Nurture, before you ask for the next sale
One of my friends recently received a direct mailer from a large insurance company. The e-mail read something like -
Dear Customer,
In today’s fast paced lifestyle a term plan should be a part of your investment portfolio. This is a low premium, pure risk coverage plan that takes care of all your financial commitments towards your dependants, in case of an unfortunate situation.Presenting a term plan that provides you with a life cover up to 75 years of age.
My friend was quite upset and justifiably so. He was an existing customer of the company – he had purchased two very high premium policies with the company a couple of years ago. During this period, the company had never bothered to get in touch with my friend until they wanted to sell him something again. My friend has resolved never to recommend the company to anyone he knows.
There are lessons in this anecdote for all businesses.
Lesson #1
Be very careful about what you send out to customers. They can tell if you really value their relationship with you. Sending out the same standard e-mailer to everyone, including your high worth customers, gives away the fact that you do not really perceive them differently. This tempts customers to take their business to someone who makes them feel different.
Lesson #2
Nurture existing relationships irrespective of whether you have to sell something new or not. Research has shown buyers tend to buy from people they trust even if all things are not equal. You can let your customers know that you value the relationship by being in regular touch with them. Even better, you can get customers to value the relationship by providing them with useful information every time you get in touch with them.
So next time when you reach out to your existing customers for a sale, ask yourself the question, “Have I nurtured the relationship enough to ask for a repeat sale?”