Stay in touch, please!!
Staying in touch is vital in disciplined business development. It would be great if meeting someone and starting a relationship instantly made them a client. It would be wonderful if former clients always remembered us and thought of us. But they don’t. That’s why professionals need to systematically stay in touch to grow their practices. Staying in touch maintains a connection you've established. Nurturing that connection shows your prospect you are interested in them and in maintaining a relationship with them. It provides value to them and lets you keep up with what’s on their mind. Your strategy for staying in touch should ensure that you:
Provide value
All of your contacts should be valuable to the other person. Here are some ideas.
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Call and have a “warm call” conversation with them; listening to them and providing value in response to their needs is a great "stay in touch" move.
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Write something relevant and send it to them – like I'm sending you this e-publication.
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Send them what other people have written. One professional I know finds relevant material for free on the internet, repackages it to make it easy to absorb, and sends it on to clients and prospects.
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Go for breakfast or lunch. You can have a relaxed interchange that doesn’t feel like business. You can listen to them and be helpful to them.
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Invite them to an event where they’ll meet other people they’d like to meet.
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If they blog or participate in social media, participate with them.Your comment on their blog means you are listening to them and responding.
Engage people with the right frequency
Contacts should be frequent but not overwhelming. You are trying to keep in touch, not spam them. Reaching out once per month is usually appropriate.
Some of your contacts need to be two-way – but not all of them. It’s OK to leave a voicemail sometimes or send an email, even if there’s no response. They'll note that you are trying to contact them and that you are interested in them. Try to actually talk to someone at least three times per year or you will fall out of touch with them and won’t really know what’s on their mind.
Communicate your commitment to them
Feel free to repeat your motive –“I’m contacting you so that I can stay in touch with what you are trying to accomplish so I can help you in any way that I can.”
It’s easy to get busy and neglect staying in touch. If you’ve fallen out of the habit, now’s a good time to fall back in.
Something to try this week
Pick out three people you've fallen out of touch with. Figure out how to get back in touch with them and provide some value (remember, it can be as simple as calling them and finding out what they are working on now, and trying to be helpful). Now do it!!