Product Is You "Brand You"

Many very successful business people conduct business according to this type of model. These business professionals can be lawyers, CPA's  engineers, consultants, insurance agents or others professionals. The challenge for many of these professionals is how to stay in touch with all of their potential clients even when they are not actively engaged with them or under contract with them at that time. Also, how do they find time to look for new clients when they are actively servicing existing clients. The key is to leverage opportunities to create value with all existing clients in your domain as well as other whom  you have not engaged.

In his book Rainmaking - The Professionals Guide to Attracting New Clients, Ford Harding Clarifies that business relationships require regular and consistent contact and that employing some very simple strategies will help professionals stay in touch with existing customers and also build the opportunities to find new customers. Here are some of the tips from his book regarding how to stay in touch while creating value during these interaction. I have also added a few of my own thoughts as well.

     Request Advice on a project that you are
     working on (such as writing an article or book)
     Thank someone for referring business to you
     Congratulate or promote someone
     Request the name of a vendor
     Refer a possible job candidate
     Thank you for their payment for services
      rendered
     Offer free consultation
     Provide assistance on a professional  association
     project
     Provide information on a potential customer
     Call about a new lead or business opportunity that
     you have become aware of
     Request coaching on a prospect or lead development idea
     Forward an article that you think might be of value to the client
     Recommend a vendor who provides excellent service
     Invite to a workshop or webinar
     Forward a blog post to them
     Notify them when you or your firm posts a press release
     Notify them regarding trade events
     Invite them to sporting events or group activities
     Offer to meet this person over lunch to discuss any of
      the above
     Offer to share your contact list with that person to help
      them develop business
     Use Social Media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and
      twitter to stay connected to your network

By staying in touch with your Clients and engaging them, you will be able to build "Brand You" more consistently and effectively.