A little background, if you will . . . I routinely find any staffing agency I work with phones me just to touch base once in awhile if things are quiet. While these routine check in’s are important to maintaining client relationships despite business levels, they can fall short on impact and outcomes for both parties.

Taking this up a notch, there is a very effective way to put some vigor into these calls. This can even be the reason itself for ringing up. The technique I’m going to present can help you keep a better pulse on what’s happening with clients and reveal new opportunities that may be emerging. Without this, you run the risk of being left in the dark. Worse still, you may not even know that’s where you are. Where I’m leading you is to the agency’s Client Profile Form . . . the place where the agency collects and records basic client data for reference. It holds a wonderful, yet hidden marketing secret. This document’s true value is often overlooked.

Major Point #1: The Client Profile Form is critical. So much so, that if I were to start an agency tomorrow, it’s the first thing I would sit down and create. Your form must hit all the vital data points on what you need to know about a client’s company in order to deliver successfully. This form should be turbocharged and able to leap tall buildings with a single bound.

I’m going on the assumption that every agency has a standard Client Profile Form for client data. If you haven’t regarded this document as an ongoing, multifunctional, door opening, trophy winning client tool, it’s time to start. Any agency that doesn’t possess a well designed and well defined Client Profile Form should create one. If yours hasn’t had a new look in twenty years, it’s ready for a revamp.

Major Point #2: The Client Profile Form is your passport. It will help you enter the client zone over and over again. You must not only use it, you must know how to use it. Just like a passport, it enables you to traverse the stop points. If it’s sitting on a shelf or stored in a file somewhere, it’s not going to take you places. It must be presented.

Each piece of information contained in a Client Profile Form provides data you can track, maintain and use to deliver service. These details also give you a more effective reason to call a client! Like anything, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do this, so it takes some understanding to be successful. In earlier blog posts, I stress that cold calling often fails because the caller is “wanting something” from a client or potential client. Instead, you want to be offering something when you call a client. This comes in the form of your service, which includes properly maintaining their company’s profile. Clients want to feel well taken care of.

Reaching out to your clients with a brief call to let them know you’re updating their Client Profile Form is a non-selling event and, if done with proficiency:

1. Provides a more powerful point of contact. (vs. “We’ve got great temps ready to go”. When I don’t need a temp, this call just fainted on the floor from malnourishment.)

2. Improves client service and care. (Keeping an eye on the details allows you to stay proactive not reactive to what’s current with clients. How can you claim “high touch, personalized service” without keeping up with them?)

3. Creates an opportunity to show NOT TELL how wonderful your agency is. (Actions speak louder than words, so this one’s going to yodel. This is taking care of a client, not talking about it. Your Client Profile Form should contain some key questions that zero in on their needs and how they do things. It should provide data to help you stay on track to deliver well qualified and suitable temps and valuable service. This should have your agency expertise all over it. Clients will naturally see how knowledgeable you are.)

4. Provides an update on important client details. (Make sure you’re keeping a formal update on how your client’s company may be changing or evolving. Have they increased/decreased headcount in departments? Have they opened/closed a branch office? Are they expanding their product line? Are there changes in job structures, i.e., job shares, flex time, part timers. How has the down economy affected their growth plans? Remember, this is not a selling event, just information collecting with an eye on service. Without “selling”, if you see new opportunities unfolding due to changes in a company, it’s effective to say “We may be able to help you with that. Let’s get through today’s updates and set up a brief call for next week to focus on . . . (the new item)”. It’s friendly, no pressure and filled to the brim with service. You also don’t want to take up too much of their time since you’ve called them unexpectedly. If you continue to build credibility with clients as being brief, you’ll greatly increase your call acceptance rate. P.S. It gives you a more powerful reason to call them back in a week also because you’ve been invited!)

5. Gives you a valuable data collection method. (This information builds your knowledge base about your clients and has a compounding affect on your knowledge of the industries they’re in and the ones you service. This improves your agency brand and strengthens your position in a specific market sector. In plain English: You’re going to become very smart about your clients, which then makes you smarter about their industry, which makes you more valuable, which attracts more clients . . . because you’re smarter. And the beat goes on.)

Now, some may say “This is all well and good, but who has time for all this? We need temp orders.” To this I would ask “How frustrating and unproductive is it to call clients the same way you’ve been doing and not get any additional work orders?” How tired are you of making sales pitches only to walk away empty handed and feeling anemic? At least with this method, you’re showcasing your service level, stockpiling your knowledge, increasing your expertise and keeping a much sharper eye on new opportunities that may be forming. Not to mention, it will fuel your professional image inside and out by providing a more meaningful discussion. This involves change. Take any time spent unproductively and begin putting in place a system that will yield better results. Try it one client at a time, one call at a time.

These “maintenance” calls should generally be brief and to the point, unless a client indicates they have some time to spend. You can break the Client Profile Form into sections to keep the calls more bite size. Develop a calling strategy that targets each section, or even just one question that would prompt a small but worthwhile discussion. Chip away at updating your entire form. Create incremental and more powerful reasons to make contact with clients. Remember, this is a passport! You can map out an entire year of client calling strategy that builds something of real value for both of you. This will work ongoing as things are always changing with clients, their companies and their staffing issues. You need to keep learning and expanding your expertise. They need an agency that’s strong and on top of things. That agency will be you!

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Catherine Pistole, is the Director of Human Resources at a private equity firm in New York City and author of “The Temp Factor”® book series. To receive important updates, tips and articles, please send your email address to thetempfactor@aol.com.
http://www.catherinepistole.com

I’ve been in Sales for about 5 years but Im brand new to staffing and consul;ting, and I must cold call right now in order to strum up business. I do have some contacts, but being new to this particular product, I must utilize cold calling until I build me a substantial client list. After having built a substantial client list, I should start reaping the fruit of my labor in that I would gain referals, but until then, I must cold call…. Do you have any other suggetions? I know about sending a letter or email, but they are about one in the same… The prospect can/will many times just throw or delete the message. Thanks for your response!
Tyler: Sorry for my delay in responding. I have been so busy with my books and working with a publisher now, that it has consumed much of my time. I wanted to suggest using your client profile form as a way to approach new clients or prospects. It is an excellent marketing tool. If you don’t have a really effective client profile form (questionnaire where you gather their information, so you can best provide service and temps), design one and send it out in email to spark their interest and show how you pay attention to the details and offer something better. I hope that’s helpful. You can write me at thetempfactor@aol.com if you’d like to discuss further! Best, Cathy

I enjoyed reading the blog. I’m wondering how the sales people in your business go about contacting their clients? If you aren’t selling pizza, your phone generally doesn’t just ring with requests for your services or products. Cold calling is ONE effective way of meeting new prospects. If done correctly, the “interruption” should last no longer than a minute or so.

thanks,

Scott