Have Prospects WANTING to Take Your Sales Calls

“I want to build long term relationships rather than close transactional sales. One challenge I have is that many of the accounts I close do very little business with us. Once they are signed on I don’t want to do the whole “Just calling to check in” bit. What’s the most effective way to “check in”?

Let’s break this down into several parts…
For starters, when you say you want to “build long term relationships rather than close transactional sales” I take that to mean you want clients that will re-order from you on a more frequent / regular basis as opposed to “one-and-done”. And if that is the case, this starts prior to ever picking up the phone to make your first sales call on a lead.

Know Your Prospects DNA

Take the time to identify what your ideal clients DNA looks like and then only add prospects to your hit list that match that DNA.
Examples could be: company size, employee size, vertical, annual revenue etc (these are just the basics)
But trying to turn a frog into a prince so you can reap the benefits of tailoring clothes made for a prince is not a successful business strategy. Know what your ideal client looks like and then build your prospecting list around that.

“I don’t want to do the whole “Just calling to check in” bit, what’s the most effective way to “check in”?

You are right to follow your instincts and stay away from the “just checking in” routine. It’s a waste of time for you and becomes annoying to them.
The solution is to become a valuable resource / industry expert in their eyes…
Don’t be just a product specialist; be an industry leader who can help them help their business grow. Learn what some of the toughest challenges they have that is related directly or indirectly to what you sell to them.
Keep them informed and up to date about changing markets / technology / products / services… what ever applies…
But the ultimate goal is for you to help them grow their business, not sell your solutions.
Take a few creative writing classes and start your own blog / newsletter.
Get a WebEx account and host webinars that are designed to help your prospects / clients solve some of their toughest challenges that are related to your industry.
Maybe they are having a hard time “selling” your products / services (assuming you are a manufacturer and sell to re-sellers) … why not set up a webinar with an industry leading sales person who is going to do a co-webinar with you on showing your targeted audience how to over come their toughest sales objections?
By creating something positive that will help them via blog / newsletter / webinar etc and having that show up on their radar (at least once a month but max once a week) you are constantly branding yourself as a leading expert and a value added resource.
So when you do call them, they will want to pick up the phone because they know you have something important to say to them.

ELIMINATE CALL RELUCTANCE