In an ideal world your clients would provide word of mouth referrals to their friends or business associates and your phone would ring non-stop and you’d be set for all of the business you can handle. In the real world though there are times when your phone just doesn’t ring and clients aren’t calling you back. Why is that? There are many reasons but it could be that you need to put in place a better system of following up and continually marketing your business.
Here are my steps to connecting with prospective clients and to having my phone ring:
- Schedule time for follow ups. If you meet someone at a networking event, set a time right then and there to follow up with him. Make sure you keep that appointment. Also, make time in your weekly calendar for your follow up calls and contacts. If you don’t schedule it, it won’t happen.
- Send a thank you note. I realize that “everything is on the internet” and that is part of the reason a follow up thank you note is powerful. When is the last time you received a piece of physical mail that thanked you for something? Probably not very recently. Send a post card with your business name or logo on it and viola you’ve not only thanked the customer, you’ve had your name “out there” with the delivery people.
- Make sure your follow up goals are realistic. Can you honestly follow up with two dozen people in a day? Not likely unless you’re willing to sacrifice an entire day of running your business to do it. Aim for a half a dozen or set aside two hours a day to make follow up calls and do as many in that time as you can. Don’t make the task insurmountable.
What are your follow up methods? Do they get your phone ringing?