How to ensure your communication with clients and referral partners maximizes your potential for continued business
by Cindy Freiman, special to MortgageBrokerNews.ca
Many mortgage experts are looking for that magic number of communications to send or post so that their existing and potential clients and referral partners will think of them whenever they, or someone they know, need a mortgage.
Much like many business strategies, however, there really isn’t a magic number. The key is finding the combination that works best for your business. Keep track of how your leads are generated and adjust as the results come in. And, just because something worked for you last year doesn’t necessarily mean it will be beneficial to you for an infinite amount of time. Be prepared to switch gears when the results aren’t where you’d like them to be.
The most important question you must ask yourself is: Am I communicating regularly and in a variety of ways? If not, you’re leaving a lot of potential business on the table – from your clients and referral sources.
Following are five steps you can take right now to kickstart your communications plan:
1. Take stock of where you are today. Ideally, you should be reaching out to your database every month with educational information – to ensure you remain top-of-mind with past, current and potential clients who may be in the market to personally use or recommend your services. You should also be posting useful tips and tricks to your social media accounts at least three times a week. And your website content should be boosted with new material at least monthly, including relevant blogs.
3. Ask for some honest opinions. People love to tell you what they think. Poll some of your most trusted clients, referral partners, friends and family to see how visible and memorable you are when it comes to your business communications. What do they notice about you on social media? Which email messages are most memorable? How do they feel about your blogs? What would they like to know more about? Some of the best ideas can often come from those closest to you.
4. Try new things. This could begin with a small or substantial change. What matters most is that you’re trying something new. How about opening an Instagram account for your business and researching how best to communicate within this visual realm? Have you been thinking about kickstarting a regular podcast or video series? Talk to peers and referral partners about how to get started or what they’ve seen others do that has proven successful. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just ensure your ideas aren’t stagnant.
And if you miss a few posts or educational pieces here and there, no worries – just pick up where you left off. So often when people fail to keep up with their ideal communication frequency, they give up and slip back into old habits.
Everyone has the same amount of time in a day, but how you choose to optimize that time is what separates you from the competition.
Cindy Freiman is president and word wizard at Creative Soul Communications – a content creation company specializing in providing top-notch educational and thought-provoking content for businesses to share via social media, blogging, client communications, marketing and advertising. She can be reached at: [email protected] ; 905-431-1546.
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Many mortgage experts are looking for that magic number of communications to send or post so that their existing and potential clients and referral partners will think of them whenever they, or someone they know, need a mortgage.
Much like many business strategies, however, there really isn’t a magic number. The key is finding the combination that works best for your business. Keep track of how your leads are generated and adjust as the results come in. And, just because something worked for you last year doesn’t necessarily mean it will be beneficial to you for an infinite amount of time. Be prepared to switch gears when the results aren’t where you’d like them to be.
The most important question you must ask yourself is: Am I communicating regularly and in a variety of ways? If not, you’re leaving a lot of potential business on the table – from your clients and referral sources.
Following are five steps you can take right now to kickstart your communications plan:
1. Take stock of where you are today. Ideally, you should be reaching out to your database every month with educational information – to ensure you remain top-of-mind with past, current and potential clients who may be in the market to personally use or recommend your services. You should also be posting useful tips and tricks to your social media accounts at least three times a week. And your website content should be boosted with new material at least monthly, including relevant blogs.
2. Boost your communication frequency/effectiveness. Regardless of which social media accounts you use – I find that Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn work best for my business – be sure to post as often as you can or they won’t be effective tools for your business. If you currently post once a week, why not boost that to three times… then five… then seven? Shoot for two new blogs per month – especially when you’re building up a backlog of useful content on your website. And target specific groups of clients and referral sources with communications campaigns – eg, addressing different scenarios each season such as refinancing to purchase a vacation or investment property, mortgage check ups and renovation funds in the spring.
3. Ask for some honest opinions. People love to tell you what they think. Poll some of your most trusted clients, referral partners, friends and family to see how visible and memorable you are when it comes to your business communications. What do they notice about you on social media? Which email messages are most memorable? How do they feel about your blogs? What would they like to know more about? Some of the best ideas can often come from those closest to you.
5. Measure your efforts and continually improve. You won’t know how well you’re doing in a month or so. It takes time for people to notice your efforts. Keep track of how new and repeat business are being generated. Set a timeline of three, six and/or twelve months and then reevaluate your efforts. Ask your same trusted sources from above if they’ve noticed any changes in your activity. Adjust accordingly.
And if you miss a few posts or educational pieces here and there, no worries – just pick up where you left off. So often when people fail to keep up with their ideal communication frequency, they give up and slip back into old habits.
Everyone has the same amount of time in a day, but how you choose to optimize that time is what separates you from the competition.
Cindy Freiman is president and word wizard at Creative Soul Communications – a content creation company specializing in providing top-notch educational and thought-provoking content for businesses to share via social media, blogging, client communications, marketing and advertising. She can be reached at: [email protected] ; 905-431-1546.
Related stories:
Top tips for successful goal setting
Online-2-Offline: Where sales and money are made
