Low Cost Marketing: Follow-up Calls

I read a Blog post today from master Marketer, Seth Godin, where he riffed on the importance of following up your clients/customers with what I call ‘care calls’ – this is something I have often made noises about but, until now, have not been disciplined enough to do religiously. As of today that has changed:

A team member will now make ‘care calls’ to the majority of customers, 1-2 weeks after their job has been completed to check on how they found the product or service and how it worked for them in terms of generating responses or sales. Here’s what Seth had to say – is this something that could work for your business?:

"How'd it work out?"

“It turns out that the light fixtures a builder used in my kitchen a few years ago have all begun to fail. One by one, each one stops working. My guess is that he has no idea, and continues to confidently install these fixtures, his go-to choice for kitchen lighting. And why not? He doesn't know that they only have a relatively short life. He doesn't know because he didn't ask. Doctors and consultants and builders are often hesitant to ask about how something worked long after the work is done. It feels like nothing but a chance to hear a complaint. It's not. It's a chance to show that you care. And a chance to learn how to get even better at what you do.”Via Seth Godin.typepad.com.

 

• What if you set up a system for following up clients & customers within 1-2 weeks of purchasing from you? (I’m lucky enough to have a software package that will do this for me – however a paper based system can work just as well). 5 calls each morning maybe all it takes (15 minutes total?).

• I have purchased 3 Televisions, from 3 different stores, in the past 3 years – What if a sales person from any one of the stores had called me to check how the TV was working for me? I would have been ‘blown away’ at their great service (& asked that they replace the small plastic cover off the back that had fallen off) - chances are I would have been converted to a loyal customer to that supplier (& bought my 2 other Televisions from them). How would you react if someone called you after a major purchase to check how it is going for you?

• If you get a great response, then why not ask for a testimonial or a referral? If you identify a problem & resolve it with flair, then you are just as likely to create a fan of your business.

In my experience, many businesses & sales people, ‘Care’, until you have handed over your hard earned cash – What difference would it make to their repeat business if they really proved they ‘Cared’ 1-2 weeks down the track? Why not give it a go – I’m betting it has a big impact.