Meredith Pond

Sales Need A Boost? Try Reviving "cold" Customers

Did your high-school history teacher ever explain to you theimportance of taking and keeping class notes? If you followedthis advice, you were likely glad you did when mid-terms camealong. If you didn't take notes, you probably suffered theconsequences.

Well, the same rule applies in the business world. If you takeand keep notes on customer inquiries and orders, they'll beavailable for you to use when you need them. If you don't,you'll probably have a lot more trouble drumming up entirely newbusiness.

Think for a minute about how you communicate with your customers.If it's primarily by phone, have a big notepad nearby to takedown names, dates, phone numbers, email addresses, questions, andother pertinent information and facts. If your prospects don'tvolunteer such information, ask for it. Most of them won't mindand will even appreciate your attention to details.

If you communicate with customers and prospects mainly throughemail (or even snail mail), you have the advantage of having mostof the information you need already documented for you. Trycreating a folder in your email program for possible orprospective clients, and save the emails you get from them, evenif they never place an order. Periodically when things get slow,go back to that file and touch base with those people who seemedinterested but never ordered, or who did order and might considerdoing it again.

Whether speaking on the phone or sending them an email, ask these"cold" or "past" customers how things are going for them. Referto your notes to know what questions to ask and what advice tooffer. Remind them that, at one time, they were interested inyour products or services, and tell them about any specialpromotions you're having. Don't be pushy, simply offer to helpthem if they're still interested, and let them know they cancontact you any time for help.

When placing a call or sending an email to one of theseprospects, be sure to start by reminding them of who you are andwhy they contacted YOU before. Tell them you were going throughsome old notes or emails, and wanted to follow up to make sureyou'd answered all their questions and given them what theyneeded. They'll appreciate your effort and concern, and THATmakes them more likely to buy.

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