Simple Formula for Follow Up

Last week was International Networking Week and this year’s theme for 2017 is ‘Follow Up.’

I’m sure you have heard many times - ‘The Fortune’s in the Follow Up’

Are you good at Following Up – with prospects, with clients, with people you meet at networking meetings?

Do you have a system for Follow Up?

Dr. Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI, recently *published a simple formula for follow up.   His formula covers 3 simple follow up strategies.  24/7/30  - He recommends using this formula when you meet someone at a networking meeting – could be a prospective client, a possible referral partner, etc.

So this is how it works: 

24 hours – Drop them a note within the first 24 hours.  Could be a personal handwritten note or an email.  Use whatever approach that works for you and that you will do consistently.  Let them know it was a pleasure meeting them and you hope your paths cross again.  A good system to use is SendOutCards.  Here is a link www.SendingCardsMadeEZ.com

7 Days – Within seven days, connect with them on Social Media, i.e. LinkedIn or Facebook.  Follow them on Twitter or join them on Google+. Find ways to connect and engage with them via the social media platforms you use the most. Do not do this as a way to sell to them. Do it as a way to start establishing a meaningful connection with them.

30 days – Within 30 days reach out and set up a One-2-One meeting.  If you live near each other, meet in person. If you are far away from one another, set up a meeting via Skype or Zoom or by phone.  

Here’s a script that I have found to help in getting people to want to meet with me – ‘Hi Gail, your business sounds very interesting. I would love to meet with you and learn more so that I can be a good referral source for you.”

Now, do you think Gail is going to turn me down.  No, she will be more than willing to meet because I want to learn how to be a good referral source for her.

At this meeting, find out more about what they do, and look for ways to help them in some way. Don’t make it a sales call; make it a relationship-building opportunity.  Think in terms of being a ‘farmer’ and planting seeds that are going to mature into many referral opportunities, rather being a ‘hunter’ and bagging one prospect at a time.

By Using this 24/7/30 formula to follow up, you will establish a powerful routine that will help you to make your networking efforts meaningful and successful. 

Use technology (or whatever works for you) to help remind you to follow up at the appropriate intervals. After you send the first note or e-mail, set up reminders on your phone or calendar to follow up at one week and one month out.

And one last point that I would like to add to Dr. Misner’s formula, which I think is the ‘Secret Sauce,’ is to ‘Keep in Touch’  In order to build that long-term relationship you have to ‘Keep in Touch.’  And a ‘Keep in Touch’ strategy can be as individual as you are, i.e. social media, email, phone calls, snail mail, etc.  Whatever works for you.  Just keep ‘Keep in Touch’ so that you are ‘Top of Mind’ when that person needs your services or knows someone who does.

I hope you found this information helpful.  Your comments are welcomed and appreciated. 

Happy Connecting,

Annette

Painted Lady Enterprises

'Help You and Your Business Look Good'

 *Link to Dr. Ivan Misner's article on Follow up

Organizing Your Marketing for the New Year

The New Year typically brings on new resolutions and goals both personally as well as for our business.  But as with any goal, in order to stick with it and achieve it, we must have a plan in mind.  According to SmartSimple Marketing, the first step in making a plan is to de-clutter and organize our mind.  We need to focus and get pass our mental blocks and clearly define our goals, what we want the end result to be, and what action steps are needed to achieve our goals.

The new year brings on the opportunity to get rid of the old and begin the new, i.e. new goals, new plan, new actions, new thought process.  Reviewing what worked, what didn’t work, where improvements are needed and what new ideas and strategies we need to put in place.  Get rid of the notion, well I tried that and it didn’t work.  Sometimes it’s not that it didn’t work, maybe we didn’t implement correctly and with a little tweaking, it becomes a great idea/strategy/action.

One of the things I tell my clients is, you have to be persistent and consistent.  Oftentimes I see business owners try something new, but because it didn’t have instant results, the idea/action was dropped and they were on to something else or gave up all together.  Relationship marketing takes time.  Yes, sometimes there is ‘Love at First Sight,’ but it’s rare.  Relationships whether personal or business take time.  It takes time to get to know, like, and trust someone before you refer to them or buy from them.  In being persistent and consistent in our marketing, we are saying to our clients as well as our prospects that we are reliable and trustworthy.  That we are going to be around awhile. 

One of the best ways to get organized with our marketing is to write everything down, especially if we have a million ideas running through our mind.  Make a list of ideas, evaluate how much time and money each with take.  Whether you can do it yourself, or would it make more sense to outsource.  Keep all ideas in one place and as you take action, record the results, i.e. what worked, what didn’t, etc.  Does the idea/action need more time, does it need to be changed, tweaked, etc.  Remember the saying the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same actions over and over and expecting different results. 

Now is a good time to devise a marketing plan for the year. 

Here are some ideas to consider.  These can be used for social media, blogs, newsletters, special offers, etc.

• Depending on your business, you might think about a theme a month.  Refer to an online calendar like Brownielocks.com  to find ideas that are appropriate for your business.  For example:  January is ‘Get Organized Month.’

• Write down all your ideas and organize as appropriate.  Use a notebook and/or online document like Evernote, but keep everything together in one place in order to reference when needed.

• Go ahead and research and write your content for your blogs and newsletters.  Oftentimes when I start writing about one subject, several others seem to spawn.  Rather than trying to do a brain dump with one article, divide the material into smaller ‘bite size’ pieces.  If you’re doing video, 3 to 5 minute segments are suggested.  Same with written articles.

• Schedule posts to social media when possible.  Link social media accounts to cut down on time spent posting.  There are also social media scheduling tools where all social media posting can be done from one place, i.e. Hootsuite, Buffer, SocialOomph, etc. 

• Be prepared to be flexible.  You may have something come up that is more relevant.  Something may happen or be trending in the news that triggers an idea.  Adjust your plan and actions accordingly.

• Track your progress and results against your plan, re-evaluate and keep moving forward being persistent and consistent.

How do we achieve our resolutions and goals? 

-        - Get organized

-        - Make a Plan

-        - Take Action

-        - Be Persistent and Consistent

-        - Be Flexible

-        - Track our results

-        - Rinse and Repeat

      We would love to hear about your plans for marketing for the new year.  Your feedback and comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy Marketing,

Annette

Virtual Assistant

Painted Lady Enterprises

What does Dieting and Marketing have in Common?

It’s the beginning of a new year and most of us have made resolutions both personally and for business, i.e.  lose weight, get in shape, get organized, get more business, etc. etc.  I recently read an article that compared dieting and marketing.  If you want results you have to work hard, be consistent, find what works for you, and stick to a process over a given period of time.  Sound familiar?

Every successful business owner knows that running a business isn’t easy.  Every day there are new challenges and it’s hard to stay on top of your game when you’re juggling so many things.  So what sets successful businesses apart from the others?  I believe it’s Marketing Consistency.  

Many times we see people who want immediate results and try to get them by going to extremes by doing a lot of marketing in a single day, week, or month: sending out massive emails, posting to social media, offering special discounts and coupons, etc.  This usually has disastrous results.  They are dissatisfied because they don’t see the immediate short term results they expected.  Then they give up and do nothing which results in lots of frustration and a struggling business.  

Other times, people only remember to work on their marketing when things are slow.  It seems natural to focus on marketing at these times, however once business picks up they forget about marketing.  This results in another slow down in business which generates a vicious cycle, that prevents a small business from growing effectively.  (kind of like yo yo dieting).

So, what’s the best way to market for a small business?  We suggest stepping back and coming up with a marketing routine/plan that makes sense to you and your small business, based on your constraints and available resources; and then sticking to it.  Set aside time to market or hire someone to do it for you.  It is essential to your on-going business.
So, what and how much time do you really need to spend marketing?  

Here are some recommendations - 

Five ways to stay Top of Mind with Clients and Prospects:

1.      Reach out/follow-up to current customers/clients – Phone calls, thank you cards, email, personal visit, etc.  A satisfied client is your best referral source.  It is very important to stay in touch.

2.      Send out periodic newsletters to customers/clients & prospects at least once per month.  Include helpful tips that pertain to your business.  Perhaps offering a monthly special.

3.      Post useful/helpful information to social media at the very least 3 times per week.  Re-posting articles from other sources is OK too, as long as they relate to your business.

4.      Networking – we recommend belonging to 3 networking groups – 1 closed, 1 open, and 1 community/civic oriented.  Attend on a regular and consistent basis.  Stay visible.

5.      Blogging, particularly video blogging.  This is a great way for people to get to know you, your product(s), and services.  These videos can be posted to your social media sites and in your newsletters as well.

We believe a foundation of marketing consistency is crucial to a business.  When marketing consistency combines with great products and services, you’ve got a ‘recipe/diet’ for success and a boost to your ROI.  Even when you have more business than you can handle, it’s important to stay visible and 'Top of Mind.'  Not doing so can leave a business struggling when it could be growing.  Make it part of your routine.  Put it on your calendar. 

Still wondering how to do it all yourself?  This is our specialty.  Contact us.  We offer a complimentary 30 minute consultation.  Let’s discuss your challenges and see if we can be of help to you and your business.  Call today and schedule your appointment.

Happy Marketing,

Annette

www.PaintedLadyEnterprises.com

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