A lesson in record-keeping from Business Link

Yesterday I received a letter from my local Business Link (a UK government funded business advisory service) inviting me to apply for a free guide to help me start my own business...  excuse me??!

I had to read the letter three times before I believed the evidence in front of me! 

I was so incensed I actually wrote a letter back informing them of a few facts they seemed to have forgotten, namely that

• I have been in business for over 10 years and been registered with Business Link for almost as long.
• I’ve attended many of their events and seminars (and had to register for each one)
• They’ve invited me to to be a speaker for groups of their members several times over the past few years.

Not only that, I’ve even consulted on several occasions with their advisors and filled out numerous forms detailing every aspect of my business.  Unbelievably the letter they sent had no company name so it seemed as if they wanted to erase the past and start a brand new relationship with me.  I wasn’t at all impressed as you might imagine.

I realise that a big operation like Business Link has many thousands of members but that really is no excuse for poor record keeping.  And they’re not alone in being guilty of this.

Just think what would happen in your business if you treated your clients like that?  I’ll bet they wouldn’t be clients for long. 

Being in business is all about building relationships and that means remembering and writing down (or recording on your computer) every little snippet of information about your contacts.  At the very least you’ll want to know what services or products they have already bought or expressed interest in.
 
Your database is your most important business asset and even as it grows, you need to note every point of contact so as to be sure to send out relevant information; something Business Link seem to struggle with.