A Pocket Full of Business Cards
By C.J Hayden, MCC
Meeting new people in person is still one of the best ways to
market your services. 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 customers, of course, but you
should also follow up with potential referral sources.
A good referral source is someone who interacts with your
desired customers on a regular basis. For example, as a business
coach who works with many start-ups, I look for referrals from
accountants, attorneys, career counselors, and people who teach
small business classes.
There are three avenues you might choose to follow up with
people you have met: by phone, by mail, or in person. Let's look
at the uses of each one.
With prospective customers, 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, depending on the
nature of your business. 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 prospects 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
prospect, 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 customers; 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.
Be careful when making contact by fax or e-mail. Many people
are offended by faxes or e-mail messages that are essentially
generic marketing letters. It's more advisable to use these
media as tools to communicate more personally with people you
have already opened a dialogue with. If you choose to fax or
e-mail someone who isn't expecting to hear from you, be sure to
personalize what you write for each prospect.
After your initial contact, think of ways to keep in touch on a
regular basis. Call to see how people are doing, or to tell them
what's new with you. Send a note with a clipping or cartoon, or
e-mail a link to an interesting web site. Don't forward jokes or
inspirational stories, though, unless you know for sure the
recipient will appreciate them.
To follow up in person, schedule lunch or coffee, or invite
your contacts to an upcoming event you plan to attend. Once you
have a large follow-up list, consider a regular newsletter,
ezine, or postcard mailing.
To manage your follow-up activities, you need a contact
management system. When your list is short, you can use a
notebook or 3 x 5 cards. You will quickly outgrow a manual
system, however. By the time you reach 200 contacts or so,
you'll be ready to graduate to a computerized system designed
for contact management, such as Microsoft Outlook or ACT!
However you choose to keep track of your contacts, the
important thing is to stay organized. Always have one central
place where you record who you meet, what contact you have had
so far, and when it will be time to follow up next.
If a business card you have collected doesn't belong to a
prospective customer or referral source, throw it away. There's
no point in keeping the card of someone you don't plan to follow
up with.
C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients Now! Thousands
of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales
and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a
free copy of "Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You'll
Ever Need" at www.getclientsnow.com
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