The Secret to Successful Networking is Following Up Part 1

All the networking in the world serves no purpose if you do not follow up effectively with the people you meet or who re referred to you. I’ve seen people who work hard at making contacts but whose follow-up was so bad that the contacts were lost. Its as if they networked halfway and completely lost sight of the potential to generate world-of-mouth business. Follow-up letteres and phone calls set the stage for further contact. All things being equal, the more you’re in contact with others, the more business you’ll generate. Today, more than ever, there’s no excuse for not following up. 

When I travel abroad, I plan to meet for coffee with people I met which helps me to stay in touch with people from different countries. 

Schedule “reconnection calls” regularly. Such calls enable you to remind the new contacts who you are, where you met them, and what you do, as well as help you stay in touch with your log-term contacts. If you don’t follow up with a phone call or letter, you will surely lose many business opportunities.

In my experience, most people drop the ball here. Yet the follow-up is the most important aspect of networking. There are two specific strategies to follow:

·      First, immediately after the event – typically the next day – you should send a handwritten card to the people you met. Mention something from your conversation and express your interest to keep in contact. Always include a business card in your correspondence.

·      Next, within two weeks, contact that person and arrange to meet for coffee or lunch. This will give you the opportunity to learn more about their business, the challenges they face, and how you could potentially help them. This is NOT a sales call – it is a relationship building meeting.

A Pocket Full of Business Cards

Meeting new people in person is still one of the best ways to market your law practice. If you do a good job at this, you will quickly end up with a desk drawer filled with business cards. But then what do you do with them?

Timely and consistent follow-up is the key to successful marketing. Meeting someone once is rarely enough to bring you business -- repeated contacts are what do the trick. You always want to follow up with prospective clients, of course, but you should also follow up with potential referral sources.

A good referral source is someone who interacts with your desired clients on a regular basis.

There are three avenues you might choose to follow up with people you have met: by phone, by mail, or in person. 

In this article let's look at  following up by phone.

Phone

With prospective clients, you can phone them to see how interested they are in what you do and try to set up a meeting. The meeting might be in person or by phone. You can mail them a marketing letter, or a brochure with a personal note. You could also call or write to refer them to your web site or invite them to your next presentation.

The most effective way to contact clients is usually call-mail-call. Call first to develop interest, and if you can't reach them to set up a meeting on the first try, send them something by mail or e-mail. Then call again to see if they are ready to take the next step.

If someone is a potential referral source rather than a client, your best approach is to establish a reciprocal relationship. You might call to begin getting acquainted, exchange information about yourselves by mail, or arrange to meet in person to find out more about each other's work.

It is completely appropriate to call another business person you have met and say, "I think we might be serving the same type of clients; could we get to know each other better so maybe we could exchange referrals?" Another easy and friendly way to follow up with anyone you meet is to send a handwritten "nice to meet you" note with only your card enclosed. 

Next Monday we going to look at how to follow up by email and in person.

What is your favourite strategy to follow up? Share your knowledge. 

If you want a Business Acceleration session of how you can use this in your business, please click here  to schedule a call with me.

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