Mike Clark's Business Bites: Tips for client contact in lockdown

Asking clients what jobs they were most looking forward to getting back to lifted energy levels and got them talking. Photo / Unsplash

Are you actively looking to help your clients? How proactive are you and your team being?Are you staying helpful? Staying relevant?

In calls with teams during alert level 4, I was delighted by feedback from a team member who had a unique approach to calling clients that was working well for her.

She observed that starting conversations asking how they were managing their time in lockdown seemed to put negative energy into the conversation. She had started experimenting with not mentioning lockdown at all and observing the difference in energy levels.

I have taught for years that "energy flows where your focus goes, so focus on what you want more of". I was intrigued and asked her to share more of her learnings.

She noted starting the calls asking how they were spending their days (with no mention of Covid, lockdown levels or anything negative) got much better engagement. Following this conversation up with asking what jobs they were most looking forward to getting back to lifted energy levels and got them talking about current and upcoming projects.

This focus on the future often highlighted jobs the company might not otherwise have known about and also naturally leads into asking what, if anything, would be the most helpful ways the company could support them in both the short and medium term.

This approach is not a pushy sales call and yet still covers the three essentials of an effective client contact. Client contact must have a clear purpose that adds value and has an ideal next step. Proactively calling clients to have meaningful calls is an excellent use of time when travel dramatically reduces the opportunity for face-to-face (F2F) visits.

"Feet on the street get the work" is a phrase I often refer to. In New Zealand (and Australia) companies that invest in F2F visits grow market share and increase profitability. This strategy is best complemented with an effective marketing campaign and in-house sales strategy. Combining the two of these in alert levels 3 and 4 can be done by using online meeting platforms. We use Zoom.

"Meeting" clients online is more personal than phone calls and usually more engaging. Like anything new it can take a little while to get comfortable with the different format but is well worth the invested effort. Additional ways to engage with clients can include doing webinars, hosting podcasts, doing surveys, hosting discussions, eg, on challenges in the industry, R&D requirements, upcoming trends, etc, - the focus should remain on adding value.

Are you being effective as a team during this time? What else could you do? How could you add value your clients will appreciate?

• Mike Clark is director and lead trainer and facilitator at Think Right business training company.