Is Your Follow-up Strategy Helping or Hurting You?
Business Networking Tips
When you receive a referral, how long do you wait to follow it up?
What are your first steps?
- Call the referee to get more information on their requirements
- Research the prospect to get a feel for their business and possibly personality
- Google??
I had a conversation with a frolleague (a colleague who wants to be your Facebook friend), let’s call her Mary, recently who was surprised that she’d gotten flack from a referral source, Brian, for taking five days to follow up with a prospect that Brian had referred to her. Mary explained that she doesn’t like to follow up with prospects for four or five days because she doesn’t want the prospect to feel like she’s too eager. I told her that she is clinically insane.
When building relationships, it’s always important not to let too much time lapse in the early stages.
Send your prospect an email or phone call within 48 hours. They obviously have an issue and are looking for someone to solve it. You come recommended so that’s already the hard part out of the way.
Now all you have to do is listen. Just find out what their issue is. If you think you can solve it for them at a price that can afford, then organise further meetings. Don’t sell them anything in the first conversation.
I’ve been pricing granite bench tops this month. One company got back to me the next day with a quote. Another company took a week to return my call and yet another week to give me a quote. They were cheaper than the first company, but I wouldn’t bother with them because if they are that disorganised in their quoting, I shudder to think what their workmanship will be like.
Remember, to secure the long-term loyalty of your prospect and convert them into a customer, you must first build a relationship, and that relationship must develop through KNOW LIKE AND TRUST. This requires you to be proactive.
Always remember to follow up with people, in any situation. There’s a reason people commonly say that the fortune is in the follow up . . . when you follow up quickly, your reputation will benefit, your business will benefit, and eventually your wallet will benefit as well.
3 Follow Up Tips
- Call the prospect while the issue is still fresh in their mind
- In the first conversation, don’t sell them anything, just listen and learn
- Find some common ground. Establish something a little more meaningful so you can move on to LIKE and TRUST.
