2010
How to pace your follow-up
Some of the bigest mistakes businesses make is in their follow-up efforts with their customers and prospects. Most small business owners fit into one of two categories.
1. Those that don’t follow up often enough. (99 percent of small business owners don’t follow up at all.) When your follow-up is inconsistent and infrequent, you’re simply wasting your time and marketing spend. Your contacts certainly won’t remember who you are and those that do will simply regard you as a nuisance.
2. Those that follow up much too often. When you send too many messages to your contacts, you are going to be viewed as a mass marketer. In fact, a recent email study shows that 65% of men and 56% of women define spam as “email from a company that I have done business with that comes too often.”
So how do you determine the best pace at which to follow up with your clients? Well that’s the tricky part. Each group of prospects and customers is going to react to your follow-up differently. So ultimately, you are going to have to test your group. But here are some key, follow-up principles to keep in mind:
- Follow-up must be consistent
- Send frequent enough messages to keep your name fresh in your contacts’ minds
- Send valuable and educational materials as well as your marketing message
- Your messages should be building a relationship with your contacts
- Be personal, be real and a little entertaining
By following these simple steps, I have no doubt you will find the follow-up pace that is perfect for you, your customers, and your prospects!
Best of luck, and if we can be of any help just contact us and let’s talk – 0845 505 7897 or use the contact form here
