What You'll Discover In This Episode:
Remember Jake?
No, not the one from State Farm. No, not the Neverland Pirates one either.
The Jake I emailed about last fall.
No? Okay. Here’s a quick reminder…
I asked you to imagine that Jake was one of your contacts and he was schmoozing at a barbecue when his son’s tee-ball coach laid out a problem he’s been having - a problem that you’ve made an excellent career out of solving!
I then begged the question, what would Jake do?
Would he…
- Sing your praises and suggest Coach give you a call?
- Tell Coach about your services but fail to remember your name or how you can be reached?
- Suggest Coach give your biggest competitor a call (she was just in his inbox last week after all)?
- Listen to the sob story and proceed to tell Coach best of luck with that?
One thing’s for sure… if Jake hasn’t heard from you in years, you’re likely not at the top of his mind or on the tip of his tongue.
On the other hand, if Jake received an email, text, or call from you in the last month, that small interaction significantly increased the chances of him referring you business.
And that is why effectively utilizing a contact relationship management (CRM) program to keep in touch with your contacts is so important.
But it’s not that simple. You have to maintain your CRM and that means cleaning it up every once in a while, just like you have to change out your oil to keep your car running smoothly.
And right now, just like every business owner I’ve talked to, you’re probably itching to know what you can be doing while social distancing to keep the conversation with your contacts going so when they are ready to buy, you’re top of their mind.
The answer? Cleaning up your contacts while fully utilizing your system to reach out to them.
That’s because now is the best time to invest in relationships that will drum up future business and keep you profitable on the other side of this pandemic.
Contact clean-up can be a pain point for business owners due to its tedious and time-consuming nature but with a bit of guidance, I know you can master it and use those conversations to benefit your business now and in the future.
In this repeat but ultra-relevant episode of Productivity Straight Talk, I dive deep into a) how to find, select, and execute on a contact relationship management (CRM) program if you don’t have one and b) how to clean up and fully utilize your CRM if you do.
