“Beat maintenance” is a term journalists use to refer to the cultivation and upkeep of useful sources for their stories. It’s a reminder that top performance in most professions revolves around strong relationships. Huffington Post contributor Irina Jordan, inbound marketing manager at Zurple, a provider of lead-nurturing software for real estate professionals, recently offered these tips for building and keeping strong business relationships.
Keep track of clients’ important dates. Keep track of birthdays, anniversaries and any special events for your clients and prospective clients in a CRM platform. Make any special notes about their family, friends and professional accomplishments that you can mention in one of your upcoming interactions.
Leverage social media. You want to have an established online presence: not only through your own website but through any social media channels your target audience frequents. Hint: it’s about your clients and not about you. Provide content of value, share your expertise freely without asking anything in return and build trust with your potential and existing client base for years to come.
Do the ask. You’ve done the work and established your cred, now ask your clients to spread the word about you. Ask them to refer their business contacts to you as their way of saying “thank you” for all the invaluable service and expertise you’ve provided to them.
Stay in touch. Leverage the intelligence you’ve gathered about your clients’ important dates to reach out on those dates instead of predictable holidays via “oh so boring” holiday cards. Stand out by tailoring your communications to events and happenings that are personal to your clients.
