It’s funny how often small business owners will spend months chasing a new customer and then once they land them, they have no process in place to make sure they serve their needs and communicate key information.
When a client says yes you should be prepared to shift your marketing process to teach them how to get the most from this new relationship or product by putting a new customer kit in their hands. Your new customer kit, much like your marketing kit, allows your new client to fully understand what to expect now that they are a client. That’s right your educational marketing approach doesn’t end once you make a sale. Almost every type of business, service or product based, should develop “training” documents that communicate key bits of information.
Your new customer kit can contain pages that explain:
- What to expect from us next
- How to contact us if you have a question
- How to get the most from your new product/service
- What we need from you to get started
- What we agreed upon today
- How we invoice for our work
- A copy of our invoice
I believe that creating a series of documents like the one’s suggested above and having a systematic step that allows you to communicate this information demonstrates a level of professionalism not always displayed by small businesses. Nothing derails a client relationship faster than failing to set and meet initial expectations.
