Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Follow Up!

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Hank's cousin Dexter
Dexter – Hank’s cousin, how could you NOT follow up with such a cute pup?

If you get my newsletter then you know that I am a stickler for following up with people. And I nag you about it often. So, yesterday while catching up with a friend, the topic of follow up came up AGAIN!

I’m amazed – someone gave you their business card and said “hi, I’d like to give you my money, or connect you with someone who will give you THEIR money” and you don’t follow up with it?  To answer your never ending question: this is why you aren’t successful.

People – I can’t stress enough, if someone sends you an introduction email or asks you to send them information, FOLLOW UP. If you’re out networking often, make sure you take some time the day after that event (or later that day if it’s a morning event) and send them the information they requested. Also take a few minutes to put their information into your CRM and you can easily create a follow up system. I wouldn’t nag folks, but I’d check in with them if you don’t hear back in a few days (give it 4-5 biz days) to make sure they got your information and see if they have questions.

Yesterday after that meeting I met with another colleague. We discussed a couple of people from our networks we should connect each other with. Two hours later I had an introduction to a lead, I had a follow up FROM that person, and we’re meeting next week. I will GLADLY send business his way again. And I did, later that afternoon, and he followed up and they’re meeting. See, two people got great leads because of FOLLOW UP. You should try it, it’s not hard and it often leads to great things!

If you don’t do the follow up with me, why would I ever trust that you “gladly have time for my referral”?

Do You Talk a Big Game?

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fc,220x200,white.u2Kanye West announced at the VMA’s that he’s running for President in 2020. Nothing would make me happier than to watch that go down. What are the odds Kanye will run for president in 2020? Probably higher than the odds he’ll still be married to Kim Kardashian. (PS: their 2nd kid will OBVIOUSLY be named South right?) And it got me thinking:

How often do we as a business owner talk a big game, and never deliver?

Don’t claim to do stuff you know you’ll never do. It’s a broken promise and doesn’t make me confident in your business. The questions isn’t “wow this will be a great election in 2020 to watch” but “do you really think he’ll follow through?” All too often people drop the ball or things don’t work out:

  • “Welcome back to my MONTHLY newsletter” that I only get once
  • You announce a new product and then never follow up again about it
  • Your budget doesn’t allow you to fly all your friends to Paris for the weekend as promised

My friend Jack Smith just sent out a newsletter and shared his 4 big goals for the end of the year – and they’re BIG (the dude is competing in an Ironman!) What Jack did was set his intentions and goals for the rest of year and share it. And THAT is a great idea. As a small business owner, we should all do more sharing of our goals.

How about this: Instead of talking a big game, ACTUALLY DO IT. YES it’s important to share your goals and state them out loud. But how about instead of telling me what you’re doing, tell me your goals. Let me support you and encourage you along the way. Will I be texting Jack to check in with him to see how his crazy crossfit routine is going? Of course! (err, that’s my GOAL!)

I’d much rather support your goals and dreams and ambitions than end up frustrated that you told me you were doing something and you never follow through. Build your team, build your community, get the support you need!

What Systems Are You Missing?

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spiderman reward system - genius
Reward systems worked as a kid, and they can work now too!

I’ve had a lot of conversations lately about getting SYSTEMS into place. The hardest part about running a small business is being consistent because you’re doing all the things. I got an email this morning from a friend that they need a strategy and system for their newsletters. I had a conversation last week with a speaker who needs to put follow up systems in place so that those warm leads in the room get followed up with before they are on to the next speaker pitch.

I wrote about this in my newsletter this month too. You need systems in place to be successful. Why isn’t your business growing? Because you got busy and forgot to circle back. One quick follow up isn’t going to do the trick, it takes at least 4 interactions to get the sale and often time closer to 10-12.

What Systems are you Lacking? 

  • A monthly schedule for your newsletter so you know when it’s going out
  • A template for your follow up email so it’s ready to go before your big speech
  • A social media schedule so you aren’t wasting time online (unless you want to!)
  • Blog categories & schedules so you know what you’re going to write about each week (yes week!)
  • A professionally done video instead of doing demo webinars every week

What do you need to do to get these systems in place?

  • If you need to talk it through, that’s what I’m here for
  • If you have a virtual assistant who can manage it, add it to their list
  • Assign 1 blog post a month to 4 employees – BOOM
  • Outsource inside your team
  • Outsource outside your team
  • Leave the things you don’t like to those who do like it (God Bless Accountants!)

Stop talking about it. Get your systems in place.