Brian Buffini is all about human contact.  Oral will rule with your clients.  Yes Oral Communication, that is!  Sure, he talks about this thing called the cocooning of your clients, but the truth of the matter is that your clients want to hear from you.  Not from an e-mail or a direct mail piece, but from you.  I try to make an attempt at calling my qualified database, but the reality is...that there is only so much time in the day, week and month.  Unless I get to touch them....I really end up losing them and actually could end up loosing the folks in my database as well.  Check out www.buffiniandcompany.com. 

Tom Ward, however, reiterates that there is so much money out there in your database.  There are so many people out there trying to establish new relationships instead of leveraging the relationships that they have.  Most people neglect their database, and as a result, they miss out on a lot of money that's sitting right before their eyes, fingertips and phone.  Think about it....how much time perday, or week do you have call those who are important to you?  I didn't create a database for my first 5 years in the business.  Let's just say I figured that it cost me about $300,000 dollars.  As Tom Ward of Majestic Consulting says, people need to hear from you.   Check out www.majesticconsulting.com.

Finally, Todd Duncan, also tells people that they need to reach out to people who already value them.  In other words, the relationships that you have....keep them.  Nurture them and invest in them.  The most important piece of this equation is that, as Todd says is the client's for life program.  As Todd says, If you have a "Client for Life Program," then you need to call the client at some point during their life. www.toddduncanonline.com. 

The common theme?????  Use the telephone.  If you're not using the telephone, I guarantee you that someone else is.  Your clients are now talking to someone else.  2010 looks to be a year of higher rates.  Low rates exist right now.  The reality is that if Oral is the key, then the phone is the most important element. 

This begs the question....how can you make 200 or 500 calls a month to your entire database? 

BUT YOU SHOULD!

Really this is quite easy.  I found a company called Call-Em-All.  Check out www.call-em-all.com.  I have a friend of mine who uses it quite often....like...EVERY MONTH.  He says it's so darn easy.  What it does is this.  You record your message and you hang up.  It calls everyone in your database and leaves a message.  Think about it.  If you have breaking news or just need to keep in contact with your A list people better, this allows it to be done quickly.  The best part is that it's so stinking easy and it's so cheap.  I looked at the pricing plan and it only costs me $32 to make 250 calls.  I think it's reasonable as to price. 

I'm reaching out to my database.  I call quite a bit, but in reality this is the perfect assistant for me.  Plus I don't pay for insurance and I don't have any talk back either.  Can't beat that with a stick!