You have made that initial call and talked with the correct person, found they had a need for your product/service, but the contact is not ready to purchase for a myriad of reasons; no budget till 2nd quarter next year (it’s July of this year), they review in the slow season next June, in the middle of a contract period, etc. Now what? Keep in Touch with them!
Why do Subway, WalMart, and AllState seem to always be there when you open your mailbox, check your email/favorite websites, etc.? Keeping in Touch is the only way for you to remind your customers/prospects of your products/services WHEN they need you.
Marketing 101 says the more ways and more times someone sees, hears, reads, smells(?) or even touches your message the more likely they are to remember you when a need arises.
You don’t need to sell them with each time. The goal is to keep you top of mind for when they do need you.
Keeping in Touch with your prospects and customers by:
-Mailing a postcard; seasonal specials, new product/service intro or even happy holidays or birthday.
-Emailing a newsletter; monthly, quarterly or seasonally
-Making a phone call; “I saw an article and thought of your company”
-Writing a blog (like this one); advice columns
-Exhibiting at tradeshows, Chamber of Commerce events or even neighborhood events where they hang out.
Keep the message relevant:
If you have only transactional information about your clients, nSightful can append demographic information to your file so you can sort/segment the list. Find out if your prospects/clients are married/single, over a certain age, have kids, have pets or enjoy cycling. In short, add information that will help you make your message more relevant to the target audience.
Target the right audience for your product/service:
If you have a cross section of clients and a cross section of products/services, use data enhancement to keep your Keeping in Touch message relevant to the audience. Offer back to school incentives to mothers. Offer home improvement to homeowners.
Timing:
Timing is just as important as the right audience, message and product/service. An event dictates the timing of the message. e.g. Holidays, tax season, back to school, prom, elections, and even annual rival football games.
When was the last time you saw an advertisement for a personal injury or workman’s comp attorney? Probably the last time you were sitting home watching TV nursing a cold or the flu bug. Why, because their audience is sitting home during the day.
And finally keep your data clean:Keep your contact list up-to-date with regular hygiene including phone append/verify, NCOA (National Change of Address) processing, deceased flag and identifying duplicate contacts, etc.
The bottom line is Keep in Touch with those hard earned customers and elusive prospects because your competition is! 
Greg Good
www.nSightful.com
