We are honored to have Anthony Iannarino as a guest blogger this month. Anthony is President and CSO of SOLUTIONS Staffing, Director of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, and author of The Sales Blog.

Over at The Sales Blog, I write about dream clients. Your dream client is the prospect for whom you can do jaw-dropping, breath-taking, earth-shattering work.

You have a list of dream clients and, if you are like a lot of sales organizations, you are guilty of neglecting this list; your dream clients are also the most difficult prospects to penetrate because they have existing relationships. It takes a lot of time and energy.

To effectively pursue your dream clients, you have to nurture these relationships over time. Here’s why.

You Need to Be There and Be Known

When your dream client becomes dissatisfied enough to make a change, you have to be there and you have to be known. If you aren’t “front of mind,” you run the risk of missing the opportunity to compete for your dream client’s business.

Nurturing the relationships within your dream client’s company keeps you “front of mind.” It reminds your dream client that you are there, and it reminds them of what you stand for, what you do to create value for your clients. Nurturing transforms you from a company name to someone that the contacts within your dream clients know.

But being there and being known isn’t enough to ensure you gain an opportunity. You must do more.

You Need to Make Deposits in the Relationship

Reminding your dream client who you are and what you do is helpful. But it isn’t enough. You need to nurture these relationships by making deposits. You make these deposits by taking actions that provide value to your dream client all through their buying process.

When they are satisfied, do you provide them with ideas that they can use to further their business? Do you give them competitive intelligence they can use to make better decisions? How do you help them?

When they recognize that they have needs, do you provide them with a way to understand and frame those needs, providing them with advice on how to think about their problems, challenges, or opportunities?

When they are evaluating their options, do your nurturing efforts provide them with information as to how you have helped others in their position to make the business improvements that they now seek?

Making these deposits in your dream client relationships through nurturing not only ensures that you are known, it ensures that you are known as someone who can help them build a path from their current state to their imagined future.

Nurturing your dream clients is an investment in your client’s future—and yours!