Keep In Touch Marketing

My birthday is in September, and I'm amazed at the volume of mail I'm getting from businesses to honor this special day. I don't think many of my family members will send a card, but I've received cards -- and even a small plastic bottle -- from the Nebraska Lottery, Canfield's Sporting Goods, and two local restaurants, among others. Real estate and insurance agents are masters of it: Keep in touch marketing.

It's the art (and science) of keeping your name in front of clients, prospects, referral sources, and the media. It's not difficult -- although it does take a commitment. It's not expensive, but it does require an investment of your time.

The goal of keep in touch marketing is to put something in front of your target audiences 6-8 times per year.

As Lois K. Geller, author of "Response! The Complete Guide to Profitable Direct Marketing" writes:

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One of the best ways to develop customer loyalty is to establish ongoing communication with the people who are most important to your business. One of my favorite methods of ongoing communication is to offer customers education. Another method of continuing communication with your customers is to send them something they can use throughout the year to keep your name in front of them. It can be as simple as a refrigerator magnet or a pen with your name inscribed on it."

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She goes on to say:

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"Not all communication has to be offer-driven. You can write to give people information, to thank them for buying, to let them know you haven't heard from them in a while, or just to say hello. Of course, if you want to add an offer, that's fine too."

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Other forms of communication programs include:
• Fliers
• Newsletters
• Educational Materials
• Birthday Cards
• Holiday Greetings
• Thank-you Notes
• Personalized Letters

Start planning your Keep in Touch marketing program today!

New Issue of Resume Writers Digest

It's ready! The first issue of Resume Writers' Digest published since June of 2005.

If you have already signed up for the double opt-in mailing list (using the form at the top right-hand corner of this blog), you'll receive your issue tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007).

In this issue:
• Knowing Just the Right Thing to Say: Using Keywords Correctly in Resumes (Cover Story)
• Top 30 Keywords Recruiters Use
• Never Lend (and Lose!) A Book Again -- Plus, Make Money at the Same Time
• Calendar of Events
• Position, Rate, and Elevate The Resumes You Write
• The Publicity Hound: Let Bloggers Create Publicity For You
• Program Offers Opportunity to Help Clients "Get Hired Now!"
• Overview of the "Get Hired Now!" System
• "The Back Page" -- a new feature with excerpts from this blog

Five Questions to Get More Referrals

To get more referrals (not to mention testimonials), try asking your clients these five questions:
1. Why did you buy from me/us?
2. How do you feel about the work I/we have done?
3. What are you happiest about, and most satisfied with?
4. What would you change or do differently next time?
5. How can I/we serve you better in the future?

These five questions identify motivations behind the purchase that can help you target your marketing materials and sales pitch.

I challenge to you to ask just FIVE of your clients these five questions. I think you'll be surprised at the answers.

Pricing Strategies

Wondering about your payment policies? Here are my thoughts on the subject.

Most payment policies are actually more about pricing and branding. If you are targeting an audience that needs your services, and (collectively) can afford your services (i.e., your target market is not homeless veterans, and you charge $250 for a resume), your pricing and payment issues should not be as much of an issue as it apparently is for some resume writers.

For clients, it comes down to "trust, but verify." If I'm paying you $500 for a resume, how do I know that I'll get my money's worth? If I pay you 100% up front, I'm taking a leap of faith that I'll get what I'm promised. If I put down a deposit ($50 or 50% or more), we both have something invested in the process, but there's still a finalization process. If you don't collect anything up front, the resume writer takes on the risk of not getting paid. So there's a balance.

How do you alleviate your prospect's concerns? Relationship building is a key part of the process of turning a prospect into a client. (But remember, not every prospect will become a client -- nor should you want all of them!) Create a comfort level with prospects through testimonials, articles, samples on your site, success stories, e-mail newsletters, and certifications.

Allow clients to pre-qualify themselves -- if you don't do $45 resumes, put a range of prices on your site or in your materials so they won't waste their time -- or yours! Your clients should not be surprised when you finally quote a price -- they should have a general idea based on your marketing and positioning of your services. Don't spend 1/2 an hour on the phone talking with someone who doesn't have the ability to pay anywhere near what you charge. At least make sure they're in the ballpark before you make your "pitch," so to speak.

Pricing and payment policies are very much tied into your overall branding and positioning statements. I did marketing for a travel agency for four years. We sold cruises by Carnival ($199/day per person) and those by Crystal Cruises ($599/day per person). We didn't market all our cruises the same way to buyers. Domain names are cheap, and so are websites -- use different websites to target different kinds of clients so you build your credibility with the specific type of audience you're pursuing. We did websites (or specific web pages) just for brides, just for couples without kids, and promoting cruises for those who wanted to put together a group to go with friends, You can also provide specific links to different resources that tie into the target audience.

No matter *how* you handle your payment policies, it should be something that YOU are comfortable with, because if you don't believe in it, your prospective clients aren't going to buy into it. How you phrase things can have an impact, so develop a script that you can refer to during the prospect call.

Communication is the key to happy clients. Communicate what the terms and expectations are up front, so that there are no surprises. This should all be in your Client Service Agreement.