Reviving Dead Clients

Most consultants I’ve talked to don’t spend any time trying to recover inactive clients and it’s a big mistake. We tend to magnify the problem we had or just want to move on, but sometimes a simple apology and offering to make things right will bring you back a client worth thousands of dollars in billing.

Clients can quit contacting you for a number of reasons:

They had a bad experience.

They no longer need your product or service.

As their needs evolved, they believed your company no longer could offer what they need.

They just got busy and forgot about you.

You can see how important it is to have a communication process to stay in contact with clients as some quit calling for the sole reason of “out of sight, out of mind.” Think about all the vendors that you’ve stopped buying from for no real reason. It happens to everyone.

There are clients that you have consciously let go because they are bad clients. I recommend consistently “firing” the bottom 5-10 percent of your client base as a regular practice. But most consultants have an attrition rate higher than that.

Make a Target List

Go through your database making a careful list of clients you have done business with in the past but are no longer buying from you. Cross out those relationships that you have no interest in reviving. Next, categorize the remaining list using the following parameters:

Don’t know why they’re inactive

Was a problem but you thought you resolved it

Was a problem but you didn’t resolve and would like to win them back

Determine how much the client spent with you.

Date of last purchase. You’ll want to focus on more recent clients first and work through to a point of diminishing return.

The first thing you need to do is get excited. With a little diligence you can revive 25-50 percent of these clients and dramatically increase your revenue base. The key is humility, sincerity and resolve.

The Disgruntled Client:

Understanding What They Want

Before you contact the inactive client it’s important to spend some time focused on the outcome. You need to be prepared and anticipate their reaction to your call. Disgruntled clients have certain needs that have to be met before they become active again. Below is a checklist to review before you make each call:

They want to be regarded and respected

They want you to make things right

They want to be listened to and heard (two different things)

They want to insure that the problem doesn’t happen again

They want you to understand the problem and why they would be upset

Don’t defend yourself or make excuses. Acknowledge that it shouldn’t have happened. You should be prepared to make an offer to resolve the problem and communicate your willingness to go great lengths to win them back.

Making Contact

The next step is to simply pick up the phone. Call them and ask to meet face to face. Assure them that they are a valuable client and that you’d like to know if there is anything that is keeping them from doing business with you. You must communicate your absolute sincerity and concern.

If the client had a bad experience, regardless if it was your fault, try to make it right. Offer to refund their money, correct the problem and give them a discount against future services or whatever would be appropriate in your particular situation.

Apologize no matter whose fault it is. The client is always right. They write the checks and in an economy that is driven by customer satisfaction, you have to go the extra mile to stand above your competitors.

Be prepared for the fact that you will not resolve every situation. You may get screamed at or abused. Stay the course, be calm and reiterate your sincere apologies. In some cases there will be no possibility of reactivating them or getting a rational response to your call. If you are professional and earnest, the worst that can happen is they will feel better about the situation and won’t complain to their associates about your company, which can be damaging. Send the people a sincere letter thanking them for assisting you in identifying problem areas with your company.

You’re in the Spotlight, So You Better Shine

If they do agree to accept your effort to resolve the issue, whether it’s in the form of redoing the work or free products and services, then you must be exemplary in the execution of the promise. Get a clear understanding of your commitment and the timeframe for its completion. You must go the extra mile here.

Communicate when you’ve fulfilled your obligation, thanking them for the opportunity to clear up the problem. Send a sincere letter reiterating your appreciation for working with you to resolve the misunderstanding. Depending on the type of work you do, simply maintain regular contact to inquire if everything is working, and if there is anything you can do to be of service.

Getting in Touch with Old Friends

Often you’ll find that former clients are having financial or other difficulties that have prevented them from continuing business with your company. Express your genuine and personal response to their problems and find out if there is anything you can do to help. People remember who was around when they were down. A small gesture here goes miles in referrals or when they get back on their feet.

There are also the clients that have grown, or changed technologies, and now feel that they need to work with a bigger organization. In a lot of cases it’s really just a perception problem. Tell the client that you’ve grown too and that you’re ready to meet their needs.

If you truly can’t serve them, let them know how much you’ve appreciated their business and invite them to contact you if there is anything you can do for them in the future. If they were satisfied with your services, don’t hesitate to ask for referrals. Be sure and follow-up with a letter.

Finally, there are the old clients that simply forgot about you. In some consulting businesses, it might be appropriate to systematically send out a letter to clients to stay in touch and acknowledge that you haven’t heard from them. Come up with several that are appropriate for your particular consulting business and send them out at specific times relative to the last purchase.

You need different letters because the reasons for a lack of buying vary from client to client. Track each mailing so that you can refine the process based on which letters garner the most responses.

If it’s appropriate for your business, send clients a coupon for a free hour of services. The perceived value is high and they will be inclined to use it to initiate future work.

About The Author

Bryan Brandenburg has published 5 books as well as a number of articles both in print and on the internet. He has published almost 30 software programs both for consumers and business. More information can be found at www.vmmmg.net
b.brandenburg@vmmg.net

7 Questions to Ask Before You Advertise

Most business owners and managers keep a fairly close eye on their marketing budgets. And nothing throws a budget out of whack faster than advertising. Advertising, or paying good money to get your message in front of your target market, still has a place in your marketing mix, although it’s not quite as effective as it once was.

If you’re going to advertise, you need to be smart about it — or you can quickly find yourself with a blown budget and not much to show for it. Below are seven questions to ask yourself before writing out that check.

1. Do you need to generate customers/traffic/leads/etc. right away? If so, then you better pull out your wallet. Advertising is hands down the fastest way to get your message in front of your target market. (You’re paying for placement after all.)

2. Do you have another way to get the word out about your business? For instance, do you have a customer database or an e-zine list? If so, then you might be better off sending an e-mail (assuming you have customers’ e-mails). Although technically e-mail announcements fall under advertising, I’m not counting it in this particular case because it’s more or less free (or very low cost).

Perhaps you have a good news angle and a good relationship with a reporter. Or you have a high-traffic Web site and/or blog. Or maybe you’re an active volunteer with a large organization and can use networking to get the message out.

But if none of those really apply, then you’d better take a closer look at advertising.

3. Do you need to augment your other marketing efforts? Maybe you have articles featured on a Web site targeted to your customer base. Great when your article is front and center and not-so-great when your article is buried in archives. A little advertising on that site can keep you in your target market’s sight all the time. Or maybe you struck gold and got a big article written about your company in the perfect trade publication. Fantastic for that month and not-so-fantastic for the other 11 months of the year. Or maybe it’s taking you longer than you’d like to drive traffic to your Web site. Advertising is good for speeding things along.

Frequency is king when it comes to marketing — if you’re out of your customers’ sight, you’re probably out of their mind when it comes to buying time. Advertising is a good way to beef up or speed up what you’re already doing.

4. Are other marketing methods not appropriate in this situation? Let’s say you want to have a sale. But your customer database is small (or nonexistent). Your Web site has minimal traffic. And you aren’t going to get any bites from the media since having a sale isn’t news. What do you do? Run some ads.

5. Would you rather save time than money? Let’s face it. Running an ad is easy. Other marketing methods are more time-consuming. If you want your marketing to be easy, then advertising is about as easy as it’s going to get. (Now there is a caveat to this one, because you can hire people to do some of those marketing tasks, such as updating Web sites, running PR campaigns, etc. However, not everything can be hired out so you still might be stuck spending time you don’t have.)

6. Are you planning to test a new campaign or a new product/target market? Running small, inexpensive ads can be a good way to test certain marketing aspects before launching big, expensive, time-consuming campaigns. If you want to penetrate a new market or if you have a new product to launch or a new marketing message to try, buy some ads and see what the response rate is. Another strength of advertising is control — you have total control over your test.

7. Do other marketing approaches never quite measure up? It happens. Advertising in one or two specific media outlets seem to generate more sales and more leads then anything else you’ve tried. If that’s the case, then don’t mess with it. As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Creativity Exercise — Advertising and your business

Is advertising right for your business? Try this exercise and see.

1. What’s your biggest marketing challenge right now? Write it down.

2. Go through the above list of questions and ask yourself each one. Does it apply to your situation? If it does, write that down too.

3. Do some brainstorming. In what ways can you use advertising to solve your marketing challenges? What media would work best? Online? Print? Radio? Television? Direct mail? Something else? Make up an ad for a variety of media.

Now do the exact opposite. Think of ways advertising WON’T work for your business. Brainstorm at least 25 reasons why advertising won’t work for your specific situation. Be silly. It’s a good way to loosen you up.

4. Go back and reread both your pro and con lists. Now read your ads. Do you like what you came up with? Do any of them resonate with you, even now after coming up with your list of objections?

You may have just come up with your next advertising campaign.

About the Author

Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of “Got Ideas? Unleash Your Creativity and Make More Money.” She offers two free e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.TheArtistSoul.com. Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek

Focus On The Customer: The Only Secret To Closing

People are always looking for ways to close the sale. Often times when you lose a sale, it has nothing to do with your ability to close. The only secret to closing more sales is by focusing more on your customer.

Focus on the customer goes far beyond the words coming out of your mouth. Your focus directly affects your body language, your tone, and your message. These are three of the key factors that customers use to determine if they like you and if your product can solve their problem.

Focusing on your customer means that you are actively listening and that you personally care about the customer. These things cannot be faked. You must truly want to listen and you must truly care about helping the customer. That is the only secret to closing the sale.

Body language will show you are focused on your customer. Your customers detect your body language even if they are not aware of it. There is no ‘secret’ way to ensure that you have effective body language. When you are engaged in a conversation with a customer and you remain focused, it can be nothing but positive body language.

The same is true for your tone of voice. If you are listening with the intent to understand, instead of listening with the intent to respond, then that amount of personal attention will reflect in the tone of your voice. The tone of your voice, like your body language, plays a role in how well someone receives your message.

The content of your message will naturally be in-line with what the customer would like to hear if you focus on the customer and nothing else. When you are in-sync with the customer, then the customer will guide the conversation all the way to the commitment to buy.

Here are eight ways to ensure you are focusing on your customer:

1. Relax.

2. Find out something personal about your customer.

3. Call them by their first name often.

4. Find out WHY they are interested in your product and refer back to that reason often.

5. Listen to understand the meaning of what it is they are saying.

6. If you catch yourself formulating a response before they finish talking, this means that you are not listening.

7. Look your customer in the eye.

8. Get your mind right. Why do YOU want to help this customer? If the answer is just to make the sale, then start here.

You need to care about the customer personally and care about solving their problem before you can ask them to buy from you. Many salespeople are well intentioned but lose focus of their customer somewhere during their conversation. It is this ability to maintain your focus that will not only differentiate you from your competition; it will win you more sales.

To join Tom Richard’s weekly ezine, Sales Muscle; click on https://app.quicksizzle.com/survey.aspx?sfid=7796 and you can visit his website at http://www.tomrichard.com