As entrepreneurs, everyone goes through periods of time that are really busy and then somewhat slower. Ideally, we would all like to be as busy as possible, all the time, and making a lot of money, but of course this is not really the way things happen. Typically many entrepreneurs are either in the planning stage, the marketing stage, or the fulfillment stage of a program or promotion.
When your client is planning a program launch, there is much to do ahead of time, and there is much to do as the orders process, and then usually the pace slows down a bit once the program settles in and they begin to fulfill their clients’ needs. Then you wait to do it all over again.
When they get to that point when their program is settled in, you should switch to a proactive approach with them so that they know you are still there, at the ready, to take care of anything they need. Many of the clients I deal with need help with the set up and the promotion, but then they take care of the content themselves.
I like to think of this as the fulfillment stage for my clients … keeping them in your line of sight even if they don’t require as much from you as they help their own clients.
Here are a few easy ways to do this:
Send them a regular check-in email. Send your client a weekly email to see what kind of support they might need with their program. By sending a quick hello weekly (or more often!), it’s a nice reminder to them that they don’t have to do it all themselves. Be sure to put their program dates in your calendar, and check with them to see if they need any research done for program materials or resources.
Set up a Google alert for their subject. Setting up a Google alert is a simple way to have information delivered to your inbox on any subject you like. By setting up Google alerts that pertains to your clients’ class subject and / or materials, you will easily be able to gather information they may need. You can also keep on top of what others are doing, and keep your client ahead of the curve. It can also help you understand more about your client’s program if you are following their industry trends.
Mention their program via your social networking. As a VA, it is always a good idea to talk about what your clients are doing with their programs. By dropping a few posts or tweets about what they are up to, you can invite interaction with your clients online which is so valuable, and you can also connect them effortlessly with people from within your own network.
By keeping in contact with your client, being prepared with information when they need it, and by supporting them with social media, you will remind your client that you care. By caring, you will nurture a relationship with your client during the times when they are not heading up that marketing hill, and you will build a solid relationship with them for the next launch!
These are good tips Tracey. I especially like the one about sending your client a regular check in the mail. I would love to receive regular checks in the mail from people to which I am a client. Haha. Wait, did you mean “check-in”?
Actually your 3rd suggestion really vibes with me. I am always looking out for ways to give my customers extra exposure through my own channels and connections. I have found that when you hire people to do things for you, they often stop doing things for you like this unless you are paying them to do it, whereas they freely promote other peoples’ stuff where they aren’t being paid. As far as I am concerned, people paying me to do work for them always get the extra love from me where it makes sense.
Point taken! haha thanks Ryan. I added the hyphen so as to not confuse any future readers. 🙂 It is a true and overlooked suggestion, number 3. Occasionally my clients ask me to please comment on something of theirs, or to retweet something for them and I feel that I should have been doing that without being asked where possible, because as you say, they are the paying clients. So this is a reminder list for me as well!
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