Sensible Tips That Nurture Customer Relationships
Scan this blog for common sense reasons for contacting customers in person, and ways to use inside sales teams to develop more business. Pick up easy-to-use scripts and methods for learning more about your customers. We also include a seasonal calendar for getting in touch.
It doesn’t have to be a call, especially if you are short of staff.
Create a direct mail campaign or simple greeting card, flyer drop of a postcard in the post, to keep in touch with your customers. We can help you here and give you some ideas.
You will never be short of an excuse for touching base with your, well…customer base.
Contact Customers with a Consultative Selling Approach
Why make a proactive phone call to your customers? After all, if they wanted to speak with you they would phone you, right?
Not always.
There is a perception out there that you, as sales people, are in danger of hassling your customers and the approach you take is ‘leave them be’. You assume they will be too busy.
Revisit & Remind Customers
In a recent Snap internal survey, customers were contacted and asked why they have not ordered from us in a while and the majority came back with variations of the same answer ‘we haven’t heard from in a while’.
Reach Customers Whom Your Advertising & Sales Promotions Don’t
You may think your customers know as much about your product offering as you do. This is incorrect.
Your latest Print/promotions/marketing campaign could be very high on your agenda. However, it is may not be high on your customers’ priority list.
How many times have you heard a customer say ‘I didn’t know you could do that?’ This will continue to be the case unless you get close to your customers.
You have so much available to help them grow their business. This is consultative selling.
There are many touchpoints. Many reasons to talk, read on and learn more…
1. Contact Customers Post-Delivery
Call all customers who received a delivery yesterday.
Purpose of Post-Delivery Call
- To see if they have received their order and to make sure they are 100% satisfied.
- To see if anything else will be coming up in the future.
- To ask for a referral.
Post Delivery Telesales Script
‘Hi John, it’s Karen from (name of your business), how are you? The reason for the call John is to see if you received your order and to make sure you are nothing less than 100% satisfied with our work?’
What to Say in a Post-Delivery Sales Call
- Is everything okay with your order?
- Did the quality of the product/service meet or exceed your expectations?
- Were the goods delivered on time and in good condition?
- I hope you see a good return on your investment.
- Is there any general feedback, both positive and constructive you could provide to me?
- Is there anything else I could help you with soon or in the future?
- Would you know of anyone else in your workplace that could benefit from a similar experience?
- Thanks once again for the order, I appreciate your business.
Takeaway: All delivery follow-up calls should take place within 24 hours of delivery.
2. Contact Customers who received a Quote Yesterday
Call all customers who received a quote yesterday. Why?
Purpose of Quote Follow-Up Call
- To follow up on a request.
- To see if you can proceed with an order.
- To remove from your live quotes list
Quote Follow-Up Telesales Script
‘Hello John it’s Stephen from (name of your business), how are you today? The reason for the call John is to discuss the quote we did recently for you. Can I ask you what did you like about the quote and are you in a position to proceed with the job?’
What to Say in a Quote Follow-Up Sales Call
- Did you receive the quote I emailed/faxed yesterday?
- What did you like about the quote?
- Shall I proceed with the order?
- What quantities would you prefer?
- Are you required to give me a PO number?
- What are your deadlines for completion?
- Are there any special requirements?
- What type of finishing would suit you?
Takeaway: All quote follow-up calls should take place within 24 hours of the quote.
3. Contact Lapsed Customers who have Not Ordered in a While
Call all customers who have not ordered in a while.
Purpose of Calling Lapsed Customers
- To see if they have a requirement for print/promotions/marketing.
- To see if they have gone elsewhere.
- To remind them you exist.
Lapsed Customers Telesales Script
‘The reason for the call Mary is I was looking at our business trends and noticed you have not placed an order with us for some time and my fear is we may not be looking after your needs properly although I’m hoping that is not the case?’
What to Say in a Lapsed Customers Sales Call
- I have not heard from you in a while. Have I failed to meet your expectations in your last order?
- Did I upset you in any way?
- Can I call out and discuss what has improved since then?
- Do you have activity coming up in the near future I could help you with?
- Could I do an analysis of your requirements with a view to offering you a complete solution saving you time, resources and money?
- Would you give me and opportunity to make amends?
Takeaway: Customers become lapsed because you have either upset them or they have felt unimportant. Getting close to the customer is vital.
4. Contact Customers who Ordered this Time Last Year
Call all customers who ordered this time last year. Why?
Purpose of Calling Customers who Ordered Same Time Last Year
- To see if you can remind them about a re-order.
- To see if there is an opportunity elsewhere.
- To discuss a seasonal opportunity.
Annual Customers Telesales Script
‘Hi John, how are you?
Two reasons for the call John. One I wanted to thank you for the work you gave us last month we really appreciate it and I hope it was up to scratch for you. Secondly, I was looking at the type of work you give us and I noticed you ordered (insert product) in April of last year. Is that something John that is done annually because if it is, you may want to give it some thought now saving you time and stress?’
What to Say in an Annual Customers’ Sales Call
You ordered (insert product) this time last year. Is this a job that is to be repeated this year? If so you may want to look at it now.
- Is there anything else I could be looking at with you?
- What are your plans to promote your business?
- How is your business performing since we last spoke?
- How do you drum up business, do you use local marketing?
- (Seasonal Reminder) Do you need our services coming up to Christmas?
Takeaway: If a customer is reminded of a job that you produced last year you may save them time and headaches by reminding them earlier, giving them plenty of lead time.
5. Seasonal Reasons for Contacting your Customers
Keep tabs on the seasonal nature of your customers’ needs. Your local marketing environment will give you plenty of reasons to get in touch when looking at your local calendar of events.
How would you adapt this to your business or industry?
Here is a sample of what we at Snap, would consider on a seasonal basis and approach our customers with.
- January
- New Year, new budgets, new designs, new branding?
- New Stationery or graphics needed with the new year printed?
- Would new sales brochures/marketing materials get you to a winning start? Local marketing follow-up mail out a check-list postcard.
- Consider St Valentine’s Day opportunities.
- February
- St Patrick’s Day, opportunities.
- Posters offering special offers/incentives. Local marketing follow-up with a Mail and promotional gifts.
- March
- Did you enter our Spring competition?
- Would mailers be something your company could benefit from in the run up to Easter?
- Direct mailer follow-up. Did you receive your latest mailer?
- April
- Did you notice your special Easter offer /Easter egg gift we sent?
- Have you any Summer Promotions coming up?
- Any summer Sports events do you need help with?
- May
- Hotels who promote Summer tourist offers and Christmas party venues. Menus, flyers, poster, direct mail campaigns, banners, brochures. Local marketing follow-up.
- June
- Who needs to refresh their branding or Menus re-designed & printed, gift vouchers,
- Who needs to replenish their corporate stationery such as invoices, headed paper, business cards, testimonial cards, and stock cards…
- July
- Direct mailer follow-up. Did you receive your latest mailer?
- Did you get the free keyboard calendar? Would that be something your company could look at doing to promote your brand?
- Back to Schools Marketing. Branding opportunities (banner up, school bags, rulers, pencil cases, signs for around sports pitches etc.) Printing (school homework diary, school headed notepad, headed paper, printed envelopes, sponsored walk card, report card, copying/binding etc.) Local marketing follow-up.
- August
- Christmas party flyers, NCR books, signage, kids colouring pages/menus, promotional pens/key rings, loyalty cards etc. Local marketing follow up.
- Did you enter the competition? Did you notice your special offer?
- Would back-to-business mailers be something your company could benefit from after the summer holidays?
- September –
- Corporate Christmas gifts. (name of your business) mailer follow up. ‘Did you receive our latest mailer? Did you enter the competition? Did you notice our special offer?
- Would Pre- Christmas mailers be something your company could benefit from? Would you offer your customers a Corporate gift? Have you organised gifts yet?’ .
- October
- Christmas cards – ‘Would you normally send out Christmas cards to your clients? Have you received our Christmas card brochure yet? Was there a card that represented your company or you thought was particularly nice?’ Local marketing follow up.
- Diaries. It’s a useful gift that acts as a brand reminder all year long. Early orders avoid disappointments if sending out this Christmas . ‘You ordered diaries from us last year, would this be something you would be looking to do this year?’.
- November
- Closing off Christmas card, calendars, gifts and diary orders. Local marketing follow up. November – Closing off Christmas card, calendars, gifts and diary orders. Local marketing follow up.
- Calendars and diaries
- December
- Marketing for next year. ‘Any ideas how you will promote your business? Brochures, flyers, mail campaigns etc.’
6. Contact Customers and Prospects in Challenging Times
Here’s why it is a worthwhile to contact with Customers when the business environment is challenging.
- To see if your business can provide them with ideas in marketing to help promote their business.
- To see if you could look at ways of reducing the cost out of their print spend.
- To see if your contact is still in position (And if not who has replaced them).
Script for Challenging Business Environment
‘I would like the opportunity to meet with you and look at how I can help make purchasing (insert your product/service) for your business, a more streamlined and cost-effective process. By combining the resources of our (insert your resources) along with our recent investment in (insert your own items here), I can certainly offer you a more practical solution. Another potential saving for your business is purchasing on line. I have a new (insert new product or service idea) which I can demonstrate.’
What to Say in a Challenging Business Environment
- How is the recession affecting your business?
- Are you doing anything differently this year?
- Are you providing your customers with special offers to grab their attention?
- How are you promoting your special offers?
- How are you competing against your competitors?
- Would quality marketing ideas and reduced print cost help?
7. Cold Calls. Find Prospects You Have Not Met Yet
Cold calls are occasionally important to your business as you constantly need new customers. Think of it as information gathering exercise, learn something about your target segment and your business.
This is a basic fact find to see if you are a fit. If it is possible to do business.
- Check Regional Databases or the golden pages regularly for new business in your neighbourhood at least once a quarter and call them to introduce yourself.
- Check LinkedIn regularly to see if new decision makers have come on-board in your client companies.
You also want to gather as much information as possible regarding their business and if necessary, strike them off your local marketing list.
Even when rejected, they may tell you why they don’t need you
Sales Information to Harvest during Cold Calls
- Who is their target audience,
- What are they selling,
- How do they promote their business?
- Who is the gatekeeper? Who is the decision maker
There are literally thousands upon thousands of these calls made to businesses every day. But not all get their immediate success or even past the ‘gate-keeper’.
Takeaway: Having an idea about the company profile you are calling will help.
Key Takeaway
Regardless of what business you may be in, keeping strong customer relationships is a key activity for any sales team. Nurturing existing clients is your effective route to a steady sales pipeline.
Inbound marketing and the ever-increasing digital toolbox can deliver much in terms of lead generation. Nevertheless, once the first contact is established, a human touch goes a long way to keeping the interaction constant.
Even new customers and lapsed customers deserve human contact.
Make personal contact part of your inbound repertoire. Get past those overflowing in boxes and ad-blocks online, reinforce your inbound marketing with a simple sales call, a personally delivered gift, a personal handwritten card, a surprise in the post.
How Snap Helps You Nurture Customer Relationships
We always assume everyone is aware of what we have to offer too, so we’ll follow our own advice.
‘Let me take a moment to tell you a little bit about us.’
- Snap Printing is Ireland’s Leading Business Print and Design Group.
- We have a network of 24 centres nationwide with a group turnover of €25 million.
- We have been around for 25 years and have grown consecutively each year since we started.
- We currently do some business we 70% of Ireland’s top, 1,000 companies.
- We have ISO accreditation.
Let Snap help you nurture your Customer Base.
Some of our relevant product and services:
- We can create nurture campaigns that include direct mail, postcard, greeting card and email campaigns to help you keep in touch with the client.
- Our Graphic design team will help you get your messages out visually on social media too
- We source hundreds of branded promotional products and goody bag fillers that can be used in your field sales calls.
- Our Digital printing technology uses variable printing to create highly personalised collateral –
- Or just share your thoughts, powwow with our sales teams and we’ll help with ideas
