Your Client Pipeline:
A Permanent Pipeline of Prospects
A client pipeline is one of your most valuable valuable marketing resources.New Clients
There’s no question that new clients are important.You need a constant flow of new clients to replace those whose transactions have closed.
New clients are the lifeblood of your business. ..they also make a critical contribution to ongoing sustainability of your business...by driving the flow in your permanent pipeline of prospects.
Client Pipeline
This pipeline illustrates the process whereby you move from prospecting for leads through serving clients to receiving referrals from satisfied clients.
As indicated in the illustration, prospecting represents Stage I of your pipeline.
It is the first of 8 stages in the process.
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Communicating to Convert Leads into Clients
Critical as it is, prospecting does not instantly establish client relationships.Potential clients must respond positively to your prospecting.
As noted in the illustration this represents Stage II of the flow through your pipeline.
People who have responded positively to your prospecting become leads.
Once you have identified leads, your task is to convert them into clients.
This task represents Stage III of the your pipeline.
A key component of converting leads into clients is properly qualify them.
Do they have the resources to buy the kind of property they are looking for?
Do they really own the property they want to sell?
Qualification represents Stage IV of the pipeline.
It’s all about follow-up, more follow-up and still more follow-up.
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Communicating to Satisfy Clients
Satisfying clients is all about
meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations. It also encompasses Stages V through VII of the pipeline.
Strategy GR-3--Communicate to Satisfy Clients—the third element of Generating Referrals outlines how to satisfy clients.
This strategy is primarily about matching purchasers to appropriate properties and marketing sellers’ properties.
In a nutshell, it’s all about satisfying clients.
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Communicating to Generate More Referrals
Satisfied clients represent your major source of new business.This new business comes in two forms.
It is either repeat business from clients. These people liked what you did for them before and want you to help them again.
Or they liked what you did for them and would like to refer others to you.
But this new business doesn’t just happen.
You must actively encourage it.
You will note from the illustration that Stage VIII represents referrals and repeat business.
In effect, these activities regenerate the flow-through your pipeline.
However, instead of starting at Stage I, referrals and repeat business enter your client pipeline at Stage IV as qualified leads.
To succeed over the long term, your business needs a continuous flow of new business.
As well as providing this flow, your client pipeline also ensures the lifetime value of your clients.
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Successfully Maintaining the Flow
There are 2 critical points at which extra effort is required to maintain the flow of clients through the pipeline.The first is prospecting, which is the entry point for those new potential clients who have not been referred to you.
At this point your challenge is attracting prospects whom you can convert into clients.
The second point that often requires extra effort is maintaining the loop at the end of the process.
At this point, your challenge is keeping touch with satisfied clients in order to encourage them to hire you again...and also refer others to you.
For many people, meeting and overcoming these two challenges often leads to noteworthy marketing achievements.
If you have achieved some great results
through prospecting, I'd like to hear about them.
Similarly, if you have achieved some great results by keeping touch with satisfied clients, I'd like to hear about them as well.
After all...what good is a great achievement if you don't tell anyone about it? Half the fun of a great achievement is talking about it.
What is your best tip in maintaining the flow of clients through your pipeline?
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