Follow Up 2/2/2

I was going to do a tele-seminar titled Follow Up 2/2/2 based on the concept that ITS uses for follow up - in 2 days, in 2 weeks and in 2 months.

Follow up with customers after they buy is paramount for the following reasons:

• On-boarding.
• Care.
• Upsell opportunities.
• Cross-selling chances.
• Bill Review.
• Referral.
• Retention.

On-boarding is the process of bringing a customer on to your service. This can include hot-cuts, porting, overlap, cut-overs, and other processes that can fall through the cracks. (There should be an on-boarding checklist for each service you deliver). On-boarding is first and lasting impression about your company that a customer gets. You want to give the best impression. Or WOM (word-of-mouth) will hurt you.

Problems always creep up. Fix them fast. Customer Care is a differentiator (if you actually deliver care in place of lip-service).

Upsell and cross-sell mean that you can provide additional services like back-up, security, premium seats, extra phones or gear, etc. This is helpful to the customer - and to the profitability of the company. It is far easier to sell more to a current customer than to find a new one to sell one thing to.

Bill Review means explaining the bill and checking for accuracy. It can also include correcting the billing contact name.

No better way to get a referral than to do the follow up well enough and to ask them if they want to do a video or podcast. It gives them exposure and helps you.

Customer Retention is cheaper than Acquisition. Easier too. It just requires that you contact customers with something other than the monthly bill in mind. Or you risk becoming a charge card line item that is perceived as a commodity!

More: 5 Ways to Love Your Customer.