The Top Five Strategies for Staying in Front of your Clients

Business development is very similar to gardening. You start by planting seeds. If you water and nurture them, you will be rewarded with sprouts that continue to grow and flourish. However, if you don't invest the time in caring for your seeds, they won't thrive, and eventually they will die. Of course, there's more that goes into business development than planting and watering seeds, but staying on your clients' and prospects' grid is truly the contractor's equivalent to having a green thumb.

Too often, the focus is on planting the seeds of sales development with too little effort placed on nurturing them.  A properly developed and implemented touch point management program is what is needed. Prospecting and networking are unarguably essential components to achieving success, but they're only the first steps that then need to be followed up with timely, smart methods for staying in touch over an extended period of time. The following are five of the most effective strategies for taking those next steps for staying on the grid of your prospects and clients:

Stay in Touch Using Value-Added E-mails
While it's a good idea to "touch bases" with contacts after initially meeting them, repeated attempts to connect with them via e-mail or phone without a specific reason can be both bothersome and fruitless.

A better approach is to reach out to both new prospects and existing clients with a valid purpose. Instead of e-mailing just to say "hi," you will grab their attention more productively by also including links to articles or websites of interest.  Identify these sources of information based upon what you already know about them - their business requirements, hobbies, or special interests. Find the links by simply Googling key words. You'll probably discover a variety of websites, blogs and online articles that will be useful. Choose what you think would be the most relevant (usually within the first three pages of a Google search), and copy and paste the link into the body of your e-mail. Then, add a personal note and send it off.

This is a very quick and handy way for breaking the ice with a new contact or reminding an existing client that you're still thinking of them. It's informative, interesting, not self-serving and of value to the recipient. This strategy can also be used with "snail mail". When you see an article of interest, cut it out and mail it to your contact with a hand-written note. In fact, the snail mail approach can often garner you even more attention than with an e-mail, as it has become so uncommon that it's now refreshing! The key is to be known as an information provider and a person who wants to stay on the grid because of the value that they add.

Become a People Connector
Linking people to other people can be an extremely beneficial way for you to stay on others' grids long-term. People don't forget those who have been helpful to them and who have connected them to someone of value. Seek out opportunities to connect prospects with prospects and clients with each other. Connections can be made through e-mail introductions, scheduled small group breakfasts, lunches or any way that is appropriate to the type of group.

Extend Invitations
There always seems to be an endless stream of charity functions, golf outings, networking get-togethers, seminars and conferences. If an event might be of interest to a contact, invite them to join you as your guest. You'll be able to have some quality time to get to know each other better and possibly talk a little business. Do you have invitations for events that you can't attend? Instead of throwing them out, think of who might be interested and forward them the information along with a note or e-mail that you were thinking of them.