TC: STAYING IN TOUCH – The Newsletter
Keeping paying customers and finding new ones is the life line for business survival and growth. Networking is one of the major methods for customer and referral generation. Staying in touch with existing customers is the other part of this equation.
Having boxes and boxes of cards that you picked up while networking serves only as a fire hazard. Unless they are producing customers and referrals they serve no useful purpose. How many times do you threw away cards of people that you met and don’t remember. Are you satisfied with the efforts of your networking time?
In one of our recent Tuesday Challenges I asked you to start a data base of people that know you. Part of your challenge was to post them in a contact system such as Constant Contact. Communications with customers and potential customers and referral sources is necessary for growth. In growing your data base, every time you pick up a new business card, ask the person who gave it to you if you can add them to your Value Based Newsletter mailing list. If the answer is yes, write down the date and location of the meeting on the back of the card. The next step is to add it to your data base.
Let’s define a Value Based Newsletter: this is a method of staying in touch. The frequency of such a newsletter has to be monthly, and the content has to be of value to those receiving it. To deliver the proper content you have to discover the “sweet spot” that will be important to your audience. It should be competency based, sharing something that you know. The differentiation factor that your business offers makes you unique and helps eliminate competition. Thus, an article pertaining to how your customers can improve their bottom line through the use of your products/services or through something that you learned should be included. It should be short and easy to read.
I personally recommend another short article on you as a person and what is going on in your life.
THE CHALLENGE: Today is the day to start writing your first newsletter. Pick a day of the month on which it will be sent out. You will notice a return on your time investment usually within four to six months. Consistency is the key to success. Send it out on the same day each month.
“Success will be within your reach only when you start reaching out for it.”
– Stephen Richards
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