Insanely Clever Marketing

Effectively Handling the Follow-Up

Posted by Penelope Herbert on September 5, 2015 · 1 Comment 

You take the time to attend a networking event, meet people you can do business with, exchange business cards…and then what? You follow-up, right? You make a call, send them something, or both. If you don’t connect or don’t do business right away, what do you do? It’s pretty simple. But many people in business still find the follow-up hard.

If you are someone who finds the follow-up a problem, do you recognise any of these four reasons why?

1. Being Disorganised. Do you have a desk that is littered with bits of paper, old business cards, post-it notes and folders? If you don’t have an accurate system for keeping track of opportunities, they may slip through your fingers. Or at least slip behind the desk never to be found again.

Ensure you have a system to log contact details, where you met, what you discussed. Consider investing in a contact management system. Even a simple excel spreadsheet is better than nothing.

Set aside a prescribed time to organise and follow-up opportunities.

2. Active Resistance. Do you avoid following up by creating other jobs to do? Do you tell yourself that prospects should be calling YOU? Are you sabotaging yourself with negative thinking? You’ll find that people with established businesses always have a routine to follow-up; that’s why they are established.

Don’t think that because you are chasing up prospects for business that they will think you don’t have enough to do; they will think you are professional.

3. Prioritising Other Activities. When you must initiate an activity it’s easy for other things to take over; responding to e-mails, dealing with accounts, going to networking events, etc. If you don’t have a plan, you may never get around to following up.

Set aside a prescribed time to follow-up opportunities.

4. Letting Fear Rule. Do you let voices that say weird things like “I might fail” stop you moving forward? What’s the worst thing that can happen? And what’s the likelihood of that worst thing actually happening? You might get a surprise and actually succeed? And what will happen if you DON’T make the call? The downward spiral will continue…and you won’t HAVE a business.

Don’t let imaginary voices in your head command your actions.

Are you guilty of not organising a proper follow-up? Have you found these tips helpful? If you do follow-up, do you have other tips for readers you’d like to share?

(Read ‘Is this a regular part of your marketing’ on this blog for more great Follow-Up tips)