Get New Clients, How – Part 3
Develop the “Follow Up Habit”
Do you ever wonder when your telephone will start ringing? Are you sitting in your office waiting for prospects to call you and hire you? If so, you will need to change this mindset immediately! Please understand that if you do not take the initiative to follow up on even the smallest interest in your service, you may be stealing money from your own wallet.
How can you rob from your own wallet? This is done whenever you have an opportunity to build your business and you, well, decide NOT to! Do you have the habit of following up when you meet a new business contact? Do you follow up even if there is a tiny bit of interest in what you have to offer? Take for instance the family member who says to you, “I think I know someone who could use your help.” How do you deal with this situation? There are several action steps that you could take:
- You could wait for your relative to put you in contact with the person.
- You could ask your relative to pass on your contact information to the person.
- You could ask your relative for the contact information of the person.
Which of these action steps seems to be the MOST effective to you? If you are going to develop the follow up habit, you have to take the initiative. You want to take the best step that will put you in front of the referral. Action step number three is the best way to go. But, we can take it a step further. Why not ask your relative for the contact information. Tell her that you are going to call the referral. Additionally, ask your relative to contact the referral as well to give them a heads up that you will be calling. Are you doing this now? In order to develop the follow up habit, you ALWAYS have to take the big, bold initiative.
The same is true when you meet other people who mention that they have an interest in what you do. Or, they may mention that they know of someone else who is looking for the type of support that you provide. Do not rob money from your own wallet by not following up. If you come into contact with a new acquaintance on Monday, it would be a great idea to give them a call on Tuesday. Do you have difficulty figuring out what to say? Here is a sample conversation starter:
“Hi Sharon, my name is Wil. We met yesterday and I hope you are doing well. I’m calling because I told you that I would follow up with you to give you more information about how I help my clients to increase their revenue in less time than they have done so in the past.”
Keep in mind that the sooner you follow up, the easier your conversations will be. You want to talk to people while you are still on their mind. However, you do not want to wait until the person waits to call you. Remember, you are not in high school. You don’t want to have the attitude that ‘I’m not calling her until she calls me first’. That is best way to steal money from your own wallet.
At this time, take out all of the business cards that you have gathered over the previous weeks and start making phone calls. You are in the business of building your business. Getting into the follow up habit is one of the cheapest methods of marketing your business. Put the money in your wallet and don’t leave it on the table!