Tips for REACTIVATING past clients

Business can get slow.  Especially during the off season…  whatever that is!  LOL!  If you’re not seeing the traffic you want in your office, there are some things you can do about it, but let’s start with what not to do.  Recently at the ChiroSushi Summer Camp, I talked about Grant Cardone’s four degrees of action.  They are; do nothing, retreat, average and massive action.

If your business is slow right now, the wrong thing to do is nothing.  You certainly don’t want to retreat and doing what you’ve always done certainly isn’t going to help.  It’s time to take some massive action.

Success comes when you are aligned in three key areas.  The right attitude, the right approach and the right level of action.  Now that we know it’s massive action time, let’s work on attitude and approach.

Handling your biggest problem

The biggest problem you face is obscurity and there are two kinds of obscurity.  First one is people don’t know you at all.  Second one is they knew you, but they forgot about you.  It’s a noisy world out there and there’s a lot competing* for your client’s attention.  You need to make sure you don’t wind up in either of these categories.  So step one, get and stay out of obscurity.

Make The Call (probably need to do this more than once)

You. Make the call.  Not your office manager or secretary… You.  How would this set you apart in the mind of the client?  Has your dentist ever personally called you just to check in on your teeth or schedule a visit?  Probably not.  What about your barber or hair stylist?  Rare at best.  Reconnect and schedule a visit.

“John, was just thinking about you, I’m calling for two reasons.  One, I haven’t seen you in a little while and wanted to schedule some time to catch up.  Two, we’re doing a free workshop on XYZ and wanted to personally invite you.”

Set aside 45 minutes in a day to personally follow up with your clients.  Focus on the ones you have not seen or worked with in 90 days or more.  The 45 doesn’t have to be all at once.  Three 15 minute blocks works too.  Have your office manager build out a list and start dialing.

And before you use the “I don’t have time” excuse, note:  your business is slow right now, how do you not have the time?  No Time = No Priority.  Period.

Tips on making the call:

• ALWAYS leave a message.  ALWAYS.  No exceptions.  No excuses.  Do it.
• Texting is good.  Fire off a text.
• Follow up EVERY phone call with a text or email that has value in it.  Article, video link that delivers valuable information, etc.
• It can take up to 8-12 attempts to make contact so be prepared with what we call VAFU.  Value Add Follow Up.

Ask for a referral

Since you’re the one making the call, who do you think is more likely to get the referral?  You or your office manager?  This is leveling it up.  You’re reactivating past clients, now add this to the mix.

From If You’re Not First, You’re Last:  As you’re wrapping up the call, “John, let me ask you – do you have any friends, family or business associates who would have a use for or an interest in the products or services I represent?”

There may be resistance, there may be reactionary defense responses, there may be an awkward pause or silence.  Remember, nothing remarkable happens inside the comfort zone.  If you have any reservations or concerns about how to not only ask for but get the referral, I’m happy to spend 30 minutes with you working that out.  [CLICK HERE to get on my calendar]

Make the Personal Visit

The #1 Rule of Success is SHOW UP!  Whoa!  Now that’s asking too much!  Or…  Two really amazing things are about to happen.  Who does this?  Makes a personal visit?  Nobody!  So the first amazing thing that happens is you do something your competition* refuses to do and that’s a good thing.  Secondly, you get our of your comfort zone.

Personal visits are the single most powerful method by which you will ever make contact with a client and are guaranteed to advance your position in the marketplace.  -Grant Cardone, If You’re Not First You’re Last

Remember, we’re reactivating past clients here.  What if you took that list we made of unseen clients 90 days and older and then identified 21 of them who have generated and high volume of revenue for the business and then you scheduled a time to drop into their office and “just happened to be in the neighborhood, haven’t seen you a bit, thought I pop in and say hello.”

Your mission then, should you choose to accept it:

One personal visit a day for 21 days.  See how you feel after the 21 days.  See what it does for you and your confidence level.  Then notice what starts happening in your business.

*Competition Defined:  Take a moment to recognize specifically, what you’re “competing” for and then think about who you’re “competing” with.  You are competing for your client’s money.  That’s real.  If there’s no exchange of value, no transaction, you’re out of business.  Second thing is their attention.  Remember the obscurity thing?  You need to be first on their mind when they think of your industry.  Who are you competing with?  Everyone.  Not just the other people in your industry.  You have to think way beyond that.  You’re in competition with the media and public opinion.  You are competing with other industries and you are also in competition with your own mindset.

FINAL THOUGHT:

Outflow is senior to inflow.  If the doors aren’t swinging and the registers ain’t ringing, it’s on you.  Start taking massive levels of action and outflow.  Just putting that energy and activity into the universe seems to stir up stuff and the inflow just starts to happen.

If you’re not seeing the results you want from your outflow, there maybe a few tweaks we can make to your 3 success requirements (attitude, approach, action) and I’m happy to help with that.  You’re more than welcome to reach out and schedule a short call to figure that out and take a deeper dive on the principles and concepts outlined here.  Talk soon 😉