The other day, a client commented that every time he looked at his computer, it seemed like there was something from me, keeping my name in front of him.
He went on to say that he wanted just such a system for his organisation, so that 
his prospects would keep being reminded about his products. And when they were ready to buy, they would contact him.
He reminded me that he’d been on my list for about 3 years, deleting most of my emails without reading them, until one caught his eye and potentially solved a very specific issue he was having.
Which is when he took action.
And he’s certainly not an isolated case. The vast majority of our business comes from our newsletters – or keep in touch marketing.
At its core, keep in touch marketing is simple, but there’s more to it than meets the eye... Something I’ll discuss later in this article.
But first, ask yourself...
How often is your name in front of your potential clients? What steps do you take to constantly, but non-threateningly, keep on top of mind?
In sales, one of the biggest issues we face today is overwhelm and distraction. 
Not ours, but our prospects!
They have problems they need to solve, have to do more with less and be very smart with their time and money.
So anything you can do to make them more money, save them money, time or other stress, is likely to get a hearing. But only when they’re ready to hear the message!
And that’s the key. All the marketing and sales approaches in the world will fall on deaf ears if your prospect isn’t ready and in the right frame of mind.
So back to keep in touch marketing...
I’ll use ourselves as an example and explain what we do. You can then translate this into your business.
Our core keep in touch mechanism is our newsletter which forms the basis of a marketing and sales funnel. Prospects come in the top and get exposed to what we do and how we can help.
The newsletter contains valuable tips based around marketing, sales and improving your business.
The articles aren’t designed to directly sell services – they work indirectly, raising our profile and showing people we know what we’re talking about in our area of expertise.
And as they get more and more familiar with us, and realise we can help them, they raise their hands and become clients.
But people also unsubscribe. And that’s fine. They’ve qualified themselves out. As a marketer, I’m only interested in people who find our stuff valuable, and who are likely to raise their hands and become clients.
Those that stay, tend to do so for years. And while they may not read everything I send, every time something arrives in their inbox, my name is in front of them again.
So if and when they’re ready, they’ll take action.
Now I should point out that this is only one strategy for getting more business and is part of a mix.
You must have more outbound mechanisms in play – a combination of advertising, networking, direct sales force and direct marketing that brings people into your “keep in touch” funnel.
The keep in touch funnel comes into its own when a prospect has expressed interest but is not yet ready to buy for whatever reason. It keeps you at top of mind and keeps cementing the relationship in a non-obtrusive, non-threatening way.
Rashid.
P.S. If you would like help creating a keep in touch funnel and other marketing and sales strategies to get 2011 off to a great start (and keep it there), give me a call on (02) 9499-7958.
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