‘Did you forget me?’

Early in my sales career, I learned a difficult but important lesson. Prospecting a new car dealership meant sending articles to Craig Siemans, the dealer’s general manager, at least weekly and sometimes twice a week.

It’s the process of “seeding,” or warming up a cold call. I would clip articles that I would find, staple my business card to them, add a hand-written note, and send the material in the mail -- yes, snail mail.

After months of doing this, Craig finally agreed to meet with me. He became a client -- a big client.

About six months into the relationship he said something that gave me a harsh wake-up call: “Before I was doing business with you, you used to send me articles every week. I found them interesting and helpful. Now that we are doing business, I don’t get any articles from you. Did you forget me?”

It’s easy to put all your efforts into prospecting and getting meetings, but don’t forget the need to make your current customers feel important. As a reminder, I’ve developed a “Platinum Service Plan” to help you monitor the number of contacts you have with your current clients during the year.

If you want a copy, just send me an email and I’ll be glad to share. Hopefully, it will help you avoid the mistake I made with Craig.