It’s almost a given that you should keep in touch with customers and contacts in business.
However, many small businesses are really bad at this. In fact, only a minority of all small businesses (including the self-employed) do this on a regular basis.
In this video we’ll share some key points, along with a true story, about how important it really is.
We did some research on this in 2016 and discovered that over 80% of small businesses and the self-employed don’t keep in touch with customers and contacts on a regular basis.
So, the key message here is that if you send stuff out on a regular basis then you’re more likely to stay front-of-mind when your contacts are looking for what you offer.
You see, it’s your responsibility to remind your contacts and customers to do business with you. It’s not their responsibility to remember.
I remember visiting a small e-commerce company who never did any marketing to existing customers. The worst thing is that they were struggling to reach new customers also.
When I asked if they had ever sent an email out to all customers, the son of the company founder said “Oh no, they know where we are if they need us”.
I was stunned into silence by the sheer ignorance of such a statement. (and those who know me will know that I’m rarely stunned into silence).
But the reason I say ignorance is that their customers were leaving to go to other suppliers and they were doing nothing to try and keep them.
These guys were literally paying the price because they didn’t keep in touch with customers
There really is no excuse for not keeping in touch with customers (and potential customers) these days.
One of the biggest travesties is that email marketing software is cheaper and easier to use than it’s ever been (we use Active Campaign www.activecampaign.com).
So, here’s my recommendation:
use an email marketing service (ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Constant Contact etc) and send something to your entire list every week (every 2 weeks if you’re struggling).
But whatever you do, remember to keep in touch with customers and contacts.
I promise, it will likely be the cheapest (and most effective) marketing you’ll ever do.
Want more on getting and keeping customers? Check out:
Why you shouldn’t be into every marketing channel (article and video)
Customer retention – why it’s important and how to make it work (video)