Sales And Selling Technique: Turning A So-So Idea Into One That Works

As a service professional when you earn a client you want a life-time client not a one-time sale. The more interaction you have with your clients the greater their satisfaction, and the greater their satisfaction the more likely they are to stay with you, appreciate your services, and refer you to others. Obviously staying in touch is a good investment of your time.

But is staying in touch a good investment of your clients time? This is where you have the opportunity to take a so-so idea, and turn it into one that does what you want it to do. Derrick Kinney recommends calling the client and saying, “Hi, Mr. Client. I was just thinking of you and wanted to get in touch to see how you are doing. Is there anything I or my company can do for you?”

”I was just thinking of you” is a powerful and good start to the connection. Your client will appreciate being thought of and will immediately feel good about you. However, what you say after that point needs to add value to the client without blatantly being about you!

When you ask, “Is there anything I or my company can do for you?” you end those good feelings because now the client knows your call is nothing more than a sales call. At that point you’ve lost all those good feelings and the client will want to get off the phone fast. The better approach is to actually have something to offer the client that will benefit them. This could be an article you’ve read about something you know they’re interested in, a conversation you’ve had with something they should meet, news about an event you know they’ll want to attend, etc. Make sure you’re “I was thinking about you call” is truly about them. Instead of wanting to get rid of you and being annoyed with you they’ll want to talk to you, and as you talk the likelihood that the client will say, “gosh I’m glad you called I was just thinking about calling you to ask you about…” increases. Now the client is asking you to have a sales conversation.

Will this happen every call? No. Yet every call you’re building that connection, increasing the trust and goodwill, and making certain your client mentions you to the next person you can help. It goes back to the simple principle of helping others and giving them good reasons to refer you.