What To Do When You’ve Lost Touch With Your Clients

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One of the many gifts we have as we work our mobile notary and loan signing business is meeting incredible people. Still, when I first started out, I was terrified of the kind of people I would meet. Were they angry? Sad? Mean? 

Turns out, very few of them were any of those. And my friend Bobbi Illing said it best anyway, “You can like anyone for an hour.”

For the most part (luckily) we aren’t counting down the minutes until we can escape an appointment. People are pretty cool. And some of these connections we have with our signers are magical. 

And even when we think we may have found a “bestie” or an awesome referral source, we can struggle to stay connected and often lose touch. 

No matter how powerful the spark during the appointment, the energy wanes as life goes on and we get distracted. Especially, when the phone is ringin’ and dingin’ like crazy. It’s easy to “forget” to stay in touch. This happens to me all the time (yep, still does!). And guess what. It happens to everyone. Including your clients, friends, and family. 

Because it happens to everyone, it’s actually pretty easy to overcome. We just tend to overthink it as we spiral through our shame cycle (“I should have called sooner”, etc). Instead of “shoulding” all over yourself again, try this instead. 

Reach Out.

If I had just $1 for every attorney, real estate agent, insurance broker, escrow officer, or otherwise awesome human being I vowed to stay in touch with, but didn’t, I could probably beat Elon Musk to colonizing Mars. 

Okay, maybe not that much. But it’s still in the hundreds of thousands of dollars-and maybe even millions of dollars through the years. I’ve had two chance encounters with signers at loan signing appointments that have evolved into seven figure revenue alone. And dozens more on a smaller scale. That's just the contacts I actually stayed in touch with. 

We're leaving money on the table. I know I have. 

I am not saying this to hype up a business opportunity or to sell a course. I think we’re passed that now. We have to evolve and grow to the next level. Your network matters. This stuff is real. 

Who you know means everything in a relationship-based business. And here’s the thing-you already likely know exactly who you need to know to scale your business to the level you’ve been dreaming about for years. And if you don’t know them exactly, you’re just an introduction away with your current network.  

These “hinge” connections have crossed your path in the normal course of your business, and they can open doors for you. All you have to do is stay in touch and keep yourself top of mind, and when the time is right, make the ask. 

And it’s never too late. Even if it’s been a year since your last communication, you can reach out. Here’s how:

“Hey Denise! You’ve been on my mind lately. What’s new? Got any time to catch up today/tomorrow/next week (etc)?” 

Or try this variation if you’re afraid they won’t remember you:

“Hey Denise! This is Bill the Notary from last year. You’ve been on my mind lately. What’s new? Got any time to catch up today/tomorrow/next week (etc)?” 

Still not comfortable?

Try it on friends and family first. We all have that great friend/cousin we love…but don’t stay in touch with. Then we feel bad because so much time has passed, so we feel awkward even reaching out. Suddenly years pass, friendships wither, and businesses sink. Relationships are important- critical, even, for the survival of humans and businesses alike. 

Conversations Either Happen or They Don’t

You can’t control everything (much to my chagrin). Sometimes your “reach out” will land at the right time and right place, and life and business will never be the same. Others will fall flat. There’s nothing more wrong than that then timing, usually. Don’t let it bother you and certainly don’t let it stop you from continuing your outreach. 

The deeper you can get your relationships, the stronger they will be. The only way to do that is to stay in touch and leave the door open for experiences that “deepify” a relationship. That means you may have to be vulnerable, caring, and real. When you're a solo-preneur, there is no separation between you and your business. You ready for that?

Reach out to just one person from your network every day, for the rest of your life, and you’ll never have to hunt for another client again. 

Schedule it ahead of time, Monday thru Friday (or 7 days a week if you’re serious). Know exactly who you’ll reach out to. Then do it.

Bill Soroka is the founder of Notary Business Builder, an elite community of professional Notary entrepreneurs that are committed to building a successful business in any economy by leveraging authentic sharing technology and cultivating deeper relationships.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn here.