Whether you know it or not, your past clients are your best source of new clients. Finding a new client is time consuming and expensive. If you can find a way to increase your pipeline without the time commitment and expense of prospecting, would you be willing to implement it? Of course, you would.

Taking the time and effort to keep in contact with past clients will grow your business through add-on sales, replacement sales, and referrals of qualified prospects.

Often salespeople complain that keeping in touch with past clients takes too much time, effort, and money. Considering the return on investment, this really is not true—at least for most of us. The key is finding a way to communicate that is time efficient, relatively inexpensive, and effective.

Studies indicate that in order to keep your name at the top of your past customer’s mind, you need to “touch” your customer a minimum of 14 times per year—more if at all possible.

What is a “touch?” A touch is any direct communication—email, telephone call, snail mail, postcard, holiday card, in-person meeting, etc. If you are communicating directly with the client, you are touching them.

What is the most effective way to touch your past clients? Studies show that there is not a “best” way to touch the client, but there is a most effective combination of ways.

In order to most effectively keep in touch with past clients, you need to enlist a number of communication formats. Sending 14 emails, a year is better than nothing, but it is not the best way. Neither would be sending 14 snail mail pieces. Or making 14 phone calls.

The most effective client communication campaigns use several of these communication formats. For instance, setting a marketing calendar to send 4 postcards per year, 6 emails, 2 snail mail letters, one phone call, and one holiday card during the course of the year. This schedule allows you touch your customer about every 3 1/2 weeks.

So, what do you send? What do you say 14 times during the course of the year? That is actually the difficult aspect of past client marketing. When you communicate with a past client, the fact that you have something in front of a previous customer is not a good thing, in and of itself.

Whether or not your communication campaign is effective will depend on what you are communicating. If you send junk, just to send something, your customer will quickly learn to ignore your communications. On the other hand, if your communications offer something of value, you’ll train your client to pay attention to you.

Which would you rather have: a client that ignores you or one that pays attention to you?

I assume you would rather have a client that pays attention to you. To train your clients to pay attention, and, therefore, to keep you at the top of their mind, you must figure out how to send them communications that give them value. Can you offer a special for them or someone they refer to you? Can you provide them an annual or semi-annual update on their purchase? Can you send or email them articles of interest that relate to their purchase? What you send does not have to be large or costly—it just needs to be of interest to the client.

Do not just send something to send it. Think about what you are sending and what it will—or will not—communicate about you and your business. If you want your clients to think of you and not ignore you, then take the time and the effort to make sure you are sending something of value. If you are not sure it has value, it probably does not.