Successful producers will tell you that business and professional clients should be contacted, formally or informally, at least once a month. What's more, since helping you build your business through referrals must be an acknowledged part of client relationships with businessowners and professionals, don't hesitate to ask for names on a regular basis.

Business and professional market clients expect their advisers to provide a lot of service, to share information on a variety of topics, and to anticipate, rather than just react to, problems. This puts the burden of communication on you, but it also creates opportunities for frequent client contacts in addition to planned periodic reviews. This is good news, since timing is often critical in these cases. A "keeping-in-touch" phone call can put you in the right place at the right time for the right reasons. What's more, the more often your name is in front of clients, the harder it is for the competition to get in through the back door.