Fantastic Follow Up
Author: Caterina Rando, MA, MCC

As a business success coach I assure you the factors that contribute to the success of any business are the same whether you are in the business of selling copiers, counseling sessions, or chimney sweeping services. In most cases in any non retail purchasing situation, once the interest and curiosity of a potential client has been aroused, you will need to implement some Fast Fabulous Follow-up techniques in order to bring in the business.

Follow-up is more than simply sending out a pack of information on your business. Follow-up is everything you do in relation to a potential client in order to meet your objectives. Keep in mind you have more objectives than simply making a sale or getting a new client. Whenever you are following up, there are eight important objectives a good businessperson seeks to meet every time in order to be successful. They are:

1. Initiate the initial follow-up immediately. The more urgency you bring to a business situation the more your potential client will also act with urgency.

2. Keep in contact over a period of time in order to begin to establish a relationship with your potential client, allowing them to get to know you like you and trust you.

3. Find out what specific needs your potential client has and if you can indeed serve them to help them meet their objectives.

4. Educate your potential client on what products or services you have to offer.

5. Establishes yourself as an expert in your industry and an invaluable partner to your potential client's success.

6. Guarantee that your potential client will remember you and your business when they need to.

7. Make sure your potential client can easily say yes to you when you ask for the order.

8. Turn your potential client into a referral source for you whether or not they do in fact become a client.

When following up with your potential clients use these proven strategies to in order to meet the eight objectives of successful follow-up, and increase your business success.

Send Out Interactive Items
Instead of sending out a magnet or paperweight with your phone number on it get creative, give people something they will use. Recently while attending a networking event a woman rushed over to me and told me that while on her scuba diving vacation in Coza Mel she had been thinking a lot about me. I had given her a fluorescent whistle key chain with my name on it. The whistle is a follow up tool I give out usually during a speech for people to keep and use and therefore remember me when their company needs business coaching or a business speaker.

Give Them Value
Ask yourself how you could educate your potential clients about your business while giving them information they can use instantly. Ways I do this are sending out articles I have written on topics that are of interest to my potential clients. I had a client in the moving business that sent out a booklet full of relocation tips as well as information on his business.

Invite People to Go Where You Are Going.
When your potential clients spend time with you in a non selling situation this allows you to get to know them and their needs in a non threatening situation. This also sends a message to your potential client that you care about their business. If you take a potential client to an event where other people know you they will often let your prospect know how wonderful you are.

Success Faxes
Faxes are good to use because they are informal and can be perceived as more personal than a newsletter of direct mail piece the recipient knows was sent to many people. Send out a weekly or monthly success fax to your clients with updates on your business and industry information that they will find valuable. Fax them information that comes across your desk related to their industry.

Be Innovative
Always be looking for an innovative ways to stay in touch. Use postcards customized for your industry. Send out cards for Valentines Day, New Years, and Halloween.

Have a Plan
Before you do anything sit-down and write out a plan for your follow-up. Decide in advance what action you are going to take and write out a list of what you need to do to accomplish each of those tasks. Give yourself a deadline by when each action must be complete.

Schedule It
If it is not on your calendar it will not happen. Block out time for Follow-up everyday. If you don't you will always be late with your follow-up and you will always be trying to catch up.

The period of time from initial follow-up to a closed sales can be anywhere from five minutes to five years. If you want to bring in a potential client it is important to be consistent and persistent with your follow-up. It will take more than a phone call and a postcard. If you consistently use these strategies for success on an ongoing basis you will find that soon everybody wants you to be following up with them. They will be saying to you "Thank you, I am so glad you followed up".








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Caterina Rando, MA, MCC, is a professional writer, success speaker, master certified coach, and author of "Success with Ease--How to Find Fulfillment in a Fast-Paced World," a powerful six-cassette audio program. To find out more about this program or Caterina’s keynotes, trainings, workshops, and other personal and professional development tools contact her at 415-668-4535 (email: cpr@caterinar.com), or visit her website at www.caterinar.com.

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