Nudging dormant clients

In getting ready for the upcoming session of March Marketing Madness, I’ve been thinking a lot about nudging dormant clients. I still maintain that nudging dormant clients–getting back in touch with clients you haven’t heard from in a while–is:

• The world’s most boring marketing method
• And…
• The world’s most effective marketing method

Here’s an example: I was referred by a colleague to a conference interpreting agency that then contacted me twice, but (ugh!) I was not available for either assignment. A couple of weeks later, I sent them a short e-mail thanking them again for those offers, and giving a specific time window when I was completely available, like, “As of now, I’m completely available during the week of March 6, if you have anything in the pipeline for those dates.” They responded right away and offered me two more assignments, both of which I was able to accept, and they’re now a regular client.

Clients ripe for nudging include:

• Agencies that onboarded you and then never sent any work (“Just wondering if you need anything else from me to complete the process? If not, I’d love to get going on an assignment”)
• Clients who seemed pleased with your work and then went silent (“Looking over my records, I see we haven’t worked together since X project and I would love to work with you again if the need arises”)
• Clients whose work you had to turn down, but now you have some availability (“Thank you so much for the work offers that you sent me last month; I have some availability coming up next week if you have anything in the pipeline”)
• Clients where your primary contact has moved on (“I’ve worked with X project manager for the past few years, I know they’ve moved on and I’m wondering who my new contact should be?”)

Many people avoid nudging because:

• They think it sounds desperate
• They think clients will contact them (“They know where to find me if they need me”)
• They struggle with what to say (“Work has been slow; got anything for me???)

The reality is that client-side employees are busy just like the rest of us; they’re sending work to the first person who comes to mind. Be that person! By using the examples and scripts above, I hope that you might be willing to give nudging a try! If you do, let me know how it goes!