What do you need to know about tracking?

Following up with connections, marketing campaigns, networking or phone calls is more a matter of discipline and time management. Ninety-nine out of a hundred people I know don’t really know how to follow up. Most of the failure is because they don’t know what to say or think they are begging for the business. You actually go to events and do marketing campaigns to do business and you need to follow up. You can’t wait until someone else does, you can wait forever. Even when you have a marketing campaign on the go, you still need to follow up with people who have responded. The key here is that you do business with people, not organizations. You should be in contact with the person who will be led through the purchasing process for your organization. It doesn’t really matter at what level you get into a company, what matters is that you get into it.

People in all positions within a company will be able to help you meet the right decision-maker. So don’t think you don’t need to track based on card title. CEOs may run a company, but others work within it and request the services and products they need to do their jobs more effectively.

Here are some tips that can help you keep track:

o When networking at an event, only collect business cards and contact information from people you want to do business with. Email them that evening or early the next morning stating that you would like to schedule a meeting (by phone or face-to-face) to learn more about your company. (Never mention the word sell in this first meeting.)

o When you attend a group of leads and receive a referral, ask if you can be introduced via a three-way icebreaker call. This way, you get a great presentation from a third party. Submitting to a third party gives you more credibility than submitting yourself. The three-way call is also a way to tell if it’s a real clue or just a card someone picked up.

o When sending cover letters, be sure to only send a maximum of five per day so that it is easy for you to follow up. Please allow a minimum of five but no more than ten days for follow up. The follow-up can take the form of a phone call if you have indicated so in the letter, or it can be an email. I would recommend a phone call to remove all non-prospects from your list. The call can be as simple as “……did you get my letter and insert (a little gift of some sort)? I’d like to take just 3 minutes of your time to set up an appointment with you if you think what I have to offer may work for your company.” This is a good starting point for setting up meetings.

o When referred by another client, ask if you can use their name in the conversation. Make sure you can or the reference may not work the same way, it will be too much like a cold call

The most important part is scheduling your follow-up calls. Put the calls in your phonebook along with the names and numbers of the people you are calling. Force yourself to complete homework each day. Connecting with one or two people each day will get you 365 to 730 people in a calendar year. Surely, you will be able to get some business from so many calls.