October President's Letter

By Jonathan Munsell, CD, 2019 IDA President

My monthly message to the best detailers, suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors in the world.

As we approach the end of 2019, let's touch on the topic of how detailers are constantly on the hunt for new customers and seem to ignore the ones they’ve already established.

Keeping “In Touch”… Forever

Are you doing everything you can to keep in touch with your customers so the next time they need your services they remember who you are, what you do, and where to find you?

Ask yourself:

• Will your past customers call you the next time they have a question or need another job?  Or will they call someone else?
  
• Will they refer a friend or relative to you, even though maybe you’ve not made the slightest effort to stay in touch with them?
  

From my experience, it's not likely.

Oh sure, a few customers might stay with you, but most will move on.

Remember: Out of sight, out of mind.

Keep in mind the majority of referral and repeat sales opportunities come long after the job has been completed.  To maximize repeat and referral business, you need to remain “top-of-mind” with your customers two months, six months, and even 60 months after you’ve completed their project.  Assuming that your customers are loyal and they will reach out to you when they are in need of something else, or expecting that they recommend you to someone else might be naive and could cost a company a lot of money in missed sales and opportunities.

A suggested exercise might be to pick any industry and study the businesses doing the best in their niche.  You'll find they are the ones who’ve developed systems for building, maintaining, and growing relationships with their clients.

Now study the businesses that are struggling and constantly complaining about how bad business is, how bad the economy is, and you’ll find that they do next to nothing to keep in touch with their customers.  If you’re guilty of doing that, you’re leaving the most valuable asset of your business behind!  Very few businesses make the effort to follow up with their customers.  When you differentiate yourself from everyone else, when you stand out, your customers will notice.

Now, how do you let them know about additional products and services they may be interested in?  How do you request referrals from them?  You’ve got to implement a system of interesting and informative, ongoing communication that includes emails, texts, letters, newsletters (email and print), and phone calls.  By doing these things you’ll become the trusted advisor for the products and services you offer.  Then, when your past clients want additional work done, they’ll call you.  They’ll also refer their friends and family to you.  Your next step would be to have a referral program in place.  Finally, you’ve got to have a referral appreciation system in place.  I could go on, but I will save referral marketing for another day.

As always, reach out to me or the IDA if we can help in any way!

Respectfully yours,