How to “Follow Up”

Early in July, I was doing my morning research on line. Next, according to my daily routine as the business development person at Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™, I would be following up on outstanding proposals, or attempts to get meetings or obtain further information. Follow up is necessary. That is what we do.

Then that morning, I read this article. What a great reminder. This is all information we teach at our workshops, present in my new book Reality Check – Straight Talk about Sponsorship Marketing and try to follow, but it is a great reminder. It hit home that morning and I try hard to follow some of the suggestions presented here by Hendrik from Mingle Media Marketing in Dallas, Texas. Here is Hendrik’s post.

Dear Blog Reader,

Just wanted to check in with you and see if you’d had a chance to check out my proposal for the 4 of July Business Party.

What? Really?

The opening to my blog post didn’t provide you with any value or reason to continue reading. I hate to admit it, but I even do it every now and then. So why do we still use it when we’re following up with prospects? Because sometimes we’re selfish and lazy. But messages like that are annoying and disruptive to the recipient. The problem is that we all know that following up is critical to closing deals. According to Referral Squirrel:

  • 2% of sales are made on the First contact.
  • 3% of sales are made on the Second contact.
  • 5% of sales are made on the Third contact.
  • 10% of sales are made on the Fourth contact.
  • 80% of sales are made on the Fifth to Twelfth contact.

However…

  • 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect.
  • 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop.
  • 12% of sales people make three contacts and stop.
  • Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts with a prospect.

It is well known that repeat customers and referral business are the two best (and cheapest to acquire) types of business. We’ve all sent the “just checking in” email before. So what should you be doing instead?

Hubspot (one of the Kings of content marketing…along with one of my virtual mentors: Seth Godin “virtual” because he doesn’t know me, I just obsessively read everything he puts out) says that there are three key ways to drastically improve these “check-in” emails:

  1. Google Alerts – Set up a custom Google Alert for your prospect’s company name, competition and industry keywords. That will create a trigger event to customize your follow up email. 
  2. LinkedIn Groups – Find a LinkedIn Group that discusses their industry. That will provide you with content and an actual reason to follow up.
  3. Signals Alerts – Signals allows you to track when your prospect is actually opening and/or clicking your email. That way, you know when they open your email and will help you with the timing of your follow up.

The point is, you don’t get any value out of the emails you receive that say, “Just checking in” so stop sending them out to your clients and prospects and start sending something of value. You can’t afford not to nowadays in the modern world of constant interruption (how many emails, texts, phone calls, snapchats, etc. did you get while reading this 500 word Blog?)

Make sure your clients and prospects know that you are THE thought leader in your space. 

These are just one person’s thoughts. Yours are welcomed as well. Please add your thoughts or comments below. Thank you for reading and your feedback.

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