You meet someone.

They become a contact.

They are no longer a suspect. You now know something about them.

What you know dictates how you identify them. The information you gather allows you to classify them and to determine how you will engage with them over time.

You now have a contact, a connection or a prospect. What you know will allow you to get their business.

And if there is no business you can make a connection that may reward you in other ways.

BUT You have to follow up.

Follow up is one part of what sets you apart from the vast majority of others in your industry.

Follow up is what you have to do to win business and sustain it.

Here’s a checklist for the follow up you need to Network to New Business

Get the person’s contact data. At a minimum you need the name and e-mail.
Online Contact Tip: Stick with that minimal data until you have to gather data for a transaction.

Enter the data in your Contact Management database. If it was a personal meeting and you have a card put as much as there is in your system. Note where you met them and/or who introduced you or referred you.
Online Contact Tip: include the offer they responded to or how the connection occurred.

Send them a handwritten note card. Tell them you will be calling to set a meeting over coffee to learn more abut their business.
Online Contact Tip: Have an auto responder set up to thank them for their interest and to give them your direct contact info if they would like a personal conversation.

Plan your next step. Decide what your next action is going to be and when it is going to happen. Put a reminder on your calendar in your Contact Management system.

Phone Call: have a script for a live call and if you get voice mail. Basic information to be included is: your name, where you met, why you are calling and options for a meeting time and place. Use essentially the same script if you get voice mail.

E-mail is to be used only if you have no phone number. Provide the same data as the phone call.

Continue to contact them regularly. Here are some time frames to consider: Contact–once a month decreasing to quarterly after year one. Connection—Once a month at a minimum. Prospect—weekly until you know what their schedule to take action is then monthly until three weeks before when you shift back to a weekly schedule.

Get a PDF of the checklist with a copy of The People Out There. Visit the resources page at: www.Jerry Fletcher.com

Need a CRM System? Here’s the best integrated small business CRM I’ve found.

Schedule Jerry to Speak to your group: www.NetworkingNinja.com 

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