As you progress in your sales career you will find that there are two types of clientele – the kind you want to keep and the kind you want to get rid of. Often times, it’s more difficult to keep the good clients than it is to get rid of the bad.

So what can you to do improve the relationships you have with your current clients – to ensure they become and remain loyal to you? here are a few things to consider.

1. Be consistent in your communications. Don’t harass your clients when it’s time for contract renewal and then forget about them for the rest of the year. Make a conscious effort to honestly and respectfully make contact throughout the year. Offer your services and make sure they’re happy with what you’ve been offering.
2. Build personal relationships with your customers. Ask about their families, children, and hobbies. Connect with them on a personal level. They’ll appreciate your interest and you might even end up with a new friend.
3. Ask your clients for their opinions. Let them know you care about what they think and make sure you respond to their questions and concerns. If they know you care they’ll be more likely to a) stay with you and b) refer you to others.
4. Design a client loyalty program. Give your long-term clients thank-you gifts for staying with you after they’ve hit certain milestones. And, please, make sure you mail every client a thank-you of some sort after signing an initial contract or making a renewal deal.
5. Share valuable information with your clients. Have you read a book or seen a special that someone you know might benefit from? Lend the book or recommend the show. Your clients will appreciate knowing you were thinking of them.

Remember – it costs a lot less to retain a current customer than it does to sell a product to a new one. Retain the customers you have now and you’ll always be one step ahead of the game!

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

As you approach your next ad campaign you may begin thinking about the things you can do to make your ad copy stand out from the competition. There are a number of approaches you can take but today I want to steer you away from one – humour.

I love a good laugh as much as the next guy but when it comes to writing ad copy humour is one thing you should absolutely avoid. Yes, humour will earn you some attention but, in reality, is it the right type of attention?

Let’s just say you write a really funny ad. It gets clipped from papers and hung on walls; people talk about it; and you might even get a few phone calls with inquiries. The problem with a humorous ad, however, is just that – it’s humorous.

People won’t take you seriously.

They’ll agree you’re a funny guy but deep in their subconscious minds they’ll be questioning whether or not you’re the right person to do business with. Will you treat their companies and concerns seriously – or turn them into jokes?

Humorous advertisements are likely to win awards for the guys who write them but often do nothing more. Avoid humor in your copy and stick towards enticing, concrete facts. You’ll be more successful in the long run.

All the best

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker – Sales Expert

The month of January is rapidly drawing to a close and now that you’re over the post-holiday blues I challenge you to seriously consider the way you are branding your business.

You are building a brand, right?

According to Barrett and Smimonds, there are 8 main elements to branding. A good branding campaign simply can’t exist without all 8 elements but very rarely do marketers sit down and think about each element before launching a campaign.

So what are the 8 most important elements? They’re as follows:

• Competitive context – do you have a needed/wanted product and does it exist in a competitive market?
• Do you know your target market? Advertising without this information is a waste of your time and money.
• Have you asked your customers for insight about the products and services you are offering? They’re the best source of information you have – and they’re almost always honest.
• Does your product or company have features that set you apart from the crowd?
• Do you offer benefits no other company offers?
• Does your brand have a challenging, fun, and engaging personality or does it simply exist.
• Do you know what makes you different from the competition?
• Does your brand have its own essence? Is it real, invariable, and energetic?

What type of brand are you working to build right now? Hopefully it’s something your customers (and employees, for that matter) can identify with. If not, you may need to consider making a few changes – and soon.

All the best

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker – Sales Expert

You’re almost 20 days into 2010 and I have a question.

Have you taken the time to review your current book of business to determine which clients you’re going to get rid of this year?

Yup. I said it. Which ones are you going to fire?

The truth of the matter is this. At least 10%, if not more, of your book of business is not profitable. If you’re like everyone else in sales, you probably have a handful of small clients who call you every other day demanding your attention, sucking your customer service team dry. It costs you more money to service their accounts than you’re actually making. Maybe they’re slow pay accounts that can never seem to keep up with their bills but still demand your time.

But how do you fire a customer? It’s simple.

Raise their prices.

They’ll respond in one of two ways. They’ll accept the price increase (thus becoming profitable) or take their business elsewhere (in which case you won’t be upset anyway).

Make sure you draw clear customer service lines when you make those price increases, too. Clarify exactly what your clients should expect to receive and make sure they understand that additional services beyond their contract will come at additional cost.

Don’t be afraid of getting rid of unprofitable clients. Lightening your load will actually relieve a lot of pressure and will give you the time and energy you need to chase after more profitable accounts.

Good luck!

All the best

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker – Sales Expert