One of the things we're being asked about more and more is, how to stay visible in front of your clients?
You may not have spoken for a while, you may not have spoken for a long time or there just may not have been a need to speak lately. But your clients are hard won and even harder lost so here are a few top tips to help you stay visible so you're best placed when the next opportunity arises.
1. Structure your client management system. It's easier to forget to contact your clients than it is to remember! Having a system will help you stay visible and this is something Tenandahalf are now helping more and more clients with. Take a look.
2. 'Saw This and Thought of You': This is Tenandahalf gold! Send your contacts articles of interest - whether they're from The Harvard Business Review or the Match of the Day magazine. If it's of interest, it'll be received with interest.
3. Remember birthdays and anniversaries but not Christmas - and that's not a case of bah humbug by the way, it's just the gesture will be lost in a glut of seasonal post!
4. When it comes to birthdays and anniversaries, think creatively - why not celebrate the day your contact became your client?
5. Which trade magazines do your clients - not peers - read? Contact them! Build a relationship with the editor. Offer relevant case studies. Editors always need content and the fact you have a track record in helping their readers with specific issues will give you immediate credibility.
6. Which conferences and networking events do your clients go to? You should be going too - it gives you a chance to see a few clients in one place at one time (cost effective) and meet new prospects with a similar profile (even more cost effective). You can download our special report on networking here.
7. Client service reviews. While we strongly believe interviews generate a more honest response when conducted by a third party (as we explain here), conducting your own gives you the chance to get in front of your clients and invite their feedback in person.
8. Joining in with a 'cause related' activity - for example a charity fun run or auction or even entering a team for your client's quiz night - means you can stay visible, muck in and help your clients generate some much needed cash for their charity of choice.
9. Clients' in-house magazines provide a fantastic opportunity to put your name in front of a good number of your clients' employees; they also let you prove your expertise. In fact, ask for a regular column, you'd be surprised how welcome your offer will be received - there are always column inches to fill!
10. Whether it's for an intranet or the client's main website, supplying online content offers a great chance to help your client with advice they need or tools they can use and gets your name in front of the usergroup at the same time.
10 1/2. Postcards are a low cost (you can produce hundreds at once) alternative to letters, emails or brochures. Printed for cause and handwritten, they're also more personal which makes the gesture that little more sincere.
