As business people we spend a lot of time and effort getting in front of people. But how is our follow-up?

Whether it is your sales team making sales calls (some research suggests that a sales call “costs” hundreds of dollars when you factor all the expenses and time associated with it) or managers or owners networking at chamber of commerce or other events…great follow-up is key, because few business people close a deal in one meeting.

From a marketing standpoint that follow-up is going to look quite different depending on whether it is a sales call or an executive level contact, but in either case having some basic tools is helpful/important. For instance a company branded thank you note could be useful regardless of who is doing the follow-up. A professional follow-up packet (company information, product information…) might also be useful.  Even a small gift or promotional product could be a good tool to use, particularly if the next step (or meeting) is going to be some days/weeks/months away, something that they will hang on to and see would be a great way to keep visible in a passive way.

When the decision cycle is longer a drip marketing program is going to be needed to help keep your relationship “warm” over a number of months.

What’s the biggest key to doing this? Having all the items ready for your team to use! Don’t be a part of the masses that wishes they had a better system for follow-up…just get it done.  And if you need some help with putting this together…give us a call.