Face to Face is Still Better Than Social Media
Facebook, Google +, Youtube, LinkedIn and Blogs all have their place in today’s marketing world. If your company is not on any of these networks, you need to be! Social networking is here to stay, and it’s still building deeper, stronger roots. In the past couple of months, though, I have been evaluating how I gain and keep my clients. I looked at my monthly client list recently and realized that I’ve met every client personally: Yes, every single one.
Many of my regular clients I’ve met in person several times. I have completed a number of small consulting jobs for people I’ve never met in person, but I’ve had a hard time retaining them for ongoing services. I believe part of that is because I haven’t met them face to face. It reminded me that face to face contact is still the best way to gain and keep customers. You can never fully replace people with digital communication.
This blog post is just a friendly reminder to make every effort to keep your company as personal as possible, especially if you are a contractor. It is easy to get busy with following up on leads, bids and current jobs. I know what it is like. I’ve been there myself and see this cycle take place often. It is a relief to finish a job, put your new customer into your email system, and stay in touch 100% digitally from then on.
Although it is hard, remember to make an effort and figure out a way to connect with your customers from time to time in different ways. An example of what I’ve seen that works well: if you are doing a job nearby another one of your customers, stop by and leave a note or a small gift. If you know the customer well, knock on the door and say hi. Schedule a phone call from time to time and just say hi! All these little ways of reaching out to a customer the “old fashioned” way will only secure a stronger source of business and referrals in the years to come.
What has worked for you? How have you branched out with face to face “marketing” and seen results?
Great advice, Social Media should supplement, not supplant your relationships with customers. I find that having a good online presence helps when I meet someone for the first time “face to face”, often they have read my posts on various platforms. For existing customers, I agree with the proximity connections, I always try to send out a note, “we’ll be in your neighborhood next week, can we stop by and check out the work we did and see if there is any maintenance work needed?” But that is mostly for exteriors.
Chris, I agree that the online presence really does help. It is good for building your “personal brand.” It has worked for me as well. When I’ve done speaking engagements and/or met people at conference, many times I’ve had folks tell me they’ve read my blogs and/or seen my post. The digital communications for me just helps me start more conversations in person and by phone. Thanks again for the comment. Hopefully, we can meet in person someday too! We seem to miss each other at the PDCA conventions.
So true David. Nothing trumps face time with your customers. For many of us in trades we live in the same area we work in. Business relationships often turn into friendships and more meaningful relationships. Not only is that good for business, its good for the community and your life.
@Heidi Nyline
Well said, Heidi! Nothing wrong with having a Facebook, Text or Email chats with customers too. We just have to mix it up a bit! Thank you for the comment.