Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Staunch the 8-9-10 Bleeding

It will come as no surprise to you that this blog entry parallels The 1-2-3 of Moving the 1-2-3.

If getting a contact to be a prospect, and making the sale is so time-and-effort consuming, how do those great clients slip out the back door without us noticing?

The 8-9-10 stage is that part of the spectrum where you rate your contacts on a scale of one to ten, ten being those who have sent you a cheque that hasn’t bounced (to re-quote Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach ).

It shouldn’t be that hard to retain your eights, nines and tens.

Here’s Why



You already know so much about them!

You have kept notes all the way along the trail from one through ten.

You have interacted with them during the development, deployment and training stages of your product or service.

You even know what branch of which bank they bank at! (Not that that knowledge will do you much good).

You probably know where they like to dine, their spouse’s name, …

Here’s How



Stay in touch.

You have their feedback and evaluation form. If you don’t send them a copy now, and phone them (no voice-mail) to let them know why it is headed their way.

Email them in response to their comments on the evaluation form.

Invite them for coffee or lunch. Be honest. You are ,meeting someone you know, someone you’ve worked with.

Add three more ways of staying in touch.

Then ask yourself where they fit on the one-to-ten scale.

Rank them there, and re-read The 1-2-3 of Moving the 1-2-3.

Talk to Me!

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