Keep that Rolodex Updated!
Knowing your Clients Preferences Could Help You with Gift-Giving
So many people wait until the holiday season to start deciding what to buy for the people on their gift list. This is the wrong way to go about buying for others. First of all, its too stressful. You have to try and think back and remember what that person likes or what their pastimes are. Second, you may not even know enough about your client in the way of their hobbies or pastimes. Third, why do it the hard way when theres an easier way to go about doing the same thing?
You may be wondering what the easy way is. The easy way is to keep your Rolodex updated. Keep a short form for clients to fill out about their preferences. You should have two different forms; one for new clients and one for existing clients. Get in the habit of having every new client fill out a getting to know you card. If you do it every time you get a new client, youll get in the habit of having them fill out the card and your Rolodex will be filled with useful information.
There are some key questions and statements to include in your, getting to know you card. First leave a blank space and have the sentence read: Tell me about yourself. With this kind of an open-ended statement, clients will feel more freedom to write about who they are. They wont be stuck into any yes or no answers and it will allow them to be more forthcoming and creative with what they choose to write. Youll be surprised at some of the responses youll get to this statement.
The key questions that you should ask are: What are your goals in your career, what are your pastimes/hobbies, what is your favorite food, and what was the best gift that you ever received? These key questions are sure to give you a good idea about who the person is and what their preferences are.
The trick with keeping your Rolodex updated is just that. Dont get your information cards from your client and then forget about it. Its important to keep the card updated. Otherwise if you dont, you could be in the doghouse when it comes time to choose a gift for them.
A smart way to keep updated is every two years go through your Rolodex. Cards that are more than two years old or just coming up to two years should be pulled for updating. Then you can simply send out a new card to your client with a little note explaining that youre updating your records. This is simple because you dont have to actually talk to the client and theyll appreciate that youre thinking of them.
So if you dont have a Rolodex, its time to get one. Or if yours needs to be updated, pull it out, blow the dust off and get to work. It may seem tedious at first, but when you see the responses you get from people, youll realize that youve just made an investment. For something so small, the pay off will be pretty large.
Even if you dont want to be the one to do it, have the secretary do it, or a business partner. Maybe you could even split the workload down the middle. However you go about it, make sure it gets done.
When you see others around you rushing around and trying to come up with the perfect gift idea, you can smile knowing that youve found a better way. You can avoid the hassle and confusion and focus on more important things.
