How to Effectively Follow Up With Anyone

The person that is top of mind will win.

 

You may think that what completes the sale or lands you the job is your idea, your fabulous presentation skills, your story, or a one-of-a-kind product.

And I’m here to tell you that you have that mistaken.

5 steps to follow up

Of course, they are important contributing factors, but the most important thing in the sales cycle is to FOLLOW UP.

Following up makes you stay top of mind. It shows that indeed you believe in your client's company, in your product and the value that it brings to them. Following up allows you to know if the client is still a true client. Believe it or not, by effectively following up little by little you are building a relationship with them. 

As you know, we are all strapped for time and sometimes although we may not be interested in something at that moment, eventually, we may and that's when the person that kept them inform and top of mind will win. 

I know that following up may get tedious and quite honestly boring at times but if you are able to keep at it, you will reap the rewards.  

I truly believe that following up has made me stand out, and I don’t let it go. I follow up constantly. But I do it

mindfully, 

consistently,

immediately

and always.

I also do it with them in mind… not me and my goals in mind.

And because of it, I have reaped the rewards in abundance. 

So how do you follow up successfully? 

I know that following up may get tedious and quite honestly boring at times but doing the following will help tremendously…

  1. Provide them Value

    1. As I mentioned before, provide them with information that will help them and their business. Provide them with information that will help them shine in their job, or be known as a specialist. Create a newsletter if need be.

  2. Become Accessible

    1. Always be available. Provide your clients the many ways to reach you by telling them the locations you are sharing the information in (Linkedin, twitter, youtube, etc).

    3. Be the First

    1. The first to reach out. The first to provide information. The first to know what is happening in the industry and providing it to them. The first to always be on top of their business and what is happening with their company.

    4. Do it Always

    1. One of the things that most people tend to do is to stop following up because they think that they are wasting their time. In reality, you are wasting your time for not following up. Now, I know that there is the 80/20 rule and that your time is precious and if someone if not seeing what you are providing as a viable option then you have to go to one that does. But you can still follow up once a month through automation.

    5. Automate

    1. I love delay delivery emails. I love love love…. What I do is that I automate the emails with information. I create 12 emails that are evergreen but industry-specific and that will provide value to them based on their monthly business cycle. For instance, in media, I know that summers are all about upfronts, so I may send my clients emails about future trends that they should be aware of during this time of year. Of course, if I need to change it, I go ahead and do it accordingly to any new relevant news.

    2. I also pre-schedule I follow in advance. I set out time for certain clients - again based on their business cycle- to follow up with them.



And there you have it… simple things that you can do to maximize the power of following up.



Xo,

Clara

 
business, career, CareerClara Jamisoncareer money