How to maintain client and prospect relations

There are many threads that form the process of keeping in contact with our clients and prospective clients. We should not always be in selling mode, but offer information-rich content which benefits prospects and clients, enforcing trust in your company brand. Some ways in which to reach prospects include referrals, walk-in enquiries, web and print advertising, flyers, direct mail, newsletters, phone conversations, email marketing, and website updates. The impact derived from many of these threads has lessened over time as new ones have been developed. With high-streets struggling, the increased use of peripheral business parks, and the significance of online shopping, the way we interact with our customers and potential clients is changing. One of the fastest ways to share news and information is to utilise social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Knowing how to optimise each platform is the secret to successful communication between you and your audience.

Gathering the threads together

Time is precious, accountants will rarely admit to having a ‘quieter’ season. Talking with our colleagues and friends used to be a great way of finding services and products, but many of these interactions have now moved to social media. Despite frequenting the news for negative reasons in recent months, social media it is still a rapid growth industry that is not looking to slow down anytime soon…

In order to pull these threads together, we can turn to technology to help us manage our contacts and connect with our market. Keeping on top of each social interaction and not missing out of important online conversations is vital in this digital age. But how can you easily and efficiently keep track of the threads that you have?

A social media manager is a great way to pull those threads together. Each social media user is unique and chooses to use the platform(s) best suited to help them meet their objectives. Tracking multiple conversations across several platforms with an unlimited number of users is an impossible task, so collecting these events together is advantageous. As you build a relationship with your market on social media, responding in a timely way is key to succeeding in the long term.

What does a social media management platform enable you to do?

Be responsive

Seeing all the threads in one place enables you to respond efficiently, reducing the chance that one is missed. It enables you to see conversations develop and make it easier to join in when relevant. Adding meaningful ‘likes’ and comments here and there enables you to build longer-term relationships. This builds an online network that is not geographically specific, but centred around an industry specific to your business.

Be interactive

Liking or sharing what people are saying is a low-key way of interacting, keeps you in the conversation and highlights your interest and offering. Doing this is easy when all your threads are visible from one easy-to-use location. It helps you to be consistent as you can see the history of your interactions.

Publish content

Publishing quality and tailored content to platforms where interested parties will see it is a great offering for both prospects and clients. So long as it is of interest to your target audience, your content will gain traction by others sharing and liking. With all your threads connected, you can easily publish your content quickly and easily adapt your message to best suit a specific platform. Posts can be pre-scheduled to multiple platforms from one place.

Measure success

With the main business threads visible in one place, it makes the reporting on these very simple. There are numerous different measurements to measure the impact you are having; some include impressions, clicks, conversions, mentions. Some can seem quite technical, but don’t be put off from starting. Social media manager tools often have out the box reporting which provide a great place to start. Some of the things you can learn quite easily are:

• Have the number of people following or interacting with my business increased?
• Which stories have gathered the most attention?
• When is the best time to post?
• How many people have liked or responded to the articles that I’ve posted?

When you have mastered and are comfortable with basic analysis, you can start to explore the other tools that are available to you to assess the impact and value that your efforts are generating.

A social media manager tool will save you time, will outline the ongoing sentiment in your industry, check the impact you are having, and share the burden of creating and responding. This all amounts to helping you stay focused on keeping in touch with your existing customers, while also reaching out to potential ones.

Tie the threads together using a social media management platform specifically for accountants. Manage your client relationships in one place and measure the success of your interactions. Talk to one of our friendly staff today to find out more.