If you have just found yourself a client and have gone through a successful deal with him, accept our congratulations. You have gone through the hard part of it all and made the deal happen. Now, all that is left is the easiest part of it all - and yet somehow the majority of ventures do not reach their full potential simply because they did not have an effective follow-up system. Psychological studies have shown that out of the four customer's experience combinations that are possible after the customer has done business with you twice, the best possible outcome for the customer relationship is when, initially, the customer is not completely satisfied, and, afterwards, his concerns get addressed to turn his second experience into a remarkable one. This is only made possible through thorough and effective follow-up system. Easily done, but somehow so often forgotten.
Firm schedule
A customer will not sit at his house for weeks, thinking about his experience with your company and waiting for you to ask about it. In fact, in the possible case of the customer being extremely unsatisfied, the only practical way to prevent him spreading the word about it is to follow up immediately. That means, the deadline for a call with a questionnaire is the same day. Employing the services of an assistant or of Outlook's reminders feature can help you be as organized as you can about this rigid schedule.
Needs evaluation
Since in order to be effective, a follow up needs to be highly customized, it would help if the call to the customer was done by the actual person who worked with the client. That way, the two can chat about the particularities of their work together and start forming a professional bond. Such provider-to-client relationships lay down the basis of customer loyalty, which in turn solidifies a business's chances of success.
Handling feedback
Now, the follow-up call does not have to be only a minute to gather some data for a graph. In fact, if this minute serves only that purpose, this may be the last minute of communication with your particular client. Instead, the caller should be able to send the message of great appreciation for the customer's business. That would imply commencing to fix any problems that the client may have encountered during his day at your firm. This task is not difficult at all, but if the person following up succeeds to communicate his care for that particular client's time, your firm will be well on its way towards turning disappointed buyers into your company's most loyal fans.
On the other hand, if the customer seems to have been pleased, they are already on your side and it's time to make sure that what they expect from their coming visits to your firm matches what the firm is able to offer them.
Tracking data
With the help of handy software packages like the Business Contact Manager, you can complete your follow-up task with jotting down the responses you collect from the customers. After a short while, you will end up with a rich library of information about your own clients, something that professional marketers sometimes do not even see in their dreams.
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