Our last Rainmaking blog discussed the importance of following up with people after a successful initial meeting. I suggested that after a networking event, once business cards are exchanged and it has been agreed that we like each other enough to follow up – we should, indeed, follow-up within 48 hours. Interestingly, I gave a presentation on “Jumpstart Your Rainmaking” just last week and someone asked me when it’s too long after the event to follow up. Truly, it’s never REALLY too late if you want to ultimately try to reach someone who you met at a networking event. But the practicality is that we’re all human. We want to feel important. (If you reach out to me within 48 hours, I feel important!) And we all have a lot on our plates AND we go to a lot of networking events. (If you reach out to me within 48 hours, I’m much more likely to remember you and what you do, and why I found you interesting in the first place!)
So, if we agree that follow-thru within 48 hours is important, how do we do it? And, perhaps more importantly, how do we do it even if we’re really busy and we know that we don’t really have time to meet with the person right now?
Here are some of my tips:
The Email
We all get a lot of email, but it is still the quickest and easiest way to reach out to someone. It can be just a few lines, and it can quickly reference that you enjoyed meeting the person, and would like to see about scheduling lunch in six to eight weeks. True, it’s a little far out there, but at least then you can get something on your calendar. (Remember to suggest some specific dates that work for you in order to get the planning going. Don’t leave it an ambiguous “let’s try sometime in June”.) A nice touch is to add some additional piece of information that lets the person know you remembered something from the conversation. Perhaps they asked for a link to a website you mentioned. Or you discussed a specific technical area that you just wrote a blog about. Link and attach! It doesn’t take much time to do that, you’re re-purposing something you’ve already written, and you are now more likely to be viewed as an expert.
The Handwritten Note
Some people still like to write a note because it’s more personal (and memorable) than an email. I tend to reserve these for people who have given me a referral, a new client, or when someone has made a particularly big impact on me. The truth is, handwritten notes are time consuming. If you have the time, by all means, do it. But don’t do it if it means that it’ll take you two weeks to get back to someone. I’ve had some custom cards printed with my logo that I use for the occasion. If you do handwrite a note, my advice is to truly take the time to actually write something memorable. After all, you’re going through the effort. Make the impact even bigger by really connecting. Handwritten notes are also great vehicles for delivering a small gift – like a gift card as a thank you for a referral.
The Phone Call
Yup, some people still like to pick up the phone. It’s funny, think about it – how many phone calls do you get in a day that make you want to answer the phone? In my office it’s rare. Certainly, I’m on the phone a lot with conference calls, client matters, etc. But they are usually all scheduled. It’s rare that the phone just randomly rings and someone actually reaches me or leaves a message to say something nice, like “Hey, it was great to see you at the networking meeting this morning. Let’s get lunch on the calendar soon. I’ll follow up with an email.” So, if you have the time, make the occasional phone call. Most people appreciate you keeping it short, but a quick call might facilitate the scheduling of a lunch or breakfast meeting, since you can both look at your calendars in real time. Also, use the phone call if, after you’ve sent an email to someone you really connected with, you don’t hear back from them. Sure, they may just be ignoring you (or haven’t read this blog!), but it’s also possible that your initial email went in their spam filter. The phone call is a nice way to gently follow up.
Hopefully these few tips will give you some inspiration to follow-thru after a good networking event. If this tip and the other Rainmaking blogs (here is one about Accountability in the Rainmaking process) resonate with you, consider joining me for my next Jumpstart Your Rainmaking webinar series, beginning May 4, 2016. Or, check out the details in my quick video here!
