Five Best Practices in Top-Class Service After the Sale

Get Noticed by Clients and Keep Them Coming Back

Congratulations! You did it. You made that big sale. You worked hard to land that elusive client. And now, with the signatures on the dotted line, and the paperwork turned in, and perhaps even a payment from the client having been received, you deserve to take a moment to celebrate. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Maybe even relax a little before getting back at it. The hard part is over, right?

Sorry, Charlie. Wrong.

The hard part has actually just begun. The really important work is still ahead of you. Why? Because in reality your new client hasn’t purchased anything from you yet…other than a promise. A promise of the vision you planted in their mind that the plan, product, or service in which you proposed and convinced them to invest will come to fruition at some point in time. By investing in that vision, their ultimate goals will be met.

So, it is without question that the most important part of any sale is the delivery and fulfillment of the promise you made to your client. This is the service. And the heart of great service is communication.

Here are five best practices for providing exceptional service after the sale that are simple to follow and that your clients will notice and appreciate:

1.?????Write It, Don’t Type It?– I am sure you’ve heard this one before, and it may seem obvious, or maybe even old fashioned. But the simple act of taking the time to sit down and hand write a note to thank your client for their business, support, and most importantly their trust, is an act that will stand out and truly resonate with them. It’s tangible; so, they will remember it more. Make it a post card, or on your letterhead, but it’s less important what the words are written on than the words themselves. It doesn’t need to be long, but do be sure to put some thought into what you write so that you make them feel appreciated, and so they understand your gratitude. A handwritten thank you note is a more sincere gesture, and will be perceived so by your client way more than any email could.

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2.??????First 3 TTD?– Assuming your new client has a copy of your agreement document (i.e., a contract, or even a bill of sale or something along these lines), they will have a list of the terms and deliverables…that is, what they are to receive in return for their investment/purchase. However, it’s still a good idea to send them a list of the next steps, preferably within a day or two after the deal has been agreed to (contract signed, etc.). Send an email and/or text message with a list of the first three items you’ll be working on to complete for them, and when you expect them to be completed. And they don’t even need to be major. This will establish early expectations in their mind and reassure them that they are a priority to you. Plus, this shows that you’ve already started on what needs to be done to fulfill your promise to them. Just make sure you actually get these things done and by the time you said you would! Once finished let them know with a follow up and supply them with the next three “Things To Do”.

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3.??????Don’t Be a Stranger?– We’ve all heard of the term “Touches” to describe the act of staying in contact with our clients. Touches can take on various forms, such as in-person meetings, phone calls, text messages, email messages, and instant messages. A good guide for frequency is a minimum of one Touch per month. I’m not talking about what I call “institutional touches” like e-newsletters, form email messages, podcasts, blog posts, or social media posts created for mass distribution and consumption - all of which can be valuable and effective but are definitely less personal. I think by now that we can all tell when we are receiving an email message addressed to us that is the same message everyone else on a mailing list is receiving. Similarly, when we get an electronic or snail mail post card on our birthday, we can tell that despite the attempt to appear personal and special, it isn’t. Again, these aren’t bad things, they just don’t have the same effect, or the kind of effect I’m suggesting. I’m talking about contacting your clients on a regular basis with Touches personally directed for/to them. Great service requires personal Touches.

You MUST be disciplined enough in practice and be proactive with your communication to your clients. Do you know that sinking feeling when it’s time to try and renew a client? So you have to contact them and ask for them to buy from you again knowing that you haven’t spoken a word to them since the last time you asked them for money? Yeah you do. Sucks, doesn’t it? Don’t ever let this happen.

As soon as possible after the deal is done, take time to make a simple plan to provide personal Touches to your client on a regular, pre-set schedule. Most or all of us use a CRM tool to help us manage this process by inputting these types of tasks into those systems as reminders. Just mix up the type of Touches you schedule. Seeing your clients face-to-face is always best for a host of reasons (to be covered in a future article!), but we know they are also the hardest to make happen and sometimes just not possible. A video call is next best, then I would rank in order: a phone call, followed by a text message (if your client has given you the okay to reach them this way), then email messages.

Don’t confuse or mix these Touches with other types of business correspondence you may need to manage with your client, like sending invoices or quarterly reports. These personal Touches should still be business focused, but friendly and with no set agenda. It’s okay to exchange pleasantries and discuss anecdotes from your personal lives if the conversation is naturally guided that way (and you’ve established that relationship). It’s also okay if no business at all is actually discussed, again if the conversation naturally progresses this way. The point is that these Touches are not to shoot the shit just to do it. They are to provide the client the opportunity to give you feedback about your business agreement on a regular basis without them having to be the one to contact you to do it because they never hear from you.

Regardless of what you may have heard otherwise in your past, sometimes it is just fine to stop by a client’s office or call them on the phone to say hello and check in with them to see how they think things are going. This provides a basic format to allow them the chance to open up and provide you with valuable feedback, either in the form of positive reassurance that things are going well and they are happy, or they are not. Which then gives you the opportunity to fix things, make them right, and steer things back in the right direction while the deal is in progress not at the end of the deal term when it’s time to ask them to renew.

As an example, execute these personal Touches in this order:

1.??????In-Person Visit (scheduled or a “pop-in”, either one…this is of course if the client is in market, and if not make these a video call or simple phone call)

2.??????Phone Call

3.??????In-Person Visit (could use this one to invite them to coffee, or lunch)

4.??????Email Message

5.??????Text Message

6.??????Video Call (must be pre-arranged) (your “6-Month Review” call, for example)

7.??????Repeat 1-6 above to get in one personal Touch per month for 12 months

Your client may not realize that theses Touches are pre-scheduled, or if they do, they may not even care. They will just be left with the impression that YOU care, are looking out for their best interest, and were available for them. And despite not guaranteeing it, this practice will go a long way to mitigate and minimize your organization’s annual business attrition rate. It just takes thoughtful, purposeful work.

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4.??????Own It and Fix It?– Despite our best efforts, everyone makes mistakes. When something goes wrong for your client (whether you are directly responsible or someone else in the organization is, or the organization itself got something wrong), once identified the first thing to do is to proactively contact your client and arrange to meet with them in person or via phone or video call and accept the responsibility for the mistake (on yourself or on behalf of your organization). This could be for something like a missed deadline, a performance benchmark falling short, a negative interaction/experience with someone in your organization, or an incorrect billing statement. If the organization is in any way at fault, then you need to accept responsibility for it, sincerely apologize for it, give the client a chance to provide their input on it, and then outline the steps the organization is (or you are) going to take to remedy it as soon as possible. Then get it done.

This kind of basic response plan should be discussed, agreed upon and established as standard operating procedure within your organization for everyone to follow as part of the exceptional service you are committed to providing your clients. I know it may be challenging for some to accept fault or blame because egos can get in the way, or your organization's culture is one in which people don't want to admit fault for fear of what may happen to them from doing so. But trust me, your clients will respect and appreciate you for it. This will help strengthen the bond of trust between you and your clients, thus strengthening the overall business relationship, which optimizes your organization’s chances for recurring revenue.

5.??????Serve Them Pudding?– Because that’s what the proof is in! Do what you said you were going to do for them. Just start there! Never ever tell a client something just to make a sale that you (or the organization) won't or can't back up. Beyond being unethical, you're bound to lose their business eventually. So again it may seem obvious, but it’s a good practice to provide your client with regular reporting to keep them informed of the status of their agreement. This could take the form of providing a high-priority data analytics report represented in a simple chart or graph, or some program highlights in a bullet point list on a PDF document. Another alternative is to present information as slides in a classic “proof of performance” deck that includes other relevant information like recent organizational achievements, or future plans for your organization and how those plans will benefit your clients.

If the plan/product/program you created for them is working, they really should already know it without you necessarily taking these steps. They will have experienced it already. But take these steps anyway as part of your SAS Plan because it demonstrates to them that you were being a good caretaker of their investment by tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of the program from your end all along, as illustrated in a more formal, professional, tangible, and visible format.

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Remember, you first really only sell a vision...an understanding of trust...a promise. Never forget that your word and professional integrity are on the line. Assuming those things are important to you (which they should be!), it is your duty to yourself as a professional and to your clients to do everything in your power to fulfill the promise you made to them. Taking these steps will help you to do so.

I invite and encourage you to continue this conversation with your feedback. Please comment below about your experiences with a Service After the Sale (SAS) Plan. Specifically, do you agree with these five? Do you have other best practices that should be included? Thanks for reading!