CHAPTER 8
YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN—REVISITING PAST CLIENTS

HEY, AREN’T YOU …?

MAINTAINING CONTACTS

By this time, you must be thinking, “How do I make sure that all these valuable contacts remain valuable contacts?” Well, no worries; you’ll do better than I did, at least when I was starting out!

Computers were a minor issue even in the mid-1980s, and a PDA or cell phone was as unrealistic as Dick Tracy’s wrist radio in the comics. (Today, of course, my iPhone is better than his wrist radio.) Consequently, information was captured the old-fashioned way—by writing it down.

I found it so laborious to keep details in my notebook about whom I met that I stopped doing it, on the assumption that I’d be in constant contact with clients in any case, and the rest didn’t matter. Bad assumption. A lot of you are making this same assumption even though you have the electronic means in your briefcase to access more information in a minute than I could in a week in 1985, when I began my practice.

This is a bad assumption; you have to capture the name and contact information of everyone who is of potential consequence because

• You will forget them.

• They don’t always become clients, and you won’t see them as continually as you thought you would.

• Client engagements eventually end.

• Someone who is not of immediate interest can become of immense interest later on.

• You may have nothing to suggest at the time, but as you evolve, you may be able to suggest something later.¹

• You will forget them.

Once again, you’ll find that many of these dynamics apply to potential clients as well as to referrals and promotion, and that’s because every prospect has the dual and concurrent potential to be both a client and a referral source.

When I speak of potential consequence, I mean DO capture the following people’s information:

• Buyers, whether or not they’ve actually become clients

• Key recommenders

• Media sources, such as editors, reporters, and talk show producers

• Key buyer subordinates

• Key implementers for the projects

• Executives you meet in the course of your work with a client, even though they are unrelated to the client

• Professional and trade association officers

• Community leaders

• Social contacts in key positions

Note that the list deliberately includes not only those who can purchase or refer you at the time, but also those who will be able to purchase or refer you in the future. The buyer’s top subordinate will probably become a buyer at some point; the city council member might be elected to the state senate (as I write this, a local mayor was elected to the U.S. Congress).

Some contacts will disappear because they retire, pass away, move to nonrelevant positions, are fired, or simply drop out of sight. If you start with a static list of only those who are currently helping you, then you’re limited to replacing the attrition with new and future contacts. But if you carefully identify and record all those in potential categories, you’ll also be able to replace attrition with previous contacts who have “grown into” positions where they are high-potential supporters.

(I’m not trying to be mercenary, but countries have to have a birth rate that replaces their death rate, or they must import labor. Otherwise, they’ll suffer declining productivity through unfilled jobs and lack of expansion. You’re the head of your own country, and we’re talking about your referral population!)

To keep this manageable, those with potential consequence would not, for example, include

• Gatekeepers.

• Human resources, training, and learning and development personnel.

• Subordinates and implementers who are not destined for greater things.

• Social contacts who do not hold relevant positions.

• People who have reacted badly to you or whom you do not like. (Life is too short to deliberately deal with unpleasant people when you don’t have to.)

• People you happen to meet, no matter how nice, who simply are not in relevant positions.

You’re probably asking now, “How do I know whether someone might or might not accede to a ‘relevant position’? Can’t a human resources person transfer out and become senior vice president of strategy?”

Yes, but.

You have to draw the line somewhere, and you’ll dilute your lists and contacts and your communications options (we’ll talk about them later) if you are indiscriminate in the lists you maintain. You can always create a triage of high potential, moderate potential, and questionable potential if you don’t trust me on this. But if you’re disciplined in capturing the names of highly relevant people, you’ll have plenty to work with.

This was the biggest mistake I made in my consulting career, and the lack of technology was no excuse. I simply paid correct and close attention to closing business immediately, but not enough attention to creating future business. While I was fortunate to attract referrals through my blue-chip clients, writing, and speaking, I want to emphasize the word fortunate.

Why leave your fate to fortune? You can accelerate your progress by gathering as much contact information as possible and using it now and in the future. You may or may not have the writing and speaking opportunities I’ve had, but you definitely can have the referral reality if you address this as a fundamental part of your business.

So, whether by PDA, iPad, Filofax, business card, laptop, marginal note, corporate brochure, or tattoo, make sure you accurately capture the name, rank, serial number, and complete contact information of all relevant people. Then deposit it in the (data) bank that contains your highest-level return on investment.

TRACKING KEY PEOPLE

There is so much talk about databases today that I’ve found people who never actually contact anyone; they have no time, since they’re constantly tending to the care and feeding of their databases. Silver Mine, Consistent Communication, Email Ecstasy—you name it.

So what’s the best way to “track” people? How do you know where they go? Unlike the case of a big game hunter, looking for spoor probably isn’t the answer here.

The best way is to do this on an ongoing basis automatically. What would automatically tell you that someone has moved or changed contact information? In this transitory business environment, that’s more common than ever. When I was young, for most people it was one job until retirement. They had one phone number and one physical address. Today, the likelihood is four or more jobs post-college, and a multitude of numbers for phones, addresses for e-mail, and assorted texts, social media platforms, and other “hangouts.”

So, in no particular order, here are some methods.

Talk to Them Often

If you have a list on which you’ve performed some triage as suggested previously, try to talk at least to your very top third on a regular basis. Provide them with value, share insights, ask for advice—it doesn’t matter. This kind of constant contact will probably result in their telling you ahead of time when they are moving or changing their information in any way. (Every decent call center asks every person ordering to reconfirm his contact information, even if he’s called the day before and has a long-standing account. This is just good business in terms of the value of customer contact.)

Create Automated Lists

This is as simple as making sure all of your contacts (at any of the triage levels) receive frequent mailings. Those might include a newsletter, a promotional mailing, a brief weekly note, and so forth. Your list service or your own software will alert you to bounced e-mails. This is your prompt to follow up and find out what happened. (Sometimes the software will actually give you the new address.) It’s sometimes after the horse has scooted from the barn, but the more frequent these mailings are, the quicker you’ll know of movement. As of this writing, I provide the following to my entire contact list in one form or another:

• Balancing Act^® newsletter (free, monthly)

• Alan’s Monday Morning Memo^® (free, weekly)

• Million Dollar Consulting™ Mindset newsletter (free, monthly)

• Alan’s Friday Wrap™ (for a fee, weekly)

• Workshop promotion notices (free, monthly)

• Mentor newsletter (free, monthly)

• Weiss Advice (for a fee, monthly)

• Teleconference series (for a fee, monthly)

As you can see, as a solo practitioner, I have all my contacts covered, often in many concurrent vehicles. And when they move, I know it very quickly. In addition, all of these devices have automated address change features (and they accompany an automated “unsubscribe,” which is required by antispam laws), so that people are often updating their whereabouts without my even being aware of it. This means that if your contact in your convention e-mail database or iPhone list fails, you can simply search for the name in the appropriate vehicle and see if anything has changed. While you’re providing value to people, they’re keeping you abreast of where to find them!

The best way to “cleanse” a list is to keep mailing to it. You will routinely receive information about connections who “unsubscribed,” were “removed after three bounces,” and so on.

Create Gravity, and Then Provide Update Ease

Create value that people visit (as opposed to something that you send them). The most typical example is a blog that has frequent new postings of high import that others quote. Keep an “update my address” option very visible. You may include “for our special offers” or some other inducement. This can also be done on your website.

Use the Social Media Platforms

One of the few marketing advantages of the social medial platforms is that they can provide information on where people are. Most of your own database options will offer the opportunity to include LinkedIn or Facebook or whatever. Few people are involved in changes that alter their online presence and contacts as well as their physical contact information, so this can be an effective backup. I’d advise this for the upper third or, at most, two-thirds of your triage list.

Request That People Place You on a Favored List to Avoid Filters

When I mail out, for example, a 10,000-subscription newsletter, I will get back a half-dozen or so spam filter demands that I jump through hoops to prove I’m who I claim to be. I always ignore these at the risk of losing subscribers because they are too labor-intensive and sometimes result in my receiving solicitations from the spam filter companies. (These are generally new subscribers who haven’t bothered to approve my mailings.) Simply ask that you be placed on a “white list” or approved list so that spam filters don’t kick in.

Always Try to Obtain Personal Information

For the upper reaches of your lists, try to secure personal e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, and even home numbers. This is very possible if you’re providing the same information to key clients and executives. I simply say, “There will be times when it’s urgent that we can reach each other without intermediaries, so here are my cell phone and home numbers.” All of this depends on your having achieved a trusting relationship with your buyer. But it’s also the platinum insurance that you can always track that person.

I tend to use listservs, which are automated and inexpensive, and which operate 24/7. I can enter information manually, they accept information automatically, I can make list backups, and so forth. For a mailing of 15,000 names, they seldom cost more than $45 per usage, and I tend to send at an early morning hour when Internet traffic is low. (One woman actually asked me how I could send out Balancing Act at 2 in the morning, since that didn’t sound “balanced” to her!)

Whatever you do, take pains to monitor and update information about the people on your lists, no less than you track incoming checks and make sure they are deposited in the correct bank account.

Building Databases

The last thing in the world I want to do here is to give technical advice, since that’s been one of two areas I’ve steered well clear of in my consulting endeavors.² So accept the following in the spirit in which it’s given: you deserve some direction in terms of what I’ve found successful for me and those I coach, and you’re free to disagree and build still better solutions.

But bear in mind Occam’s razor: the easiest path is usually the best. You can spend all your time building databases of sterling quality and bulletproof backup while never, along the way, actually attempting to contact anyone on them!

What’s the point (the objective) of a database to begin with?

• To create a repository of information of referral and endorsement clients and prospects that can be amended at any time

• To establish priorities (the triage, as I’ve termed it) in terms of both quality and nature of the potential

• To enable easy access to and use of the information

• To permit multiple uses, such as for individual contact situationally, for mass distribution of newsletters, for targeted contact for geographic events, and so on

• To safeguard valuable assets, including backup

How often would you access a database?

• Daily, 24 hours a day, people can be automatically subscribing, unsubscribing, or making changes to those aspects that control the material that they receive.

• Weekly, you would be manually entering or deleting contacts as appropriate in the normal course of your own communications and activities.

• Situationally, you would be making changes for special promotions and advisories, such as new programs, accolades, visits to certain locales, and so forth.

Thus, databases can be built automatically through subscription and others’ voluntary participation (usually by submitting at least their name and e-mail address) because of an offer you provide. Some consultants’ websites provide free downloads and other value if the visitor “registers” with her e-mail address and her name. (I don’t like this particular practice, since it clearly implies that the information will be used and discourages some people from signing up. Yet this is the upper left of the Accelerant Curve I described earlier in the book. It’s best to provide free stuff without obligation, and request contact information as the individual is attracted to more and more sophisticated offerings.)

It is relatively simple, in the course of just a few years, to build a high-quality five-figure database. I’m emphasizing high quality for the following reason. Think of the market value bell curve from Chapter 2, which I’ve reprinted in Figure 8.1.

Figure 8.1 Market Value Bell Curve Revisited

You’ll recall that the serial developers and “hang tens” are the critical groups. It’s best to reach a higher percentage of these smaller but more important markets than a larger percentage of the markets to the left.

Hence, one of my smaller databases has only about 4,000 names. But every person on it has purchased a product, attended a workshop, or engaged in some other experience with me, and has invested the money to do so. How powerful is a list like this? Well, the experts usually consider a “good” return (purchases) from an average list to be about 1 to 1.5 percent. But my lists produce results exceeding 10 percent!

That means a great deal when you’re asking for referrals, endorsements, references, new business, or anything else. (Remember, revenue and referrals are equally important.) So the better your list (and your triage), the less expense, better results, and faster positive action you’re going to achieve.

Once you have your own criteria for what you want to keep and where, let me suggest some specific mechanics, while acknowledging the fact that by the time you read this, you may be able to produce holographic images of your lists inside your retina.

First, find a reliable source for the automated aspects. These are often called listservs, and I’d get references from people who use them successfully.³ Do not try to do this on your own software or e-mail application unless you are a technical expert, and even then I’d suggest that you stop wasting your time on things that someone else can handle for you. I would then back up these lists on my own computer.

I’d back up the lists on my computer both on an external drive and on one of the “cloud” providers (such as Mozy), so that your lists are not dependent on any one location, and so that they are preserved in case your listserv fails, or your computer fails, or the cloud somehow fails.

Then I’d install an instant sync service. My favorite as of this writing is Dropbox, which instantly takes the words I’m now writing on this page and syncs them with my laptop, iPad, and iPhone (and vice versa for all those platforms). This means that if I’m traveling (or even just sitting in another room away from the main computer), I can access a totally up-to-date database.

Finally, having accomplished all this, whether by listening to me or to someone who’s technically more proficient, you’re ready to form one of the most powerful referral networks of all, one that is not possible until you have these databases built and functioning: the virtual community.

CREATING COMMUNITIES

There is no doubt in my mind that traditional trade associations are going to either metamorphose or die. The ancient ritual of a monthly magazine, a noninteractive website, and an annual conference will become as obsolete as the Mayan calendar. Not even the Mayans are using it any more.

What is currently taking the place of trade and professional associations is communities, comprising those with vested interests in the subject matter and/or the direction of the profession or business.

These communities began when some disgruntled customers took advantage of the Internet and began Web sites called something like AcmeCompanySucks.com (presumably a charter member was Wile E. Coyote⁴). Customers would complain, compare notes on their mistreatment at the hands of the corporate monolith, and recommend the best actions to take to overcome corporate sloth, organize boycotts, and deprive the transgressor of business. These were passionate, rabid sites. (Some years ago, I posted a blog article about the shipper UPS and its unfair demand for $100 deposits in return for monthly billing, which were never returned. I received hundreds of responses from … disgruntled UPS franchise buyers who took every opportunity to knock the company’s treatment of them.)

The smart executives formed their own websites for their organizations and invited customers and clients to comment there, no matter how negative the post. That enabled the organizations to

• Demonstrate a willingness to listen.

• Understand the flaws in their own services and repute.

• Correct legitimate errors on their part.

• Squelch rumors that were untrue.

• Indicate where customers could improve their own experiences.

• Create far better customer relations.

• Provide for positive customer comments and endorsements, which are ongoing, tacit referrals and references.

• Indicate where current strengths can be further exploited.

• Improve sales in the process of running the community.

The bromide is that it’s always better to know who and where your “enemies” are. These kinds of communities actually embrace them and create positive experiences.

When a repairperson comes to my office to fix my computer, the first action he takes is often to Google the problem, tap into the proper Internet community, and find out what’s been reported and already done, so as not to reinvent the wheel. You and I can go there ourselves and find reviews of hardware and software, or of phones, or briefcases, or hotels. There’s an Apple-oriented site I visit that informs readers of when the company is likely to introduce upgrades and new products, so that you can plan your buying around them and not purchase the end of the old line.⁵

Thus, these communities offer tremendous value and pragmatic help, under the auspices of the organizations, but in the delivery of customer-to-customer communication and advice as well. The value derived accrues to the organizer, though the organizer may or may not intervene frequently. I think you can begin to see how traditional associations (American Institute of Architects, American Bankers Association, Institute of Management Consultants, American Bar Association, and so on) will have to migrate to that kind of customer/client interactivity to stay relevant.

Why should I be content with monthly or annual interaction when I can have it at my fingertips daily?

I’ve made a point of establishing my own communities, particularly on the right side of Figure 8.1. My goal is to have people talking 24 hours a day at some point somewhere on the globe. These communities effectively “time-shift” comments and responses, so that within a day, one can receive or give advice regardless of one’s hemisphere and time zone. The degree to which I interact is my decision, but the value of the experience is always allotted to belonging to the communities I’ve formed.

These communities create huge referral potential, because people who have experienced your value in a variety of ways suggest to others that they “must” also partake of certain opportunities. The more that happens, the more I create subcommunities.

For example, Alan’s Forums (http://www.alansforums.com) contains “right-side” members. (They are there for free if they have joined many of my programs, but others pay $495 for lifetime membership. You can visit and read many posts to test the site at the URL given here.) The discussion boards on the site are variously

• Open to everyone

• Restricted to those with certain past experiences

• Restricted to those with certain types of membership

If someone has access to all the boards, that would mean that she is in “total immersion” in my communities in the chart, which is the natural progression. Every day, people on that forum are “selling” my services to one another by comparing notes on what they’ve been through, how to use the tools, how they’ve been successful (communities are great for getting strokes), and so forth. These virtual communities become real communities when people decide to get together in person (I have dozens of these occurring with no participation from me at the time), or when they suggest an experience that I create.

The reason that I can create “guaranteed” workshops is that the critical mass for success has already formed in one of my communities, in terms of both relevant topics and the number of people required to launch the workshop successfully and begin marketing it to noncommunity members!

My suggestions for forming virtual and real communities are

• Find and retain technological expertise. Don’t attempt to do the technical stuff yourself. You want sophistication (search engines, automatic subscription) and a high-quality image.

• Go there often. Let people know you’re present. Contribute when you have something important to say or when you need to correct someone else. I visit my main communities about five times a day, and the cumulative time is less than 45 minutes.

• Use the “app” approach. The more valuable people you attract, the more they will attract other people (like the iPhone and apps and app writers). Never worry about giving things away for “free” in terms of your intellectual property. Attract people, and they will come—with others.

• Create a diversity of topics and alternatives for participation so that there is something for everyone (we have boards that include “sex, religion, and politics” for example).

• Encourage subcommunities that can “talk up” experiences and options for others to avail themselves of.

• Run your ideas past the community and encourage its members to create solid, highly supported options for your future offerings. Give community members discounts. (I always give full “scholarships” to those who suggest a new offering that is successfully launched.)

• Publicize the communities and include them for free in high-priced products or services you provide.

Creating multiple communities around the right side of your bell curve, no matter who is in that audience for you (bankers, Realtors, middle managers, professors, insurance brokers, reporters, and so on) will create ongoing referrals while you sleep. There is no better rest than that.

UTILIZING PAST CLIENTS IN CURRENT PROMOTIONS

As you become more and more successful, you’ll create a wake of happy clients behind you. However, if you’re not careful (or if you don’t appreciate their value, as I didn’t at first), you’ll allow the wake to dissipate and disappear.

Bill Parcells, the football coach and executive, said, “Once you win a Super Bowl, it’s yours forever. They can never take that away from you.” Once you have a client, that client is in your experience forever. As I tell people in my Mentor Program, “You’re always in the Mentor Program. Whether you’re active or not is another matter entirely.”

Thus, I wouldn’t talk so much about “past clients” and “present clients.” I’d just talk about “clients.” When you create a client list, I wouldn’t put an asterisk next to those who are no longer active, remove past clients from the list, or make separate lists of “active” and “inactive” clients!

A client is a client, now and forever. The money in the bank is always good; it doesn’t become obsolete, both because money is eternal and because it’s not physical, it’s a representation made good by your bank. There is no money in the vault marked “Jane’s $100,000.” If you need the money, the bank will give it to you out of what’s on hand.

The same is true of clients. They are always “good”; they don’t become obsolete if you have the right attitude about them and their value.

Here’s how to use that “money in the bank” in terms of current promotion and referral sourcing:

• Keep in touch with them in two ways:

–Aggressively. Contact high-potential past clients with new offers, new value, and new ideas. Find reasons to give them a call.⁶

–Passively. Make sure these buyers and other key people are on your newsletter, podcast, and other lists. Offer them free subscriptions in those instances where you’re charging others.

• Keep their written testimonials in place so long as they are in context (for example, if they are from years ago, they should be part of a continuing sequence of accolades, as discussed earlier) and the identification is still accurate. Otherwise, update the contact information (“former CFO of …”).

• Keep their video testimonials in place. If you must, change the voice-over introduction (“former CFO of …”).

• Keep the client organization on your client list.

• Keep using them as references for as long as they are willing to serve in that capacity.

• Use the triage technique on them, as well, and ask the top tier for referrals at least twice a year, just as if they were current clients and current buyers.

Now, here are some outré ideas that you may not have thought practical, but that I can assure you will pay referral dividends:

• Invite past buyers to your current marketing events and “seed” the audience with these previously delighted clients. Let them “soft sell” for you by endorsing what you did for them and demonstrating how that would work for others. These may be formal presentations or informal discussions during breaks and social activities. (Interesting question: if you had two critical prospects playing golf, and you couldn’t be there, which two people would you most like to pair up to make that foursome?!)

• Consider holding events solely for your past clients, as a continuing sign of your appreciation of your work together. These can’t be bribes (unless the clients are retired!), so the clients must pay their own way, but a legitimate learning opportunity in a nice location is a perfectly ethical and legitimate option to offer.

• Create an “advisory board” of past clients with whom you’re sure you will not be doing additional business directly (or you will run into ethical issues), and meet with them twice a year in person and twice a year by virtual means. Explain the status of your business—its offerings and current positioning—and ask for advice and direction. In return, you can offer board members your advice on their own careers and business challenges.

• Nominate past clients to positions you find that might be highly pleasing: board seats, media interviews, award nominations, keynote speaking opportunities, and so forth. There is no direct conflict of interest, since you haven’t done business with their firm lately.

The idea with all of these techniques is to create an ongoing communications loop with all clients, past and present, so that you are constantly (or at least frequently) on their minds. This is a “timing” business, in that your name must appear in proximity to someone else’s expressed need. No matter how appropriate the need, if no one thinks of you, you can’t be referred. And no matter how visible you are at the moment, if there is no need, you can’t be referred.

So, on the assumption that past buyers will periodically encounter needs that you can meet, it’s vital that you maintain both aggressive and passive visibility, and remain involved with these buyers, no matter where they may go.

Keep in mind that retired executives are often named to major boards, to head prominent nonprofits, to teach at major universities, and to become guest columnists. Many pursue independent publishing and speaking careers. The leverage potential of your past clients is vast, and it is not confined to the job in which you originally partnered with them.