Business Networking Part 7 - Success is in The Follow Up | Free Udemy Course

The Gold is in the Follow-up. According to a study done by the Association of Sales Executives, 81% of all sales happen on or after the fifth contact. Years ago, IBM did a study that said that sales occur after 7 contacts. If all you do is go to networking events and pass out business cards and then “HOPE” the business will come flooding in, you’re in for a big surprise.

Following-up with people, contacts, prospects should be a part of every business strategy if you want to maximize your success. Before you can establish a follow-up strategy though, you have to determine who you’re following up with.

There’s another saying out there that goes something like, “People like to do business with people they know, like, and trust.” Of course, this also plays in to the 5 or 7 contacts I just mentioned above. And to take it a step further, if they feel like YOU know THEM, then that’s where the magic happens. If you can convince them that you know their situation, you know their challenges, and you can fix it, then they’ll want to work with you. Therefore; it’s important that you have a different message for different people. We call this segmentation. So in this training, we’ll discuss how to segment your list and put together a follow-up strategy for you.

When you go networking, do you give people a business card? While giving business cards are a simple and easy strategy for you, getting business cards are even more important. Getting a business card allows you to follow-up with that person and contact them.

The question is how do you manage your business cards? Oh let me tell you the ways:

1) Everything into one big shoebox

2) Piles of cards on your desk

3) Business card scanner or App

a. Neat receipts

b. Now it’s all about APPS on your phone

• Microsoft Office Lens

• Evernote - https://evernote.com - $7.99/mo

• https://bizconnectus.com - $6.99/mo

Of course, this doesn’t do you any good unless you have a way of tracking all these contacts.

Listen, no excuses not to get started.

I don’t care if you don’t know how to use technology or don’t have a tool, just use a spreadsheet. Something is better than nothing.

2 Recommended solutions

1. Microsoft Excel

2. Google Docs Spreadsheet

BIG MISTAKE people make. Spending time to go to a networking event and then not documenting who was there and why you were there.

Some fields I include when documenting my meetings.

1. Name of person (Separate First and Last Name)

2. Contact information

   1. Email

   2. Phone number

3. Person’s business

4. Date, Time, and Location of Event

5. Notes about that person - Any distinguishing features, items, services, interests of that person.

6. What’s their perfect client

7. Are they a prospect – Hot, Warm, Cold

8. Do I need to follow-up

   1. If so, when, how?

What is a CRM?

• Crazy Rich Man?

• Congenial Red Manicure?

• Custard Rich Moonpie?

Maybe. Could be. And what I’m talking about is a Customer Relationship Management System or CRM System.

We’ve already talked about one or two of them above.

What they do is collect, organize, and manage all your contacts.

Popular ones in the Corporate world are

1. SalesForce CRM

2. Oracle CRM

3. SAP SE CRM

4. Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Of course, if you don’t want to pay a million dollars a year, that’s overkill for the average entrepreneur.

Features to look for:

1. Stores Contact information

2. Easily accessible via Web and Phone (Cloud-based)

3. Integrations into an autoresponder system

4. Export functionality

5. Reporting capabilities

6. Sales Pipeline Functionality

7. Cost

Recommended Systems

1. Google G Suite

2. Zoho

3. Microsoft Outlook

4. Evernote

5. Hubspot CRM

6. InfushionSoft

7. OneShoppingCart

Autobots Roll Out! No… I mean Autoresponders! Well, first, what are autoresponders?

Autoresponders are messages set to go out automatically after a contact subscribes to your list. They are 'triggered' based on rules and time intervals that you define. And you can send out different messages to different groups of contacts.

Basically, autoresponders will allow you to stay in contact with people on automatic… thus the auto part of the autoresponder. So in a nutshell, someone “opts-in” with you and you automatically send them messages at a pre-programmed interval that YOU set. And these messages should be customized for their “demographic” or “segment”.

And since this isn’t a training on autoresponders, let’s just say that depending upon your business, you don’t want to be sending the same messages let’s say to your friends and family as you do to your business connections. To put it in laymen’s terms, an attorney will speak a different language and be interested in a different message than say a dog groomer. So when you go networking and get a bunch of business cards – and ask for permission to add them to your list first – you can send them a series of follow-up emails and stay in contact with them.

Chaffee typically has a Generic follow-up email that is customized with the event that I met them at which I send to everyone from that event. Then I’ll have a series of 3 – 5 emails that I’ll send them to specific to that event (or similar events)… and then I’ll merge them into a main generic list after a period of time.

Here’s an example:

1. It was great connecting with you at _______ Event! Share additional ways to connect (LinkedIn, FB, Twitter).

2. Share an External resource or article that might help them in business (Provide value first).

3. Share an Internal resource or article that might help (establishing your expertise)

4. Ask them a question about their business – i.e. let me know what your ideal customer would look like.

5. Tell them what your ideal customer would look like

6. Let them know how they can purchase your product or service.

Recommended Autoresponders:

1. AWeber

2. GetResponse

3. Constant Contact

4. Trafficwave

5. MailChimp

In today's world, social media is the name of the game.  Of course, where should you be focusing your time?  Here are just some of the more "popular" social networks that people are using - in no particular order.

1. Facebook

So where should you connect with people?  Yes. 

Seriously though, just some quick thoughts here. 

First and foremost, connect with people where you feel comfortable connecting.  Many business people use LinkedIn to connect with people because it's like an online Resume.  You can really get to know someone professionally on it. 

Secondly, Facebook has over 2 billion users worldwide and it's where a lot of people hang out socially.  The bonus feature here is that MANY people share their birthday on this site, so you can wish people a happy birthday when that time comes. 

If you know how to use Twitter, that too can be a great source of communicating and connecting with people although it's not as intuitive as Facebook to build up a group of dedicated followers. 

Instagram and Tik Tok are HOT HOT HOT at the time of this course and what I'll say about those two and the remaining sites are they are great places to share content with and use for attracting people versus conversing with people.  Of course, your goal is to send them somewhere that they can buy your products or services which is either with a LIVE conversation with you or on your website. 

The bottom line though is that you don't need to be a social media expert.  You should be familiar with one or two sites and know how to use them though.

1. LinkedIn

2. Twitter

3. Instagram

4. Pinterest

5. Snapchat

6. YouTube

7. Tik Tok

How to behave on social sites.

You can help your fellow students by leaving a Review of this course. The Review lets your fellow students make the decision to take the course or not. It helps them understand how your experiences in the course helped you become more charismatic, and then they can decide if they want to follow in your footsteps.

If you can not find your Course Completion Certificate, ask Udemy Support. They can help. The link is at the bottom of this page. Congratulations!