I have long stated and taught the importance of FREQUENT and MEANINGFUL communication with your clients, as well as key strategic partners and centers of influence (association directors, sponsors, referral partners, etc.). Practically every business I know fails to do this effectively, some more than others.
I believe that the best way to communicate is a well-written MONTHLY newsletter, that is printed and mailed. However, I’m constantly fighting the quarterly or biannual newsletter, or the desire to simply email it to everyone. I don’t recommend either of these approaches for a couple of reasons.
- In order for it to be a publication, clients must look forward to getting it and it must have frequency.
- Email is a very unreliable way to get your newsletter out, with as many as 80 percent of recipients never seeing it, much less opening it, and reading it.
You also cannot replicate the feel of getting and opening the printed newsletter – and that TANGIBLE communication matters a great deal.
Lists lose value
Big rule of thumb: a list loses its value by roughly 10 percent every month it’s ignored (not communicated to). By the way, sending an e-mail that never arrives and is never seen or opened, is the same as not sending anything. Of course, the cheapskates whine about the cost and the difficulty of getting this done, but they don’t consider the REAL cost of a lost customer: the missed referral or the opportunity costs.
Photo: Raw Pixel / Unsplash
