EFFECTIVE FOLLOW-UP STRATEGIES

As a business owner, following up with clients and prospects is essential to your success. You can meet thousands of potential clients over the course of your career but if you don’t put in the work to follow up and convert them to paying clients, you will never grow your business.

Your follow-up strategy can make all the difference in whether you gain a client from an interaction. Let’s say you meet someone at a networking event, and you really hit it off. You both agree that you should meet for coffee or lunch to discuss ways to support each other. You leave the event feeling jazzed at the prospect of a new client or referral partner, and then, nothing happens. Weeks go by, you lose your jazzed excitement, and you think, hmmm, I really should reach out to that person. But by then it feels awkward, so you don’t do it. Sound familiar? I too am guilty of this. But I am here to tell you that your follow-up strategy doesn’t have to be boring, cumbersome, awkward, or scary!

As with just about everything else in business, communication is key to your follow-up strategy. One of the great things about a follow-up strategy is that it can be very basic, you just need to make sure you do it!

Here are 5 simple and effective follow-up strategies to help you cultivate profitable relationships with clients and referral partners and to stay top of mind with your current customers and prospects:

1. Personalized Emails - Send a personalized email to each client, partner, or prospect after meeting with them. Thank them for their time, recap what you discussed, and reiterate any next steps or follow-up actions. If you meet someone at a networking event, you can simply say “Hi, it was so great to meet you at XYZ event! I would love to get together and discuss ways we can support each other’s business. Are you available [insert date or week you would like to meet]” or “I would love to reconnect and continue our discussion about XYZ” – it doesn’t have to be complex. Following up with someone should be the first step in establishing rapport and planting the seed for a profitable relationship that benefits both of you!

Pro-tip – have a template you can use so that when you are busy, you can still easily reach out to people with a simple email. Need a template pack? I can help with that! Click the link at the end of this article to connect with me!

2. Phone Calls – Once you have met with someone, or had a significant interaction with them, follow up with a phone call at a pre-determined time. Be specific – if you can talk with or email them prior to your phone call, let them know when you will be calling or ask them when a good time is to call them. Once you get them on the phone, ask open ended questions and let them answer fully. Before you hang up, ask if they have any additional questions or concerns and see if they are ready to move forward.

3. Personalized Messages - Send personalized messages on social media or via text message. These can be more informal, but make sure to keep them professional and friendly. Now, I know a lot of us have certain feelings about jumping into the DMs on social and starting up conversations. IF you do it the right way, it is a fun way to meet prospective clients or referral partners. Here is my strategy for using DMs to start conversations:

a. Find someone near you geographically, in your industry, in a group you are in, or who has posted something you can relate or respond to.

b. NO sleezy sales pitch, especially in the first message.

c. Start a simple conversation. It is that easy.

Here is what I say when I send a DM to someone I haven’t met yet but would like to meet with:

Hi {Name}, I noticed that we are in the same industry/networking group/FB group/etc. {Insert a short sentence about your common connection} I am a mortgage professional and communication coach and I would love to get together for coffee or over zoom and chat about ways we could support each other’s businesses! Are you available the week of __________?

I have never once had someone turn me down or stand me up with this approach! I am very selective about who I reach out to, and I make sure that we have at least one thing (location, industry, interests, etc) in common before I reach out. (Feel free to copy and paste my template and use it in your DM reach outs!)

4. Newsletters – Build an email list either through your CRM or through a landing page or program that allows you to capture email addresses. Send regular newsletters to keep your clients and partners informed about industry news, new products and services, or events that your business is involved in (regular doesn’t have to mean frequent – just do it at regular intervals like monthly, quarterly, etc). This is a great way to stay top of mind and provide value to your network.

5. Webinars and Seminars - Host webinars, workshops, or seminars to educate clients, partners, and prospects about topics related to your industry and the value you can provide them regarding those topics. This will help position you as an expert and give you an opportunity to connect with potential clients. For example, if you are a realtor, you could team up with your favorite lending partner and put on a seminar for first time homebuyers that covers the basics of buying your first home. The event can be free but in exchange, you collect their name, phone number, and address, and then FOLLOW UP using one of the first three strategies stated above (I prefer number 2 for this scenario) to start developing a relationship with them!!

It is important to remember that follow-up should be done at appropriate intervals. You don't want to come across as pushy or aggressive, but you also don't want to miss out on opportunities by waiting too long. A general rule of thumb is to follow up within 24-48 hours after an initial meeting or conversation. From there, follow up every few days or weeks until the client or prospect is ready to move forward or tells you they are no longer interested. 

You can implement any combination of these 5 strategies into your business. You can use one follow-up method exclusively if you like, or mix and match them in a way that works best for you and your business!

A simple, yet solid follow-up strategy is one of the easiest and most beneficial processes you can implement in your business. Each industry and each professional is different so you need to determine the follow-up strategies and intervals that work best for you. Once you do this, stick to them. Schedule your time to allow for your follow-ups to be part of your daily routine. Once following up becomes habit, you will see just how easy, yet how profitable it can be!

To learn more about how to build your simple, yet effective follow-up strategy so you can build, grow, and scale your network and your business, connect with me HERE!

Ciao for now! 

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