When Are You Following Up and When Are You Just Nagging?

There’s a way to let your potential and current clients know that you're available when they need you - without annoying them. These little tricks will personalize your business and keep you in the back of your client's head, without taking too much time out of your day. 

Here are some tips (that take only a few minutes) that will help you create real and genuine emotional value that increases with each point of contact:

1. Keep it personal

Since everyone's inbox is inundated, steer away from flash emails - they are too impersonal. Simply taking the small amount of time to address an email and end it with "Have a Great Day!" with your name instead of just an email signature makes a load of difference.

2. Follow-up quickly

In your follow-up correspondence after meeting a potential client (at a trade show or networking night), make sure to mention where you met them and maybe something specific you chatted about (this is when keeping copious sales notes comes in handy). Schedule your follow-up activity for 48 hours after your first contact. Everyone's busy and overwhelmed with information so if you don't act soon, the mark you made will be forgotten.

3. Provide unique value 

The next point of connection should be content-based, focusing on one area of your proposal that your client seemed particularly interested in. This can just be an email with links or a mention of something you saw in the news that reminded you of your client.

4. Ditch the Abbrev's

Abbreviations can be distasteful. When you say "KR" instead of "kind regards," you might as well not say it at all. And telling a client you'll get back to them ASAP makes you seem snappy. Creating a feeling of warmth doesn't mean being unprofessional. You can mix up the traditional "Sincerely" with other kind phrases such as "Have a lovely weekend."

5. Creativity goes a long way

Hand-written thank you notes still matter. If someone does something a little extra or you just had a great client visit, take five minutes to write it out. It could even be on the back of a funny postcard that they can hang up in their office.

In the end, people just like to know they're being listened to. Simply repeating back what your client said to you before can be enough to make them feel heard.

Sasha Kovaliov is a Founder and the current Head of Marketing at Qwilr, with more than 9 years experience in B2B and product marketing.