Follow Through With Your Follow Up!
Following up with clients can be a very important part of doing business, yet I am always surprised at how few businesses actually do it.
You see, basically, there are only 3 ways to increase your business…
- Increase the number of customers
- Get your current customers to buy more often
- Get your current customers to spend more money (larger purchases)
Most advertising just focusses on #1 and then they stop. Newspaper, radio, TV, print ads, etc all just focus on getting people in the door. Let’s say for example that a business owner know that for every 10 people that come in his door, he will sell 1 item. So when he needs to make more sames, generate more business, what does he do? He buys advertising. So now he gets 100 new people in the door and makes 10 more sales (hypothetically speaking). Not bad. But what about the other people who didn’t buy?
See, I am going to wager that with a good follow up system in place, he could easily double the number of sales per 10 visitors up to 2 and definitely increase the odds of turning a customer who purchased into a repeat customer. Getting them to purchase more often.
So, what do we mean by a follow up system?
Well, basically, any kind of mechanism that you purposely put into place which will allow you to collect contact information from your clients or prospects and then allow you to contact them again in the future. Some ideas for this might be to offer your customers a monthly newsletter. You can put articles in there that relate to your industry, products or services. You might offer a coupon for a special deal or annouce upcomming events relating to your business.
Why? The point here is to build and nurture a relationship with your contacts. You see, people are more likely to spend money with someone they know. So, get to know them. Invite them to take part in special discounts or put on a customer appreciation event for your regulars.
How do you set this up? Well some of it will depend on the nature of your business. Some businesses have no problem getting contaact info from their clients because they need it for their records. We spoke once to a massage parlour who automatically takes mailing information for each client who visits. “Great,” we said, “then what do you send them?”. “Oh, nothing” was the reply! “we just need it for our records” Of course, I am off to the side banging my head against the wall 
Why not send them a note thanking them for coming out today? When was the last time you purchased a product or service and got thanked by the vendor? If it has ever happened, you probably remember it – that is the point!
What can you send out as part of your follow up system? Here are some ideas:
- A newsletter
- Product offerings
- Coupons
- Updates on the business or industry
- Invitation to special events at the business
- Anything to make the people feel special and appreciated
How do you send this out? The point here is not necessarily to make way more work for yourself so you have to do what you are comfortable with. I am going to suggest that you send out emails that link back to a page on your website that contains that issue of the newsletter. If you are not comfortable with that, you can just send out plain emails. Actual mail can work too – though a bit more expensive. People still appreciate getting something in the mail and they are less likely to discard it than they are to delete your email. Also, if they leave it laying around (which they are more inclined to do if there is valuable information on it), then others are likely to see it and ask questions or come by your store or office.
How to collect the contact info? Well, you could just ask for it. That will get you more than not asking When someone is checking out, ask them to write down their email address or soemthing. Better yet is to offer them something right there in return. Offer them the opportunity to receive updates or a newsletter, offer them “access to VIP discounts”. Give them a card with their receipt that invites them to go to your website to sign up for great offers. Ask for their business card – if you are a restaurant, maybe hold a draw every week for a free dinner – get people to put their business cards in for the draw. I have seen that a time or two. There are a number of different things you can do – again it will depend on the nature of your business and what you are comfortable with.
The main thing is that you do follow up – and on a regular basis. Maintain the relationship and develop yoru customer. Then you will have no problem getting them to spend more money and make larger purchases.
