Any Advice For Follow-up Techniques After Meeting People?

Drop a postcard or an e-mail that essentially says,

"Tonight is not too soon to thank you for taking time to speak with me today. I enjoyed meeting you and am looking forward to sharing our thoughts on how we can create a mutually beneficial relationship with our respective services.

As always, feel free to reach me at ________.

Again, thank you!

To your success,

*signed*"

I learned that from Joe Gandolfo, the number one life insurance salesman in HISTORY!

The most valuable aspect of networking, relationship building or nurturing future clients is follow up. And sadly, the vast majority of people in business don't do it well or don't do it at all!

Treat follow up as a strategic plan rather than an after thought. Know going into every networking event who you are looking for and how you will follow up with them.

The best follow up strategy starts with gaining agreement from the person you meet that there is a reason to continue the relationship building process. Before you end the networking chat, ask if they would like to meet again and continue getting to know one another. Whatever agreement you come to, do not send a follow up email that includes what you do and how you can help them. This is a back door to a sales pitch!

Here are a few ways to stay in someone's field of view between networking events:

Invite them to connect on LinkedIn, Alignable or another relevant site.

Send them a follow up email and suggest a way to keep talking (coffee or an invitation to another networking event)

Send them a piece of content from a recognized authority that speaks to something you both chatted about.

Ask them for advice or a referral in their area of expertise (this should be legitimate, not fabricated)

Most quality relationships need between 7 and 12 connection points. This could take a few months to a year or more. The point is to keep the follow up fresh and intermitant. As people get comfortable with you and your intentions, they are more likely to support you or possibly do business with you.

Make following up a well laid out plan and you will quickly rise above your colleagues and competitors.

After I meet business owners at events, I send an email thanking them for speaking with me and I take that opportunity to explain in depth what my company can offer their business. If I believe the business owner is a great prospect that can lead to a client, we will send one of our infomational packages which includes a few delicious treats for them to sample.

After meeting someone at an event u must follow up between 1 and 5 days - email, phone, text and make arrangements to meet for coffee, a drink, lunch to establish a relationship - get to know the individual, their needs, wants find things u might have in common and Who they know that might also need your services. And remember it's a give in take - demonstrate how u can help them as well - if the fit is good it will lead to a solid relationship/friendshi, possibly new business and also referrals.

Most important - do not wait longer than 5 days to follow up!

Make notes on their card: vacation, anniversary, office move etc. Next you mention that in the hand written note after "Nice meeting you at the ___". Then ask for a coffee, plant tour, etc. Let us know how it goes.

I think one of the most important things to remember when you meet someone at a Networking event is to make the conversation about them and not yourself. Because if you show a genuine interest in their hobbies, or interests you won't have your time going into the meeting trying to convince them of the need to buy something that they might not have any interest in. Also the key is to listen to their pain points. People are either on one side of the pendulum or the other. If they are experiencing Joy about family, work, or their social life, or a relationship they will share it, as well as if they are experiencing discomfort from a bad relationship, a movie, or a dining experience. Use this it's what I call F.O.R.M. Family, Occupation, Recreation, Motivation, people are moving in one of these four circles and if you are able to listen to their pain points or pinpoint what brings them joy you can better determine if they have the time for your offer, as well as be able to provide a solution for them in their business. Before getting the initial sale you have to position and posture yourself as an invaluable resource.

If I get their business card, I will connect with them on LinkedIn, using a personalized message. "It was great to meet you last night at the chamber mixer at XYZ venue..."

Many of the referrals that I get begin with an email introduction. I follow this initial contact up with an email briefly stating what I do and I provide some examples of my work. I also asked for the first coffee meeting. Once we've had the coffee meeting, I will follow up with an email thanking them for the meeting and provide some useful collateral that follows up on our conversation -like a link to a video, whitepaper or an article.

I'll also connect with the prospect or strategic partner personally on LinkedIn, as well as following their business page wherever one exists on LinkedIn, Alignable, Facebook & Twitter. Of course there are a host of other platforms to connect with them on social media, but I tend to avoid the personal pages on Facebook and the like, unless these pages are specifically focused on building a personal brand.

Connecting across the social media platforms which are most pertinent to their marketing messaging and strategy gives me constant points of reference for future conversations, and helps me develop a better understanding of how they may be driving their prospects to a conversion on their website.

At worst I'm maintaining an informational connection with these prospects or strategic partners -even if we're only speaking once a month or once a year. Result: my social media feeds are constantly "following up" with me, and over time, I'll be better armed to help prospects or strategic partners solve a problem or take advantage of an opportunity.

The follow-up starts before the first meeting. For example, whenever I refer, I treat the act of making a referral as a reflection of my business acumen, and will typically invite both parties to join me for coffee via email. I find that by inserting myself into the equation at the beginning, it drastically increases the odds of the meeting actually happening. I then open the conversation by explaining why I thought it made sense for them to meet, and let them take it from there. Before the referral is even made, I make it a very clear prerequisite to the referral recipient to keep me apprised of any significant developments along the way by cc:ing me on emails where appropriate or doing so off-line if not. This lets me know nothing fell through the cracks and also allows me to gently circle back if things somehow get stuck in the mud.

Developing extraordinary "Salesmanship"...

This is a great post because it emphasizes the fact that the one important area ALL small business entrepreneurs need to develop are selling skills. Following up is a critical strategic selling skill.

Below are a few things you can do to not only reconnect with that potential client/customer but set yourself apart from those who are competing for their attention as well:

1) Follow up question: Yes, a nice thank you letter is appropriate but why not follow that with a question (could be from the previous conversation) to get them to engage? It also demonstrates your willingness to learn more about them, and to identify what they value.

2) Create a Community: Whether it's newsletters, linkedIn groups, Facebook groups etc there are a variety of ways to keep that potential customer engaged with like-minded customers you already have. Build a FOLLOWING and convert those prospects to loyal customers/clients.

3) Use Technology: Instead of the usual e-mail/phone call, take advantage of innovation using platforms like SKYPE, JoinME, Google Hangout etc to make the follow up process more personable...and the potential customer/client once again can see you face-to-face (which is how you met in the 1st place).

4) "Open House": "Open House" has always been synonymous with grand opening, why not use this same idea as a follow up mechanism to introduce your new prospect to your establishment. I've helped my clients set up "Store Tours", "Sampling Parties", and a "Get To Know Our Company" happy hour as ways to re-engage with prospects. Also, this is a great way of providing a "reason" to follow up with the potential customer/client.

These are just a few strategies that are fairly "out of the box" ideas that may separate you from just doing the ordinary follow up tactics.

Bottom line is that none of these ideas work unless you increase your "Selling Skill" acumen...because in the end reconnecting with that potential client/customer means you'll have to sell them once again.

Thanks again for the post!