Jun 03 2008
Client Follow-Up in the Service Industry
There are so many tools today to enhance your business presence. There is print advertising in magazines and trade journals. There are the multitudes of areas regarding your internet presence, which of course, can skyrocket your customer base if you know what you’re doing, or it can drain your wallet while catapulting your competition beyond your reach.
Whatever service-related business you are in, if you are dealing directly with the public, I’ll tell you, hands down, the biggest mistake that business owners make is client follow-up. I see it constantly in almost all types of businesses. Client follow-up is the most underrated, and by far, the worst executed part of the whole business process that prevents a company from reaching its full potential. After all, is business so good for you that you can afford to casually wait to respond to a request?
Case and point. You advertise on the internet, and you receive leads from some industry-specific lead program. Let’s say you get 5 leads per week from that source. Chances are, in our very hectic NJ environment, the client is just as busy as you are. In their quest to find the best service professional, he or she will try to choose the best whatever (contractor, paperhanger, website builder, and wedding singer) in the shortest time-frame. The service professional who returns the client’s call first, many times, good or bad, may be the beneficiary to that new client. That’s follow-up.
Another case and point. If you answer a request or respond to a lead, many business owners think that the potential client will (or should) return his or her call immediately if truly interested. Not so! The fact is that your potential client is so darn busy with his daily critical tasks; yours may be #12 on his list of things to do. Follow-up again!
A successful service professional must follow-up at least a few times without fail. And that sometimes means more than a few times, and that 4th or 5th call-back, email, or hand-written note sometimes closes the sale. On the other hand, you also need to keep in mind that if this repeated follow-up is not done in a professional manner, it could just turn the client off and cause him to pass you up for another professional. What can I say; life (and business) is more of an art than it is a science.
I will tell you this; if you don’t follow-up early and often, someone else will, and you’ll be short-circuiting your chances for obtaining new clients and limiting your business growth potential. You live and learn the specific techniques that work for you when following-up with potential customers. Be persistent without appearing too aggressive (or obnoxious!) and keep doing and refining those follow-up techniques until they become a science (i.e., YOUR OWN personal process).
So don’t get discouraged or taken-back by a potential client’s lack of response regarding your initial follow-up to their request. Learn to expect this in our hustle and bustle NJ environment and, no matter what, follow-up religiously the same way you would want someone else to follow-up for you to earn your business. What’s the worst that can happen? You’ll get better at the process and grow your business.
New Jersey pianist Arnie Abrams has been a professional musician and performer for over 20 years. He has provided live music for countless clients for their weddings, parties and corporate affairs throughout New Jersey, metro New York and Philadelphia.
