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Close More Sales: Pay unexpected attentions

by Roger Brooksbank

Giving ‘unexpected attentions’ is the simple idea of delighting your customers by sending them a little something from time to time – something that’s totally unexpected. It works well as a relationship builder because whenever anyone goes out of their way to do something for someone else, and especially when they do it without having been asked, it never goes unnoticed. To put it another way, in an increasingly impersonal world, little things mean a lot to people.

The key to this idea is to seize any opportunity you can to pass on useful information to your customers. For example, it might be a copy of an interesting magazine article, information about a new invention or technological breakthrough in your industry, details of a good business book you’ve come across, a promotional idea, or even just a humorous anecdote or cartoon that relates to them or their business in some way.

It is usually necessary to photocopy or re-package the material so it’s smartly presented before posting it out to customers together with a ‘with compliments’ slip that simply says: ‘Thought you might like a copy of this’, and preferably handwritten and signed by you. Repeat the gesture whenever anything interesting catches your eye. Best of all, if you sell to businesses; make sure you pass on any sales leads whenever you get the chance. Your customers will love you for it!


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