Master the Art of the Follow-Up and Watch Your Business Soar
The following is adapted from The Secrets of Dating Your Business.
Picture this: you go out with a new guy for cocktails on Friday night. You tell your bestie that you’ll text her a code word if she needs to call and get you out of there, but you didn’t need to send the text because the date was amazing!
Cocktails turned into dinner, the conversation was flowing, and he walked you to your front door. Then you gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, “Good night.” Perfection! You had an incredible first date, and you want to make sure there’s a second one. How do you do that?
You call your besties and analyze everything. You spend hours working on a draft of the perfect text, and you wait for the absolute perfect moment to send it. You think about how to play the follow-up game and wonder when you’ll go out again.
Recruiting for your business is a lot like dating—you will go on a lot of first dates. You simply have to. When you first begin, you’re figuring out what works and what doesn’t. You’re discovering which strategies get results and which ones fall flat.
All of that is fine, but what you can’t do is make the same mistakes over and over again. You have to analyze what went wrong and come up with a solid plan for improvement; you can’t have a random approach. If you did, I suppose you could get lucky, but you don’t want to build a business that way. You want to build it with perseverance, systems, and well-developed methods. You want to master the art of the follow-up.
Scrap the Three-Day Rule
I’m sure you’re familiar with the three-day rule in dating: you don’t call the person you went out with for at least three days. That might work in the dating world, but it won’t work in business.
When you’re trying to build a network, you need to follow up with people within forty-eight hours, and if you can do it within twenty-four, that’s even better. If you don’t reach out in a timely manner, the other person may lose any initial impression they had of you being a professional.
I want to be clear that following up does not mean you are being annoying. You might think that if you call, you’re just chasing someone, but you aren’t. It’s not “chasing” if you’re reaching out to ask if they have questions. However, you do want to be careful how you go about it: deliver what you promise in a timely manner, but don’t be pushy and don’t be too available.
You also want to be respectful of other people’s time when they do want to talk with you again. You can prepare someone for the conversation by saying, “I’m going to tell you more about myself, my company, and my products. It will probably take fifteen to twenty minutes. Then if you have questions, you can ask me afterward. Does that sound good?”
This is helpful because people know what to expect, and they won’t zone out or feel pressed for time. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a meeting or presentation and having no idea when it will end.
Schedule the Next Touch
Statistics say that it typically takes five to twelve touches to complete a sale. So if an initial meeting is your first touch, you’ll most likely need to schedule more meetings and send a few follow-up emails or texts. You’ll need to make more of an effort to connect and follow up.
If you’re going into your second or third meeting, you won’t want to leave things too open-ended. Say something like, “Okay, the next step is for us to talk again, and we need to answer your questions. Are you available after work tomorrow?”
Another great approach? “I know you’re probably just as busy as I am, so let’s make an appointment now for when we can talk again. How does Friday at noon work for you?”
When you propose times, think about the ones that will work best for that person. Ideal meeting times will vary based on what they do—stay-at-home moms, freelancers, and full-time workers will all have different schedules. Work to accommodate them by offering a couple of open times that will work for them, but don’t be incessantly available.
Script Your Scenarios
Prepare for various conversations and scenarios so you’re not thinking off the cuff. I suggest creating mini scripts and templates. Here are a few to get you started:
When a prospect says, “Hey, I got your email. Great meeting you,” you say, “Great meeting you, too. I’ll reach out to you on Monday morning to see what you thought and answer any questions.”
When a prospect says, “I’m really interested, but I still have to think about it,” you say, “Awesome! I agree it’s smart to think about it. I’ll reach out to you on Monday morning and see what you’re thinking. Be ready with any questions you have for me.”
When a prospect says, “Hey, thanks so much, but I’m not interested,” turn it into an opportunity. Say, “Thank you so much for your time. I totally understand this is not for everyone and the timing might just not be right. But my business grows on referrals, and I truly love helping others, and I am so passionate about what I do. Would you mind sharing this video, email, or link with your friends? I would do X (offer a gift card, free products, and so on in exchange for a referral) for you.”
The idea here is to have a response ready no matter what the other person says. Set a follow-up schedule, too—one that you can stick to. If you don’t, you’re likely to miss your forty-eight-hour mark, or you might not follow-up at all. If you drop off the map and fail to follow up, people will think you aren’t interested in them. If you’re interested, you have to keep reaching out.
Give it Time
We all have a vision of a perfect dream partner, and we try to find them based on first impressions. When you have an amazing first meeting with someone or see a gorgeous Facebook photo, you idealize the person and automatically think they’re going to be it. If a meeting doesn’t go so well, you decide to overlook them.
However, sometimes that first impression is wrong. You have to keep following up to get past the first impression and get down to the real person. That’s true in dating and it’s true in business.
As you follow up with the other person—whether that’s going on more dates or having more conversations—you’ll start to see whether they’re a good fit. You’ll figure out if the two of you have a similar vision. You’ll be able to tell if they have a real need for what you can offer.
Some partners might just be a fling, others you will date and break up with, and then there will be a few that you end up marrying. There will undoubtedly be ups and downs along the way, but if you persevere, you’ll be able to find people who are exactly the right fit. From there, whether we’re talking about love or business, the sky’s the limit.
For more advice on how to improve your follow-up game, you can find The Secrets of Dating Your Business on Amazon.
Miriam Steketee is a former dancer and corporate gal who turned a network marketing side hustle into a seven-figure business in just four years. She left the corporate rat race in New York City to build a life and career she loves on her own terms, from home. Today, her passion is to help women live authentically and become the best version of themselves, and believes building and maintaining relationships are the keys to sustaining a business long-term. She lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey, with her three children—Sebastian, Darien, and Julian—and husband, Randy, who was able to start his own law firm because of Miriam’s success.
