We currently have in excess of 200 previous and current clients in our database - these are people we're counting on as an important source of future business and referrals, and we take great care in keeping in touch with them. It's a light touch, though - we don't want to be obtrusive or annoying. Our goal is to establish and maintain a simple synapse connection in their brains:
Over the years, we have found a variety of ways to reinforce our connections with our clients, and one of the absolute best - and least expensive - is our annual Christmas gift to them.
Each year, every one of our past and current clients receives an annual subscription to Sunset Magazine from us. If you're not familiar with it, Sunset is a very high-quality regional monthly magazine, combining travel, gardening and cooking topics, all around the theme of living in the western US. Our clients love it!
They recieve a notification of their subscription in our holiday greetings card to them. But even better, every month, when they receive their issue of the magazine, they're reminded of who sent it to them - it comes with a cover wrapper that has our name and message on it. Here's what it looks like:
And the best part: the annual subscription is $14 - only $1.17 a month. So each month, your clients will be reminded of how thoughtful you are - that's the word that keeps coming back to us from them when they thank us - thoughtful. Good word association, isn't it? We have to admit, though, that with 200+ clients, that annual investment in our client base is a big chunk of change. But we haven't spent any money that was more effective since we started in this business - it's probably the last thing we would cut.
If you don't live in the western US, maybe Sunset isn't the best publication for you (or maybe it would work out great - all your clients would want you to list and sell their homes so they could move here - and, hey!, you could refer them to us when they do!) But there are dozens of regional magazines that probably have similar professional gift subscription programs, similarly priced. You can probably find several that your clients would like.
If you'd like to check out the Sunset program, here's the link to the Sunset Professional Gift Subscription Program. And if you decide to use them, drop us an e-mail and we'll give you some tips to make your transaction a bit easier.
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