Seems like just about every time I host a marketing workshop or talk with a new coaching client, I hear the question: “Won’t I be bugging people if I keep following up with them?”
The answer is an emphatic “NO”!
The only way you would ever be “bugging” prospective clients would be if they’ve already told you they are not at all interested in what you offer or asked you specifically to stop contacting them. In any other situation, continued contact with a potential client is not only acceptable, it’s often welcome.
Following up with someone who has shown interest in what you do isn’t pushy; it’s professional. Actually, it’s even more than that: it’s HELPFUL!
Here’s why:
When prospective clients say they aren’t ready to work with you right now but might be at some point in the future, they fully expect you to contact them again. In fact, you are actually doing them a disservice if you don’t.
“Showing interest” doesn’t only mean that they have stated outright that they are ready to sign on the bottom line. If contacts have signed up for your mailing list, attended a presentation you gave or asked questions about your work when you met, they have shown enough interest to qualify for follow-up.
Don’t fall into the trap of believing that once you have made one or two touches, your prospect will contact you when they need you. That’s just not how it works.
When prospects finally do need the service you offer, who do you think they will contact — the professional they exchanged business cards with and never heard from again, or the professional who has followed up with them consistently since the two of you first came in contact?
Understand this: You are much more conscious of your follow-up than your prospects are. While you are thinking, “Oh, I just contacted that person last month,” guess what? They aren’t thinking of you at all!
When you reach them at a time when they don’t need you (as long as your contact is done professionally) they simply take note and move on from our communication. That means that if they don’t hear from you periodically, they will likely forget about you and your product or service.
But when your call or email reaches a prospective client when they DO need you, you look like a hero or a magician. Many, many a time have I reached out to a prospect and he or she responds, “I’m so glad you contacted me — your timing is great.”
Your prospects are busy – crazy busy. Even if they realize they need your help, it may take weeks for them to contact you. In the meantime, one of your competitors may end up getting their business instead of you simply because they were diligent in keeping in touch.
Here’s one more reason to persist in following up: referrals!
Your repeated contacts remind people of what you do. Maybe they don’t need you right now, but they know someone who does. If they hadn’t heard from you, they wouldn’t have remembered. When you reach out, you jog their memory and prompt a referral.
So the next time you start to feel like following up is pushy or a waste of time, mentally give yourself a swift kick in the butt and then get on with your strategic follow-up plan. The potential clients out there who are waiting to hear from you will benefit – and your balance sheet will, too.
Comments on this entry are closed.