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The Hows and Whys of Following Up

March 28, 2007

As I sat in my home office at 12:30 am this morning, printing off the cards that I’ll post a picture of below, I got an email from a colleague of mine. Perhaps I was sending out some kind of psychic vibes that she picked up on - the world may never know. What I know is that I was in the middle of completing my follow-ups from last week’s networking event when she sent me this article:

The Art of Schmoozing by Guy Kawasaki

Somewhere halfway down the page is #6 on his list: Follow up. And he is right, hardly anyone ever follows up. I have been to a few of these types of events now, and even though I hand out many business cards, I rarely get a call from someone to talk further. But what does happen is that I follow up with them, and in return I get a warm response thanking me for my note and asking me for coffee. I may not get the sale every time, but what I do get is contact: leads, energy, referrals, ideas, avenues, whatever the case may be. I take the relationship further than just a one-time shot.

So how do I follow up? I send a personal, hand-written note. I have experimented with all sorts of notes - nice blank cards from a stationary store, a piece of paper with my letterhead, something funny if I made a real connection with the person. Right now I’m sending out handwritten notes on these cards, which we made in-house:

NHG Postcard

Now you don’t need something fancy, but if you have it, it’s a nice branding tool. What you need is something personal. Like Guy Kawasaki, you don’t want the recipient to think you are sending them some kind of canned mass-mailing message. When you meet the person, jot down a note about them on the back of their card so that when you follow up, you can mention something personal about them. It makes the recipient feel special and remembered. I am pretty good with names and faces, so this comes easy to me - if you are not, perhaps you should have a small notepad with you to take notes while you are at an event.

The follow-up is also not the time to sell your services, unless the person you talked with asked you to send them more information. It is the time to say how great it was to meet them, what interests you about their business, how you might help them, perhaps an action item like "Let’s meet for coffee!", and whether or not you will be at the next meeting.

Every time I go to an event or meet with someone, I set aside time in my calendar to follow-up with the people I meet. I have gone in many great directions thanks to follow-ups. If you are spending your time and money to meet new people, you must also spend the time to follow up. Otherwise, you are just wasting your time and money in the first place. As the saying goes, "Your Fortune is in the Follow Up!"

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Comments

3 Responses to “The Hows and Whys of Following Up”

  1. Jill on March 28th, 2007 6:07 am

    I totally agree that entirely too many do not follow up — and then there is the opposite extreme. The dealership from which I ordered my new vehicle has: taken a verbal survey from me, sent me a survey, sent me a gift with a survey included, and then sent a survey on the survey and asked if they could phone me regarding my responses.

    That’s overkill. Keep things to a happy medium!
    jillybeans

  2. Carol Deckert on March 28th, 2007 9:49 am

    Absolutely, Your Fortune IS in the Follow-Up - whether it is to a prospect or a client. Keeping your name in front of a client is the best way to KEEP a client. Everyone loves to be appreciated and sending a thank-you note, especially a handwritten one, is a great way to follow-up.

    After attending a networking function, seminar or any other business event, I always follow-up with an email and then a handwritten note. Since this is a service that I offer to my clients, it solidifies that I am serious about my business when I actually do what I suggest they should do! Hiring a Virtual Marketing Assistant is one way to help you keep in touch with your clients and follow-up with clients, prospects and evens suspects. I’m always open to chatting with anyone interested in this type of service!

  3. Mary-Louise on March 28th, 2007 2:08 pm

    I work for Guy Kawasaki. Thanks for the your comments about Guy as well as the link to his blog posting: The Art of Schmoozing. This is not a “canned message!”

    Mary-Louise

    http://blog.guykawasaki.com/

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