Nurture the clients you have before you woo prospects you hope to have.
Many salespeople have learned to invest as much time in learning about their existing clients as they do finding new clients. They know that a better understanding of the clients they already have can lead to additional business. And don’t forget your best clients are your competitors best prospects!
Demonstrate an interest in your customers business. Read their trade magazines, attend their internal meetings on topics related to your services, stay current on client publications and web sites, and meet with your customers regularly to discuss their business. Professional service providers typically budget one-third of their client development time for nurturing existing client relationships.
A couple of tips for optimizing existing customer relationships:
- Make sure you have two points of contact for every customer, and make sure both individuals stay current on the client’s industry and business.
- Budget for your client nurturing activities, think of it as a marketing investment.
- Strive to provide value when meeting with customers even though it’s on your nickel – this is all about building relationship, not selling the next piece of business.
- Use services such as Google Alerts and wsj.com to track the latest news about your clients.
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