Is this a good idea for drumming up work?

Is it a good idea to send thank you notes to clients after the work is completed, or with the completed work? And is it a good idea to message those clients of you have not heard from them since you delivered their order, just to say hello and let them know you offering a special for past clients and then spell out the promotional gift idea you have? End it with a thanks, and have a nice day?

Thanks for responding!

 

It's always a good idea to touch base with clients especially if you have a polite amicable personality. Just avoid going overboard and making a nuisance of yourself.
It demonstrates motivation and a certain ambition that could be lost on the client, if you were to hide in the corner like an under achieving little mouse.

 

Clever, words for a clear visual picture. Thanks.

 

It's always good to send them personalised holiday greetings, but with no offers or references to the work, this way they'll remember you.
Customise it to mention their name, possibly what you did for them, try to build up a real relationship.

(If you know he has a wife and children - don't be creepy - maybe he's mentioned it)

If you see a customer has gotten married on facebook or somewhere, send them a congratulatory message.

Also it's good to contact them a while after delivering a product or service to make sure it worked out well for them.

Remember, the value is on the offer, not the delivery. Most people wont act on the existing sale, but they will remember you and possibly contact you back if they need something new.

I try to avoid promoting my products as much as possible in these messages so they feel it as a more personal relationship and not just a marketing ploy.

No one ever thinks it was sweet or kind of Google sending them a coupon in the mail.

Try and keep it short and simple. They will appreciate a message, but also wont want to read an essay about it.

 

I think sending thank you notes are a great idea, in many situations, it would be great to send them to a previous customer, just to touch base and ask how they are doing and how they like the product/service. This can be applied in any field IMO, after an interview, it always helps (never hurts) to shoot the employers a message touching base and thanking them! just my 2 cents

 

Not a good idea, being a client my self I know why sellers approach all the time, does not matter if you are trying to sell something or not.
If you did your job pretty well first time, Clients will definitlely come back to you again

 

I agree with you. It's common for me to see clients regularly return. Delivering good work to clients who appreciate quality always pays off!

 

Did you know that almost every single day of the year has some kind of holiday associated with it?

And wouldn't it just be great if you could put together a handful of the lesser-known ones, and take a couple days a month to send out some informative and humorous cards that pertain to those unusual holidays.

Unlike Christmas and Thanksgiving, probably none of your competition is sending out similar cards. in a way you would be demoing your creative and unique side during times that are typically lulls of the month. (hint hint)

 

I think keeping in touch with clients is no bad thing, as long as it's not too often. I deal with so many people each day its nice to get a reminder of a job well done.

 

I have to disagree with Bordello and Awundrin. At least on the point that it's a bad thing to touch base with clients. While I do agree that good work should stand for itself, people are busy and can forget or neglect.

Further, if you're in business, you can't get too uppity about getting sales contacts. That's how we wal make money and there's nothing wrong with a former contractor touching base at see how we are, or us doing that to clients.

it shows initiative and dispalys interest. you don't have to hard sell, but to say that it's a bad idea I think is a bit short sighted.

 

Good work will stand on it's own, but I don't think that it is a bad idea to keep in touch with clients as long as it isn't too often. I think letting past clients know when you have a special promotion running is a good idea too just don't bug them by sending messages all of the time.

 

Quite often after signing 'ANY' product off to a customer, I always call back up (generally 2-4 weeks later not to make them feel I am 'too eager') to ask, "Hey, how did your customers respond to your new website?", or, "Just been looking through some stuff and thought you might like this...". Generally I find a lot of my clients ask for additional work responding with, "Was just thinking of ringing you, blah blah blah", and reeling off some requirements they have and timescale. I like to work with clients while they're warm, and by this I mean still biting for more work. They often give us feedback saying how they feel we care about them, and that they appreciate a follow up call.

I always prepare myself for bad news however whenever I do this, and if there's a problem, and it's our fault, we rectify it, assuring the customer they should of rang us straight away. This gives us good rapor with the customer, as everyone makes mistakes, but it's the ones who uphold their word and deliver a quality product whom get the REPEAT CUSTOM, which is why you SHOULD do a follow up call. Obviously there are different scenarios where you wouldn't do this e.g. someone purchases a small items such as something less than £100.

I think it also depends on the service provided too. Ask yourself, "Is this feedback necessary?" if it's not, you're wasting your time. Also ask yourself, "If I were the customer, would I want an aftersales call, and if not, would I appreciate one?". Worse case scenario is the customer requests you do not bother them again (it does happen), be polite and simply apologise and uphold your promise (that's the important bit, integrity, they WILL ALWAYS remember). Good luck!

 

Very good points, GoFish, I totally agree. Any successful business person ALWAYS follows up with customers when you're in a service business. Anyone who doesn't, or who thinks you shouldn't, will probably either not be very successful or find that they have to continually work very hard to get business.

Referral work is the best payoff. It comes from providing qualift work and by being respectfully attentive.

 

Nobody can say that saying thank you is a bad idea, nobody in business, nobody in personal life. A "thank you" is not just a display of etiquette but also a wonderful way of appreciating the effort on the client's part (oh yes, don't think for even a minute that you were the only one doing the actual work ). And communicating new offers for a past client can never be a bad idea (there wouldn't be a huge industry called advertising otherwise), but I would just prefer it better if the "special" offers are replaced with customized offers. I mean, you have worked for him and you know his requirements. Use up that knowledge!

 

Saying "thank you" is great. Once.

Double this for me: it's extremely annoying and works in the opposite direction to the one desired. When I have freelancers who keep contacting me to say hello and check in, I end up sending them an email that bluntly states I will contact them when I have work.

The exception to this, IMHO, is with larger companies. When they've got a dozen projects on the go at any one time, it's worth popping a note in occasionally, but I would definitely avoid trying to make friends. That just stinks of false emotion, much like parroting "Have a nice day!" to everyone.

No, it wouldn't. As if "secretarys' day", "managers' day" and "someone else in the company who might possibly feel undervalued even though they get paid regularly day" weren't enough. Ugh.

 

Hello. I've been checking out work at home positions, and I keep finding opportunities for writers. Here's several I found on the WAHM forum.

http://www.wahm.com/jobs.html

On this page scroll down to the middle, where it says: "Added: 3/18/14"..."Added: 3/17/14"..."Added: 3/14/14"..."Added: 3/13/14"... etc. They list new jobs almost every day. I can't vouch for any, as I haven't worked for these companies. I just thought this might be helpful if someone is looking for work.

Earlier I saw one that paid $40 an article. I just hit the back button because it's not the job I want, and later it occurred to me that I should have shared it. Anyway, if I find any more interesting job offers I may post them here.

p.s. Oh. Here's one to write about copywriting.
http://jobs.problogger.net/view/8141
Again, you'll want to research the company as I haven't worked for them.

 

Now why do I feel that there MUST be a better place for this? but yeah, they will definitely be of help.

 

LOL. I thought the same, but I wasn't sure where. As far as freelancing, I love photography. It's just been hard to make enough money. Now I'm adding transcription as an "egg in my basket" and WAHM has been extremely helpful in finding jobs.

 

(Sigh) Sometimes I feel that there is some form of higher regulation which makes us work harder for money if we are doing something for the love of it! hehe

 

I will send a thank you note to one of my clients with the invoice I send but I do have a more friendly relationship with her. I contacted her just last night as I hadn't heard anything, not because I wanted more work but just to see if all was okay.

I think there is nothing wrong with thanking them for hiring you but I agree that you should not go overboard with it.