Client Contact Information - Keeping It Secure

No beating around the bush on this one...after a complete computer crash today, re-installing all my software programs, etc., etc. What a pain! ;(

This led me to think of how secure my clients contact information is, and write a short article about it.

You MUST collect your prospective clients contact information and secure it somewhere safe and legally with your social media monitoring!

This is CRITICAL!

How?

First and foremost, you must ASK PERMISSION to contact your prospective clients. If you don't do this first, and grab their e-mail off their Twitter or Facebook account then send them a message, this is SPAM.

Other than the fact that this is just not professional...

This can cause your E-mail provider, your opt-in provider, etc., etc. to cancel your account. Losing contact information is worse than losing a prospective client!

If a prospective client shows interest in you and your services, contacts you in any way, a Tweet, private message on Linkedin or Facebook, here's what you do with your social media monitoring:

Send them a message back (on the social media site) as soon as possible asking them if you can contact them via E-mail, have them opt-in to your mailing list or Ezine, etc., etc.

Getting their (the prospective clients) client contact information in a more secure manner is critical to your business.

Why?

What if one of you, (either you or your prospective client) is removed from the social networking site for some reason? You've lost all contact with this person and any messages you've traded back and forth.

Now, you've got to find this person (if you remembered their name,) and begin the process all over again.

This can cause hard feelings as well.

If for some reason you get removed or your account is hacked and you’ve had to create a new one, this new prospective client notices all of a sudden you are gone, what do you think is going on in their mind? I'll give you a hint, and it's never positive:

• Why did Kris 'un-friend' me?

• Is his massage service legit or even legal?

• Did I do something wrong?

• Is he pissed at me?

None of this is good for your reputation, your business, etc., etc.

Let's get back to how to ask permission for client contact information, especially with your social media monitoring.

Here's how I do it so there is no question as to what is occuring.

Let's say 'John' is interested in my professional massage services and has contacted me via Facebook.

The first thing I'll do is send him a polite message back, thanking him for contacting me and answer any questions he may have asked.

The very next thing I'll do (as this is a massage client) is to ask his permission to contact him via E-mail.

I'll even make it really simple for him, letting him know WHY I want to contact him via E-mail, (one of us may lose contact on the social network site, E-mail is much more reliable, etc., etc.,) as well as provide an exact statement for him to use, such as:

Kris, I give you permission to contact me via E-mail. John Doe

John can then copy and paste this line, re-type it, whatever, but I need those words from him in the message prior to contacting him using another method other than the social networking site.

I even go one step further and copy and paste the discussion, especially his acceptance of me sending him an e-mail, to a Word document or such. (With the perspective client’s permission, of course!)

I want no question as to his allowing me to E-mail him and is the correct and preferred method of social media monitoring.

Now, for those who want to receive further information from me, I'll direct them to my opt-in box on my ezine, mailing list, etc., etc. Everyone already knows that if you take action to agree to receive information, it's all OK. The client is willingly choosing to acquire the information.

See how easy this is to secure client contact information?

Until next time,

Las Vegas Massage Professional Kris Kelley

P.S. - I am NOT performing massage therapy at this time. These pages are now being used for marketing purposes only. I've moved on to life coaching in Prescott, Arizona. If this interests you, please feel free to visit my new blog here, Exploring Awareness. Thanks for your time and have a great day!