Client Contact

Client contact is so extremely important when growing and running any business. In the PR world, however, it is essential. You don't want to seem fake or phony when contacting clients who you haven't been in touch with for a while or who you no longer do business with. So, how do you create or re-establish valued relationships that could turn into long-term business? Easy, just use my 3 surefire tactics!

#1. Set up a Google alert. People tend to over complicate things. Every single time you pitch a potential client or do business with a client- setup a Google alert in his or her name and one in their company's name. The first thing you should do every single day is scan your Google alerts and then send an appropriate email or make a phone call on this subject. I would do this once a week. It avoids being generic and shows the customer you do care.

#2. Be a giver. I know so many people who refuse to spend actual money buying noteworthy gifts. Hey, they work. Why would you skimp on this? If I don't hear from a former client in over two months, I send them a $25 Starbucks gift-card. Yes, I do this every two months regardless if I hear from him or her. Why? Because in the long run, it works! Rewarding clients for doing business with you, beyond giving them a stress ball with your logo on it, is a proven ROI generator.

#3. Keep a secret note stash. Yes, if a client is talking to you about one thing and says, "Excuse me, my daughter Trish just called. Let me call you back," then excuse the call but write down that this client has a daughter named Trish. Next, schedule yourself to send your client something for Trish the following week.  Again, tie in the giver step.  If your client had a death in the family, send flowers. If your client mentions trying to lose weight, send something that compliments this goal. Be personal without being obvious. Remember, the devil is in the details.

I truly hope these three tactics help you improve client contact and - eventually- your profit margin.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Is Your Website Concept Boring?

One of my business ventures is website design. I have clients who have concepts at the start of each relationship as to how their websites should look. Often, these clients are relying upon someone else’s branded design to define their own message. This is a huge no-no. I never understood why a client would want to look like their competition! 1) It shows you’re into stealing (sorry, borrowing) creative concepts and 2) It doesn’t define your own brand.

Another challenge are the clients who don’t understand that what may look nice doesn’t equate to actually being functional. A key element of this is Responsive web design (RWD), a common strategy being used today to accommodate the multiple ways a website may be accessed. It is an experienced based design that looks good on any mobile, desktop or other device.

I recently read “You need a content management system (CMS) to simplify the task of managing a website. In the old days, website content was managed by creating an HTML file on your computer and uploading it to a web server, where it was accessible to the world. The problem was that sites started to get very large, with thousands of pages. When you wanted to update something minor like the copyright date in the footer, you needed to update every file on the site. Enter the CMS.” I agree. CMS is important to every single website out there. You need to have a website that both looks great and feeds into search engines properly. There are plenty of CMS options available, some free and some not. Either way, if you don’t have one- you’re in trouble.

Boring website concepts are often the highest ranked domains on Google and alike search engines. So, ask yourself today do you want to look like your competitor or do you want to blow them away?

Coco the CEO