The Power of Continued Customer Connections

When your customer or contact gave you his or her information, that was permission to begin the process of “affinity bonding.”  Affinity bonding, discussed in more detail in “The 88 Marketing Tips That Will Change Your Life!” is really little more than building a gradually strenthening relationship bond with each customer.  (Sign up for the “The 88 Marketing Tips That Will Change Your Life!” at http://www.MarketingSuccessBlueprint.com/blog)

Each follow-up contact you have with the customer, over time, further strengthens that affinity bond developing a very strong and lasting relationship with him or her.  This is one of the most valuable assets a business can possibly have!

Done with consistency and persistence this techique can at least double the annua business you do with the people on your list.  I have seen it magnify the annual business five-fold!

Quickly after making a new contact, whether a sales call, a service call, a meeting at a conference or convention, or an introduction by a friend or business associate, begin that process.

Be warned, however.  You must not delay initiating the follow-up process.  The memory of your meeting in the mind of your new contact decays rapidly.

I suggest you drop a card in the mail the day of or the day after your introductory meeting.  At the very longest, you may wait a week.  If you wait any longer, the memory of your meeting will likely have faded too much for the new contact to remember who you are.

Once you have made the initial contact with a thank-you note or welcome letter expressing your thanks, this affinity bonding process has started.  BUT do NOT let the process cease there!  If you do let the affinity bonding process slide or drop it altogether, you are allowing large amounts of money flow out of your pocket and down the drain.

Continue to make contact with your customers several times a year to thank them, remind them that you are still around, and that you still do whatever it is that you do.  It is especially productive to do this around Thanksgiving and the Christmas Holidays and the New Year–any or all.

Remember, by definition this affinity bonding is ”relationship building,” with the emphasis on the “building.” It must be built and that takes not only time but a dedication to consistency and persistence, as well.

But don’t stop there!  Continue your direct mail and email campaigns giving them “unannounced” specials or sales only they get because they are your most valued customers.  Remember to put a date limit of some sort.  This gives the message of scarcity and limited availability–both excellent psychological triggers.  It also helps you avoid having to fulfill on your offer long after you were expecting to do so.

Maintaining this contact with announcements of new products, new services, additional training certificates, etc., is an excellent way to notify your contacts of your advancements and expansion.  It creates and maintains a momentum in the relationship you have developed with your list.

Once you have mailed the initial series of thank-yous, welcomes, announcements, etc., at short intervals of a few days to a week or two, I suggest you mail at least every 3 months and email at least every 3 weeks.  This keeps your name in front of your customers.  Strengthen that affinity bond, don’t let it simply decay into non-existence.  It is entirely too valuable an investment to allow that.

“But,” you say, “that’s a lot of paperwork for my [insert type] business.  I’m a [insert occupation], not a pencil pusher.”  My reply would be that this is a very essential part of any business.  Affinity bonding is, or should be, your essential relationship building part of it. If you are disinclined to implement this part, I would ask you what other parts of your business are you willing to discard?  How many parts can you afford to discard until you no longer have a business?

Now, the really good news is . . . you can automate that process very conveniently and inexpensively.  You can design a series of thank-you notes, welcome notes, other announcements to go out at scheduled intervals.  Then, all you do is enter a contact’s name and mailing address and automate that process.

If you already have all your customers in a database on your home or office computer, you can upload that information and begin the process for as many people as you like.  You can even set up separate automated mailing campaigns for different groups of contacts or customers.

Do this for business purposes and for personal and family contacts.

How about “Christmas in July?” 

In July you can select your Thanksgiving and Holiday cards, add you uploaded signature, select the date to be mailed, and press “Send” to mail them on that date.

Can you make seasonal card mailing any simpler?

Don’t drop the affinity bonding ball. Check out this simple resource at Marketing Success Blueprint.

Want this valuable service but would rather not do it yourself? We can do it for you! Call me at 318-548-1134.

To your business success!

Paul Elliott

Marketing With Unbelievable Guarantees!™
http://www.MarketingSuccessBlueprint.com/blog

© 2008, Paul Elliott, All rights reserved world wide.