Business Networking Part 8 - The Follow Up Plan

Ok, now that you got all the tools out of the way in the last course, let’s just focus on how to follow-up with people. In this course, we’ve put together a couple of simple follow-up strategy that you can use for your business and other ways of connecting. Keep in mind that these are only suggestions and that you can customize your own plan. The key is actually DOING it. Follow-up. Reaching out. Connecting and building relationships so you can do business down the road.

We’ve already covered most of this and this is the absolutely MINIMUM I recommend you do for your follow-up strategy. So let’s just review.

1. Go networking and get contact information

2. Take QUICK notes on each business card – where you met, a memorable trait.

3. Enter that contact info into a Spreadsheet or CRM for tracking purposes

4. Initiate an autoresponder email campaign to keep in touch with them.

5. Connect with them via Social Media

6. Pick up the phone and call them for a follow-up conversation – most people NEVER do this.

7. If the follow-up call goes well, schedule a follow-up meeting over a cup of coffee

This entire plan should be done in 30 days or less. In fact, I will usually have all this done within 2 weeks.

In addition to the Minimalist plan, send them an SMS. In today’s world, many people – myself included, will not pick up their phone if they don’t know who’s calling them. They’ll answer a text if you tell them who you are though. So call them and send them an SMS text message.

1. How often should you email someone? How much is too much? How much is too little?

2. I know, I know, I know… you don’t want to be invasive, obtrusive, annoying, so you only want to email people like once a month and well, that’s just not enough. How about twice a month? Nope. Once a week? Well, that’s what most people are comfortable with.

3. Here’s the truth though… studies by big box retailers like WalMart, Target, and one of the fastest growing companies ever… Groupon… have shown that sending daily emails increases sales. Of course those emails have to be relevant and applicable to that person or you’ll just annoy them. Groupon is famous for hiring comedy writers to write the emails they send out to their customers. When asked about the secret to their success, the CEO said that one of the factors was that any time they needed more money, they would just send more emails with more offers. If a product didn’t work, they’d send out an email with a different offer instead.

4. MONTHLY updates are great if you have a newsletter

5. So here’s the final answer… send out as many as you can AS LONG AS they are relevant and can capture your client’s interest. Otherwise you’re just spamming them and they’ll unsubscribe

1. Calling someone is like dating isn’t it? Here’s the thing though, in today’s world of the internet, some people have forgotten the power of picking up the phone and having a conversation. Believe it or not, most people want to talk, so don’t be afraid to call someone.

2. Initially, your goal is to do a follow-up call in the minimalist plan and set up an in-person (or in today’s world, online in-person via Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet, or GotoMeeting, etc) get together to get to know each other’s business better. Depending upon your two schedules, this may take a week or it may take 30 days.

   1. The best way to do this is to give them an assumptive close or even better, send them to your online appointment booking calendar while you’re on the phone with them.

      1. I’m not going to go into this and some popular services include:

         1. YouCanBook.me

         2. ScheduleOnce

         3. AcuityScheduling

         4. Appointlet.com

         5. Picktime.com

3. Follow-up calls

   1. Here’s where you can stand out. After your initial call and follow-up meeting, you should have some personal information on this person. Find out some important dates and times if possible. And when those times come about, call them.

      1. Birthdays (you can get this via Facebook)

      2. Wedding anniversaries

      3. Work anniversaries (you can get this via LinkedIn)

      4. Graduations, etc.

   2. In addition to the special dates

      1. After the first 30 days, call them monthly for 2 months.

      2. After 90 days, call them quarterly for a year.

      3. After a year, call them annually.

1. If you really want to stand out, send a postcard greeting to everyone you meet after an event (that you want to stay connected with).

2. Handwritten cards are better than auto-generated ones.

   1. I have a client that has a stack of customized post cards on his desk and he spends an hour or two after each networking event to send a special personalized note to each person. It’s a fantastic way to stand out and it gives them an excuse to follow-up with a phone call.

   2. Use a service to do this if needed

      1. https://www.sendoutcards.com

      2. https://www.postable.com

      3. https://www.bannerseason.com/main/home

         
         

         1. Unlimited (just pay postage) for $49/mo.

   3. When to send?

      1. Again, right after you meet someone, on special dates, and on holidays! People love getting cards!