Once is Not Enough!
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Free Download - Why You Want To Validate Your Website By Maria Marsala |
Increase the Frequency of Your Marketing Messages to Build Familiarity
Creating follow-up systems-from your networking, speaking
engagements, or referrals you receive-is a critical factor
in growing a business. Its importance lies in the old
advertising axiom that it often takes being in front of a
prospect 5-10 times before you turn a prospect into a
client.
The right follow-up process helps you obtain new clients as
well as repel those who may end up as "clients from hell."
The secret ingredient is in creating a process which will
allow you to monitor how much time you spend working with
prospects and what your results are. Your process is a
system that you can critique and change it if it's not
working exactly like you'd like. And automating the process
means that you can hire others to do parts of it for you!
Here's an example of an automated process for handling
referrals:
Let's say a fellow business owner or client, Jane Smith,
provides you with full contact information about a
potential client. Now Jane is someone you've spent time
teaching about your business and she knows exactly who you
prefer as your ideal client. She informs you that she's
already spoken to the prospect-let's call him Joseph-about
you and your services. (Note: This is the very best way to
set-up a referral, with the referrer laying the groundwork
for you.)
Here's what the process may look like:
1) Receive referral from "Jane." Depending on what you know
about Jane's preferred communication style, you may want to
send her a thank-you email or handwritten note in the mail.
2) Keep the referrer in the loop. Tell Jane when you're
going out to lunch with Joseph, if he's hired you, if he's
not a good fit, etc. Never provide more information than
that, especially if you are in a profession where
confidentiality is part of your business model. Contacting
Jane, in this way, is important because, as Daryl Longo
says in his ebook "Maximum Referrals," you have to "train"
people to refer only the best people to you. Longo says as
much as people want to help, they need direction in
generate the best results. "Without a correctly planned
step-by-step system, your clients will fail to get you
referrals," he says, "and that failure will make them not
want to continue trying. And once they quit trying, forget
it. It'll be nearly impossible for your client to ever want
to try again.
3) Make a note in your Outlook calendar to send something
special to Jane a month or so down the line-choose a gift
she'll appreciate. It can be as simple as an article she
might enjoy or more elaborate, like a gift basket.
Some business owners always send out gifts to each person
who provides them with a referral. Others send a gift
certificate or referral fee only when hired by the
prospect. Do what you feel is best for your company and
you.
Note: If Joseph hired my company to help grow his business,
and Jane is a client, she'll receive a discount on her
monthly fees for any referrals that turn into clients. If
instead, Jane is a member of my referral partnership
network, or online affiliate program, we may have
previously agreed to "pay" each other for referrals. I
regard this as a marketing fee-affiliate programs are very
common on the Internet and many (not all) business types
can accept affiliate income. Often, members of the
financial, real estate, and legal fields cannot accept
referral fees or partake in affiliate programs. However,
they can accept "tokens" of appreciation-things like
flowers, plants, chocolate, lunch on me with me-just
because.
OK, back to the process.
4) Call "Joseph" to set up a phone or in-person meeting; if
you have a form for prospective clients, you might send it
to him. Next, send a "looking forward to meeting you" note
in the mail or by email, if you know Joseph's communication
preferences, confirming the time/date of your meeting.
5) At least a week before the meeting, mail Joseph an
appropriate article, a bio, business cards (2)-an
introductory packet of items that are useful – but not so
much as to overwhelm him with information.
6) Meet with Joseph- he'll become a client or a "not yet."
Ask for and receive written permission to put him on your
email list or send him information about upcoming classes
or speaking engagements.
If Joseph does not become a client,
7) Send a post-meeting follow-up "pleasure meeting you"
card with a special note, "Please let me know if I can help
you in the future."
8) Put his information in your contact management system
and keep in touch monthly for 3 months, every other month
till the end of the year, and then less frequently after
that. When contacting prospects it's usual to alternate
between email and phone calls, or do both. Especially now,
with filters filtering your mail, it's possible that your
emails may never been viewed. At any point in this process,
of course, respect any request to stop contacting them.
What if Joseph became a client? For me, that triggers a
process whereby I welcome him to Elevating Your Business. I
will:
7) Schedule 2 months worth of sessions.
8) Mail him a 12-month contract to sign and ask him to
complete a Welcome Kit.
9) Email a welcome note with access to the Client Café
where he can download the appropriate Client Profile and
assessment forms. (The Client Café is a private resource
area created for clients on my website. It is password
protected and each client receives a different password.)
10)Send a post-meeting follow-up "pleasure meeting you"
card with a special note–" I'm looking forward to working
with you."
Your business is different so your "welcoming" process will
be different as well.
NOTES:
Like most service business owners, I have wasted much time
and effort keeping in touch with people who, in my opinion,
will make awful clients. However, it does take time to weed
out those who are freebie seekers, unable to be completely
honest, or whose integrity seems way out of whack. If you
see something similar happening, don't ever be afraid to
bluntly end your process -- even if ending the process
means removing the person from your online newsletter. You
have to do what is right for the growth of your business –
as well as your sanity.
A process I'm finding extremely helpful to weed out the
freebie seekers from great prospective clients was created
by Jerry Razwitz. By adding Jerry's process to mine, I've
been able to shorten the time it takes for someone to
become a client OR realize they're not people for me to
deal with, now or in the future. What Razwitz suggests is
to say this to your prospect (at your first meeting - on
the phone or in person): " I don't think this will ever
happen with you. But I have a lot of people who, after this
conversation, get all excited, but when I try to call them
back, they disappear. Can we agree that you won't
disappear? That even if you decide not to do business with
me, you will let me know?"
In the end, follow-up is crucial to your success. You could
take a haphazard hit-and-miss approach, but designing a
process that makes your follow-ups consistent, focused, and
timely will yield much better results!
Once is Not Enough - To learn more about this author, visit Maria Marsala's Website.
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