summarizing what you last talked about and suggesting next steps.
17. Ask for a meeting so you can prepare a detailed proposal for them.
18. Send them an article (or link to one) that you have written.
19. Send them an article someone else has written about a topic relevant to them.
20. Send them a present -- chocolate, cookies, flowers, a plant, a bottle of wine, or a book.
21. Send them a birthday card.
22. Send them a joke or cartoon about their industry or your field.
23. Send a postcard reminding them what you do.
24. Tell them about a special offer available if they act now.
25. Offer them a free sample of what you can do for them.
26. Send an announcement about a new development in your business.
27. Send a copy of your newsletter or post from your blog and invite them to subscribe.
28. Send a link to a print or audio interview with you about your work.
29. Send a link to a video where you share helpful tips or a client success story.
30. Refer them a prospect for their own business.
31. Watch for their posts on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn and comment on them.
32. Post something useful to a message board where they are members.
33. Post a comment on their blog.
34. Invite them to visit your updated website.
35. Make them a free offer that will subscribe them to an autoresponder series.
36. Give a free teleclass or webinar and invite all your prospects.
37. Invite them to an open house, reception, demonstration, or free workshop.
38. Host a networking breakfast or brown bag lunch and invite several prospects.
39. Offer to give a talk or brown bag lunch for their organization at no charge.
40. Write a white paper or case study and send it to all your prospects.
41. Ask the person who introduced you to contact them and mention you again.
42. Introduce them to a colleague of yours they might like to know.
43. Volunteer for an organization where they also serve.
44. And of course, you can always ask if they are ready to start working with you.

Following up consistently is one of the most productive marketing activities there is, but it won't work if you don't do it. The next time you realize you are avoiding follow-up, pull out your prospect list and choose an approach at random from the suggestions above. It matters much less how you follow up than it does that you follow up.

 

 

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients Now!™ Thousands of business owners and independent professionals have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of "Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You'll Ever Need" at www.getclientsnow.com.

 

Effective Follow Up is a Good Marketing Idea

Good marketers follow up with the customer in a variety of ways. They return phone calls, send polite reminders, ask questions about satisfaction, and provide gentle reminders that not only are they interested in getting your business, but that they are concerned with whether or not you got what you wanted after the sale.

You have to actually DO something to make sales, or to earn. You cannot just build a site and then expect money to come. You have to promote it, register it, and then continue to market it.

A marketing plan is the beginning. If you do not actually DO what is on the plan, you'll fail. And then you have to assess, and follow through with what the assessment tells you is a good idea.

When you encounter prospects, you have to actually continue through with the dialog until it results in a sale, or until you are sure it WON'T result in a sale.

Opt-in lists are one way of doing this, but they are not the only way, and not necessarily the BEST way. The BEST ways of following up with clients are personal, and creative. They are ones that are specific to the mentality of your average client. Just because the tactic is wildly successful for someone else does not mean it is going to work for YOUR business, or YOUR customers.

People like to know that someone cares about them personally. And they like to know that you are interested in more than just making a sale. A personal touch in your follow up will often make the difference between window shoppers, and lifelong customers.

Probably the primary reason for failure on the part of new businesses is the failure to DO. They read about what they should do, they may actually make a list, and even perhaps venture into trying it out once or twice. But most marketing methods (especially free or low cost ones), take many repetitions. Getting one link placed is only a start, and it won't get you far. Posting once to a forum is a little help, but unlikely to result in any increase in business.

Follow through often includes developing systems (routines) for repeating marketing tasks. Establish a customer list, and devise a routine for regular mailings - then DO it. Set aside a certain amount of time each week for getting web links - then DO it, EVERY week. If you use pay per click ads, then set aside a little time each day to assess the stats, and determine which ads are bringing sales, and which are bringing browsers, then reassess and adjust your ads, keywords, etc. Actually devote that time EVERY day to tweaking them until they bring results that you are satisfied with. Write an article a week, or two articles a week, and post them to a specific number of article databases. Make sure they get posted EVERY WEEK.

Devise the routine, then stick to it. KEEP sticking to it, and don't quit. Regular marketing tasks are essential, and can be the difference between success and failure. Follow up with potential customers, and follow through with marketing tasks. It does pay off!

Follow Up Marketing - How Important Are Referrals to Your Marketing Business Plan?

 

I just love referrals

If you've been in business for any amount of time, then you already know how great it is to have repeat customers. But even greater than a repeat customer is a new customer that was referred by a satisfied current customer. And if you are not experiencing this in your business, something is wrong.

"But the economy is so bad right now, I'm scaling back my advertising and promotional campaigns." Unfortunately, this is what I hear from the majority of small businesses when I interview them or make a premise visit. I try to explain to them just how important than ever it is to follow up your existing customer base with promotional material. You are now fishing in pond where the majority of the fishermen don't want to fish in. They don't want to spend money on the bait.

Why NOW is the BEST time to Increase Marketing

Now is the best time to strengthen your relationship with your prospects and customers alike. That's because your competitors have probably taken up the position that it is a bad time to spend on marketing. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but this is the wrong attitude towards increasing sales. As a matter of fact, McGraw-Hill Research found that companies that had maintained (or increased) their marketing throughout the 1981-82 recession saw an average sales growth of 275% over the next five years. But those companies who cut their marketing saw paltry sales growth over the same five years of just 19%.

You may have heard this saying, "The fortune is in the follow up". That is truer today than at any other time, especially given the current economic climate. You will see when the economic cycle turns, the smart and brave businesses who marketed despite the downturn will be the businesses who will prosper in the up cycle. You can take that to the bank! There's a pun in here somewhere?

Do You have a Follow Up Marketing Plan?

If you have considered implementing a follow up marketing plan but just don't have the time or you don't know where to start, I have good news. First, you can implement a follow up marketing plan with a little discipline and desire. Second, there are various tools to simplify and automate your follow ups, such as automated follow up systems. A good automated system should build your relationship with your customers and prospects without much hands on from you. Set it up and forget about it.

Statistic show that 80% of sales occur between the fifth and twelfth contact with the prospect and/or customer. What does that mean? It simply means that you should maintain a consistent marketing campaign until your prospects and customers are ready to buy. By the fifth contact you have already established some level of rapport with your customer and prospect base. They like you, know you and now they are beginning to trust you. And you are staying "top of mind" and showing them that you care.

How can you show that you care?

How do you show them you care you may ask? Well, you do it by educating them. You let them know that you appreciate their business and especially the referrals they send you. You also show them you care and appreciate them by your actions. What do I mean by that? Let me elaborate. Take for instance a married couple. The husband may tell his lovely wife that he loves her everyday, which is great. But, if he surprises his wife once in a while with some flowers, a romantic dinner date, a Broadway show, well you can see how the husband's actions "show" he does indeed care about her, appreciate her and love her.

Do this with your customers and prospects and you will have the upper hand in business. It's human nature. Send them a steady stream of letters, postcards and greeting cards for such occasions as their birthday, their children's birthdays, for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, and any other holiday you can think of to make a contact with your customer base. And don't worry, they won't think you're nuts. Joe Girard did this for decades with record breaking success. You don't have to break any records, you just have to keep your customers coming back (client retention) and have them recommend you (client referrals).

Now go and send them a nice card telling them you value their loyalty and business.

And now I want to get you started with "6 Ways to Get More Referrals Report". You can get started by claiming your $1.00 Instant Access to my special report when you visit [http://www.FollowUpBestPractices.com/offer]

From Paul Camarinha - The Follow Up Best Practices Guy.

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