The Art of Follow Up…It Truly Is an Art!

Ok, let’s be honest. How good are you at follow up? You are in a networking meeting or at a trade show and you’re energized, caught up in the moment and have made LOTS of connections and have collected a TON of business cards. All with good intentions!

The next morning you go to work with “intentions” of following up with all your contacts. But, the demands of work, project deadlines and interruptions foil your plan, so you put it off. Before you know it, too much time has passed, you’ve forgotten exactly why you were so energized and excited about your newly made contacts. It is such an easy trap to fall into. What’s the solution?

Self-discipline! It’s up to you to keep up with the connection. You must make a commitment to routinely connect with the people you have met on a regular basis. Networking is more that just meeting someone, it’s building a relationship with your contacts based on integrity and reliability. Your contacts must get to know you, your character and your product before doing business with you. If they don’t know you and your product or service very well, then why should they do business with you?

It seems like a daunting task to stay in touch with each and every contact. It’s work too! Here is a plan and some tools to help you stay in touch on a regular basis.

Building a Sound Foundation: Maintaining a system is EVERYTHING!
o After every networking event sort the business cards you have collected into 3 groups:
o HOT, are contacts that are ready to do business with you now!
o Warm, are contacts who aren’t ready to do business together but will be soon; within 3-6 months
o cold, are those contacts who need a lot of selling to turn them around into customers
o Once you have identified a category for each contact it’s time to put them into your Contact Management System
o I identified a great program to start with in an earlier post. In case you haven’t checked it out, it’s time to now: www.FreeCRM.com
o Enter each contact into the system – this is where maintenance is EVERYTHING! It’s soooooo much easier to enter a couple of contacts at a time rather than a zillion at once!
o Hint: This would be a GREAT task to outsource to a Virtual Assistant
o When choosing a contact management system, look for one that auto-schedules contact based on the hierarchy of the lead
o Select various types of communication vehicles and the frequency of each vehicle for the contact (example; face to face meetings, drop-ins, newsletters, personal emails, handwritten notes, etc.)
o Edit the communication frequency as necessary (how often you have meetings, lunches, etc.)
o Now that you have the foundation in place, it’s time to apply tools

The Tools:
In my experience, I find the following tools to be useful in staying in touch with all my contacts regardless of rank:
o E-zines or newsletters (try www.contantcontact.com)
o QUICK online Polls
o Social Media – don’t under estimate it’s power! Try trusted forums like: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, StumbleUpon, YouTube
o Connect with all your social media platforms by using Ping.fm – enter your message once and spread it to all your social networks at one time
o E-releases – electronic press releases
o Upload to internet article banks
o eHow.com: provide product or service “how to’s” and tips
o Blog! I like WordPress.com – blog with purpose. Give your audience meaty content…don’t blog for the sake of blogging.

Many of the internet contact can be made for you through a Virtual Assistant. Find someone who is well spoken, who thinks like you and is dedicated to making results happen.

Happy connecting and relationship building!

Develop Your Business Through Branding & Networking

Happy Monday! I look forward to working with you on building your business and contact database. So let’s jump right into it!

You need a brand and the brand is YOU…Here’s how to do it!

 Become the brand of your business
 Become the only person who can do what you do in your industry
 Be an expert and tell the world!

If, for example you are a Real Estate agent, the competition is fierce. You are probably thinking; “There are a million people out there doing what I do!” Maybe there are. But, here’s where the difference is…YOU!

Take a look at yourself, your industry and your current business. Being totally and completely honest, fill out the following profile to determine what your brand is:

Your Name: _____________________________________________________

Your Business Name: ______________________________________________

Describe your personality. Use only adjectives and list as many as you can.

What do you consider fun and what makes you happy? Use only adjectives and list as many as you can.

Why did you pursue your current career?

Describe the type of friends and acquaintances you have? Use only adjectives. What is the common thread or characteristic of those people?

What makes you good at what you do?

What do you offer that no one else can offer within your industry?

The point of these questions is to get you to recognize how you interact with people on a daily basis. This is how you operate, this is your brand.

Your brand is the following:

Your Name
The personality adjective that best describes you from above – your trademark style
The type of people you attract – your niche
Why you are in your current field – what makes you stand out from the others in your field

We have the foundation of your brand sketched out. Now we need to position and package your brand, add some features and benefits and then, tell the world! Once you have complete this essential strategic part of building your brand, you become the only person who could successfully deliver your brand consistently.

Here’s how:
1. Position yourself as an expert in what you do: Stay in touch with your customers and potential customers on a REGULAR, CONSISTENT basis. Offer them the latest news in your industry or product. Show them that you know your stuff, that it’s important, and that you have the best of the information that’s out there regarding it. After all, YOU are the expert…right? This is best done through newsletters, e-zines, phone calls, etc.
2. Always provide solutions for customers and potential customers: Whenever you communicate with your customers and prospects, provide answers and tips. This reinforces your position as an expert.
3. Offer ways for customers and prospects to be more efficient and productive with your product or service. Sometimes we forget our customers and potential customers are not as proficient in our products or services as we are. We assume they know everything there is to know. If you know a short cut or a way to use your product or service even more efficiently let your customers know about it!

Now it’s time to start a network base.  There are some key ingredients to having a sound network base.  Here’s a couple for you to investigate in your local area:

Create A Business Network
Step 1: Be Known!
 Contact the Chambers of Commerce in your area.
 Join as many as you can afford AND that you can commit your time to
 Then, use every aspect of the organization that you can. Get to be well known in the chamber.

Step 2: Join as many networking groups in your area as possible.
 Search on the internet “local business networking groups” and see what comes up.
 Most networking groups will let you visit a couple of times before you decide whether or not the group would be beneficial for you to join.

Now that we’ve identified a starting place for you to find customers, we’ve defined your brand and we understand the importance of consistent and regular communication with your customers, we are going to explore the many vehicles you can use to get your message out.

Until next time, refine your brand, start collecting business cards and get ready to be heard and make connections!

Sales Series: Generating and Managing Leads

I am so excited to start this new series on my blog! I am going to lead you through a plan to organize and strategize for a stellar sales year!

Organize Yourself!

I know I am stating the obvious but it’s amazing how many people are unorganized. Most are unsure of how to get ready to receive and give sales leads.

Once you have an organized plan and get used to some of the techniques I use on a daily basis, you will not even realize you’re networking, selling, or advertising. It will become so natural to you and will no longer feel like a job. As a matter of fact, you will be having fun!

Take the time to pick a system that works for you. It may be Outlook or some other application you are familiar with.

I came across a free system on the internet that lets you manage your:

r Calendar

r Contact Information

r Company Details

r Call Lists

r Email campaigns

r Tasks

r Current Promotions you may have running

r Knowledge base

r Project timelines

The program offers a project team view as well. Check out www.FreeCRM.cim and sign up for their free member mode.

Homework:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that you will be getting homework over the next little while. The good news is I won’t be grading you on it, your paycheck will. So, if you want to be successful in sales and leads, you might want to take your homework seriously!

Your homework over the next day or is for you to:

r Select a contact/lead management system

r Set it up and get it in working order

r Update and create your current contact list.

If you are just starting out and you don’t have a contact list, don’t worry. We will get you taken care of right away. Just spend the next day getting your system in place so you are ready to get your contacts in order and start closing sales.

Stay tuned…our next topic will be all about getting and keeping your contacts.

Quick Tip: Business Networking

If you haven’t checked out: www.oBizNetworking.com, you are really missing something. Propel your business now! Check them out!

What Speed Do You Connect At?

And I am not talking about your high speed internet connection either. 

 

What I am referring to is your rate of connection in the business world.  Do you have a network base?  Who can you count on to pass you new or recurring business?

 

 

If you think about it, everything thing you do in life is a potential network connection…who do you come in contact with every day?

• Mail carrier?
• Your child’s teachers?
• Neighbors?
• Sales clerks?
• The dry cleaners?

You may be asking yourself, “How in the world can those people help me?”  Here’s how…

• It all starts with YOU
• Are YOU willing to get to know them?
• How can you help these people you come in contact with everyday?
• Once you start helping them, they will have YOU in mind the next time someone needs an expert in your industry

That’s right!  Your goal is to help others in order to help yourself.  As you get to know those you come in contact with day after day, you will be com a powerful, trusted alli in their world of connections.   

The lesson learned today, don’t skip over the people you come in contact with every day.  They are probably your most valuable resource since they see you frequently and have the opportunity to know you more.

Happy Connecting!

visit:  www.VirtualAssistantOnDemand.web.officelive.com