Using ACT! to foster relationships

I had to take one of my sons to the pediatrician recently.  After the waiting room shuffle, and a few minutes in the exam room, our doctor walked in, shook my son’s hand and asked, “So, has lacrosse practice started yet?”  Instantly you saw the nervousness melt from my son.  Being the consummate marketer, I thought, nice touch.  This is something every sales, marketing, or customer service person should practice.

Now, I know that our pediatrician has hundreds of patients.  We aren’t so special that he saw my son’s name and remembered he plays lacrosse.  He read it on a chart.  Our “chart” is the contact’s ACT! History.  If you aren’t recording and referring to details like this in your ACT! database, you should be.

People like to feel you know them.  They want to be important enough to remember.  Asking about a vacation, or their kids, or anything that matters to them forges that feeling.  If you are like most of us, you manage a lot of prospects & customers.  You can’t remember everything about everyone.  ACT! can help achieve that if you record the details. When you record the History of your call, meeting or to-do, include the little things them mention.

Now, this is very different than using their name in your conversation fifteen times.  Most of us are on to that trick.  It makes us uneasy, and it comes across as exactly what it is, rehearsed and fake.  What we do mean is take note of things that peak your interest – the things you would remember if they were your only customer.  Then, make your customers feel known.  Lookup the prospect before you pick up the phone, skim their history and then ask them about that detail.  Work that detail into the conversation.   When people feel known, it builds loyalty.  Customer loyalty is something you cannot buy, you have to earn it.  You’ll never earn it if your customers don’t feel like you know them.  How will you remember the details that help build that?  Record it with your ACT! History.  Sure you are using a little cheat sheet to jog your memory, but your contacts will appreciate that you took the time to remember.