You’ve reached the end of tax season and summer has officially arrived – Congrats! Take a break from the hustle and bustle, then get ready to dive into improving your business development skills. Time is precious – you want to make sure you are using it wisely. Here are some tips you can follow to nurture and strengthen your client relationships in only 20 minutes a week.
Send a quick email
Let your clients know you are still thinking about them after tax season. Sending an email only takes a few minutes, but can have a huge impact on your professional relationships. Though emails can be impersonal, there are ways to make your clients feel otherwise.
One example is using ABLE’s Thought Leadership feature, which allows you to send personalized emails to multiple contacts with just a few clicks. Use ABLE’s curated Content Library or choose your own article to send to your contacts, and let them know you care about their business by sending them industry-specific news.
Give them a call
One step up from sending an email is a phone call. This is an easy, personable way to make a connection with clients. You can discuss their future plans and goals for their company, or discuss their past results. Once you establish trust in your professional relationships, you can start to offer advisory services your firm provides, such as wealth management or business valuations, and why you think their company would be a great fit for that service.
Schedule a lunch/outing
Reach out and schedule an in-person lunch or event with your most important clients, referral sources, and prospects. While the event itself should take longer than 20 minutes, getting a date on the calendar can show your client how dedicated you are to learning about their business. Communicating face-to-face is very important for building and maintaining a relationship. Strengthen your client relationships by scheduling 9 holes of golf to discuss their business goals, or reserve a table for lunch with a prospect to get to know them outside of the office.
Remember the little things
As you prepare to communicate with your top contacts, review any personal details you may have forgotten about. Keep notes about each client to help make your communications that much more engaging and unique. You will make a huge impression if you remember to ask about, for example, how their recent vacation was, or if they enjoyed their son’s wedding. Remembering the little distinct details can drastically help strengthen your client relationships while using minimal time.
You can even go the extra mile and send handwritten cards to your important contacts for a special event, such as their birthday. Include those little details in the card to show your client that you care about what is important to them.
How ABLE can help
Building and improving your professional relationships takes time and effort, but the investment you make is worthwhile. Take some time to assess your current relationships. Focus on nurturing your top clients, referral opportunities, and prospects. With ABLE, strengthening your client relationships in 20 minutes is a piece of cake.
Need a system to help you manage and track your relationships and sales? ABLE is a CRM designed with accountants in mind. Some of our top features include a collaborative sales pipeline, contact management with CRoPs Tiles, and Thought Leadership to help nurture your most important contacts. Learn more about ABLE’s features here.
Ready to see what ABLE is all about? Sign up for a free, no obligations demo today!