The Importance of Client Follow-Up

In any business, keeping in touch with your clients is important. It is especially important if you are in a service or product related company. In order to get repeat order, referrals, and increase customer loyalty, the customer needs to remember your name and needs to know how to find you.

Who to Follow Up With
There are many people you would want to follow up with, not just those that are considered to be “clients.”

• Those that placed an order.

• Those that tried a product/service.

• Those that have not placed an order, but were waiting for some reason.

• Those that gave you a referral.

Ways to Follow Up

You can also follow up in many different ways. Phone calls, personal mail, flyers via email or real mail, and regular email correspondence are all effective ways to follow up with a client. You want to have a good balance between all areas. Try to use all the methods to keep in contact. You cannot call everyone all the time and you should not email everyone all the time. Email is cheap, but can easily be ignored. Phone calls are direct, but can become annoying. Real mail is effective, but can be costly. There are positives and negatives to each option. Balance each type to be effective.

Why Follow Up

Most do not ask why we should follow up. You may find more benefits than just repeat sales. Nothing is better for business than customer loyalty. The endless referrals, sales, and word of mouth advertising are priceless. You may also want to contact a client to show your appreciation and to give them a special promotion. The more you follow up, the better name recognition your client will have with you. You may also want to follow up to provide more product knowledge. This will expand the types of products or services the client is exposed to within your company. By sending your client information about your products, services, and company, the client is not only building a relationship with you but also building a relationship with your company. They may become one of your prospects!

When to Follow Up

Follow up is not just a one time event. You can follow up immediately for trying the product, placing an order, thanking them for the referral, or attending an event. Between 2 weeks to a month, you can follow up on their product order or service: are the products working/ any problems, possible exchange, possible additional orders? You can also send information on events, referrals, and special promotions. Two to 3 months after their initial order, you should contact them for reorders, referrals and continue to inform them on new products or services, special events and promotion.

With effective follow-up, you can build business relationships that will continue to help your business grow and thrive. A great company to send follow up cards and postcards is Send Out Cards. If you would like to try out the service, visit http://www.I-Love-Sending-Cards.com.

Rebekah Kogelschatz is a stay at home with her two children in rural Florida. She is a co-founder of the site http://www.smartmoms-smartbusiness.com. You can read her blog at http://the-day-of-a-mom.com.