The Power of Follow-Up

“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on when others have let go.”     ~~ William Feather

I launched my monthly blog crusade in August 2013. This month’s focus, The Power of Follow-Up, is an apt topic to cap off my year’s trek, before starting all over again in August 2014. So many of the previous topics prepare you for following up in the most effective and winning way.

There are tools ad infinitum available for setting up a follow-up system, from paper to hi-tech, but the bottom line is there is no better tool than YOU. It’s all about building relationships of understanding and trust. That makes the process of following up easy and comfortable. As I have iterated numerous times before, everybody likes to do business with people they like.

We so often give up because we see no value in keeping in touch with someone who is not ready to do business with us today. Who can foresee what tomorrow may bring?

Thomas Edison said it well: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Advice for Clients

In my business, I arrange for clients to meet the people they want to know and then try to help them to develop those relationships. That requires careful planning of the strategy for following up. What is the ultimate goal? To attain business!!

It is certainly not up to me to sell business for my clients. It is up to them to “win” business and that is accomplished through effective follow-up. Service people particularly claim they are not salespeople.  I beg to differ — Life is a Sales Call! Every one of us is selling every waking hour of the day!

Here are just a few of my suggestions for following up, along with examples.

Effective Follow-Up Tips and Examples

After attending a networking event, send a short note to key people you visited with whom you’d like to stay connected to. I prefer email in order to open the possibility of continued dialog and to capture contact information.

Example: I took a client to a big reception and introduced him to several key people. Then I sent him names, contact information, and a few facts. He sent individual emails with his own personalized notes and was very pleased to receive kind replies back.

Learn about people. What are their hobbies? How about their families? Are they passionate about anything? Are they involved in the community, and if so, doing what? Figure out how to interact more on their personal side.

Example: A business woman who sold customized gift baskets came by to see me. We had a nice chat. By the end of the day she dropped off a beautiful basket with a cat theme as a thank you for my time. Obviously she could tell I loved my pet due to the photos I had on display. She won me over, and got several referrals from me.

Be creative in a subtle fashion on ways you can make follow-up connections without appearing to be a pest. Introduce them to others whom they might want to meet. Offer them information that will be of interest to them.

Example: A national service company has an extensive offering of webinars and articles that will apply to almost every industry. They invite prospects to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge available. By doing so, the prospects will gain further respect for their depth of skills and aptitude.

 Keep your eyes and ears on news. A great way to do that is subscribe to the Business Journal’s morning and afternoon online editions. Whenever an article appears that would be of interest to someone, forward it with a note.

Example: I recently saw an ad in the print version of the Journal featuring a client. I congratulated her via email. She was surprised as she had no idea it was in the paper. I scanned it and sent it her.

My Real Life Example

I have come to know and respect Gene McNaughton with GrowthSmart, a business growth consulting firm. He hails from Southern California and we have a mutual client. Gene has developed a very unique and defined system for successfully connecting with and following up in order to create a win-win situation. His process is called S.W.A.P. (Strategic-Win-Account-Plan). Gene’s formula is basically this: (1) S – A strategy must be developed for opening the door and determining exactly what to do once that door is open and a meeting is held. (2) W – Identify what action(s) must be taken in order to “win” the business. (3) A – Identify who all the players are and who is/are accountable for making the final decision. (4) P – Create a concise plan for acquiring the business because there is absolutely nobody better suited for servicing the needs of the prospect than you.

I have personally been involved in a S.W.A.P. process with our mutual client. It was one of the best and most thorough exercises I have experienced.  Those who follow Gene’s formula should ultimately expect to achieve their goal of winning a business over.