fill your pipeline Archives

EPISODE 184 – The Fortune is in the Follow-Up

December 10, 2018 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

Subscribe: RSS

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfu0gK6AkNQ[/embedyt]

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

Business networking is more than a social outing. It is a chance to prospect and meet your ideal client. Networking events are not for distributing your card to as many people as possible, selling people at your first meeting, setting appointments, or closing the sale. You don’t need to meet all the people in the room. You need to meet one to three meaningful connection that could change your business.

Networking events are a great way to make connections and start meaningful conversations. If you are doing the majority of the talking, you are not listening. Listen carefully to what is said in conversation, focus on the person you’re speaking with, and seek to learn and understand what they do. By doing this you make people feel important. The conversation becomes more important than giving out your business card and waiting for them to return the phone call. Even if they do not give you a card, take a blank one or an index card and let them write down their information for you to follow up.

Sadly, many business owners and leaders come home from a networking event with a pile of cards that sit on their desk. Most people do not follow-up post an event. Ultimately, they are leaving money on the table and missing out on a meaningful connection that could transform their leadership or business. Some people say they don’t follow-up because they don’t have enough time or they’re afraid of rejection. You need to set aside time to follow up after each networking event or connection. Write down notes about where and when you met them, what you discussed and what you learned about them. By doing so, you will be able to continue the conversation and solidify your relationship. When your focus is on building a relationship, discovering how you can serve, and add value (and, yes money), you can set aside the concern of being rejected.

According to the online Oxford dictionary, follow-up is “a continuation or repetition of something that has already been started or done.” You do the follow-up to continue to build and nurture relationships without expectation. No one wants to be sold to. As people become more familiar with you, your brand, and your company, they will be more likely to accept your social media connection, reply to your emails, and accept or return your phone calls.

There are so many places where you can meet people who are potentially in need of your service. You can find them at conferences, trade shows, church events, chatting with them during the commute, sporting events, a grocery line up, at the gym, or even at your kids’ activities. Wherever there are people, there is an opportunity. You want to be very clear on who your target market is because your product or service may not be for everyone. By following up, you are able to get to know a person, qualify them, and also determine what their needs may be.

Ideally, you want to follow up within 24 to 48 hours up to a week to stay top of mind. You will earn respect because you did what you said you would do. Promise only what you can deliver.

You may follow-up with a nice to meet you card, text, or email requesting an opportunity to have a phone call or face-to-face meeting.

Continue the conversation by sharing article, podcast, or book related to what you discussed. Ensure it has a value for your reader or listener.

Speak from your heart and be authentic.

Focus on engagement and creating a meaningful conversation without expecting anything in return. You may even consider inviting them to another networking event or function.

Send a gentle reminder if you have not heard back within a few days of doing your follow-up. Don’t take it personally if you have not heard back from them as everyone has something going on in their lives and it does not mean that they are not interested.

Before you meet or speak with your new connection or prospect, you will want to do a little bit of research and reflection. Empathy in business is important in understanding your prospects needs, wants, and desires. Imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes. You want to be able to connect with them on an emotional level. People make decisions based on how they feel in light of the facts.

Remember people want to know how much you care before they want to know how much you know. Listen to their responses. Discover their goals. Learn how you can support them by anticipating their needs. You must build trust; this is where your real power exists. Take time to give, serve, and add value to every conversation. As you become more familiar to people, they are more likely to do business with you and refer you to others because they’ve gotten to know like and trust you. It can take an average of 5 to 12 connections before someone will do business with you. People are turned off by hard selling tactics. When you are passionate about what you do and the results you provide, your prospects are going to want to do business with you because you make the focus on them and not yourself. You want to create the feeling of what it would be like for them to do business with you by asking the right questions for your prospect to get to their own conclusion. A lack of follow-up could be costing you in your business.

Share a positive story of how follow-up has transformed your business or leadership.

We would love to have you subscribe to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get my just release FREE e-book about the 21 Habits High Achievers Kick to Achieve Success. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free e-book download today

3 Reasons Why You Need to Have a Marketing Plan

October 20, 2014 by Debra Kasowski 2 Comments

I remember when I first heard people talking about a marketing funnel and filling your pipeline. It all sounded more like oil pipelines and striking it rich with oil that it did about marketing. I now think of the analogy more like striking it rich due to consistently delivering and serving my market.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
― Benjamin Franklin

Too many business owners are walking around without of plan of action. They are taking stabs in the dark by trying out random marketing tactics once or twice and abandoning them if they do not work. Even if your plan is on a napkin, it is still a plan!

“If you don’t know where you are going,
you’ll end up someplace else.”
― Yogi Berra

It is better to have a plan than no plan at all.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

You can always adjust as you go. After all, you are in charge!

There are 3 why you need to have a marketing plan:

FOCUS – A marketing plan captures what your thinking onto paper or in a document on your computer. It creates a vision for your business and growth. The plan offers big picture thinking as well as smaller more detailed planning. There is nothing stopping you from adding an event or workshop along the way to boost your revenue. Ultimately, the market plan helps you focus on what needs to get done to get the results you want.

DECISION MAKING – By writing out the plan, you can make better decisions and save a great deal of time, money, and resources. You will learn where to allocate your resources or delegate tasks to so that you can get the greatest return on your investment.

PROGRESS & ACCOUNTABILITY – One area that is often over looked in planning is the reflection of how far you have come from where you started. When developing your plan, it is important to build in benchmarks or milestones where you can measure your success and celebrate! These benchmarks or milestones can act as an accountability check or reminder of your goals and next steps. Each step along the way build momentum for the next.

Successful marketing NEEDS a plan and you need to consistently work the plan.

There are many ways to market your business! Start with focusing on 2-3 ways and get really great at them and then try something new! You will discover what works for you often through trial and error, however, you will never know if you are on the right track if you never measure the metrics of your efforts. What ways do you market your business?

Filling Your Pipeline with Quality Referrals

May 10, 2013 by Debra Kasowski 1 Comment

Think about this: if you want to hire the best relocating company for your moving needs, you’d ask your colleagues, friends or associates to give you details of a moving company they recommend. It is the same with your business, to stay afloat, your business needs to be constantly getting new referrals. Here are some of the things you can do to fill your pipeline with quality referrals:

Deliver on your promises

To gain quality referrals you need to be referable. Give your customers high quality services that will cause them to give you unsolicited publicity.

Courtesy of ImageryMajestic/freedigitalphotos.net

Make your prospects feel special

Take a personal approach when you connect with potential customers. Make them feel special by sending them personalized emails, letters, postcards or direct messages on social media sites.

Collaborate with other specialists

The easiest way to get referrals is by holding collaborative webinars with specialists in your area of business. Partnering with specialists will help your nurture relationships with potential customers which can help you generate high-quality referrals.

Do not wait until the drought season before you ask for referrals

Do not wait for your pipeline to be dry before you ask for referrals. For your business to have high quality referrals, create a consistent referral system. This is how you can create a consistent referral system:

1) Exchange referrals with credible service providers

Ask your affiliates or business connections to refer your services to their clients as you refer their services to your clients.

2) Show gratitude

Send thank you messages or complimentary gifts to your referential sources.

3) Create multiple referential methods

Some of your clients may not be comfortable with asking people to use your services. You can ask this type of clients to write testimonials about your services. You can create links in your emails that can be easily used to share your content on social networking sites.

4) Ask for referrals

If you are uncomfortable about asking for referrals, you will have a hard time having high quality referrals. You are in business, so let people know that you have competitive services to offers. If you generate website traffic mostly from Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, ask people in your network to re-tweet or share your messages.

Remember you don’t have to wait until your pipeline is dry. Do one thing each day to make sure you fill your pipeline with quality referrals.

How do you fill your pipeline of referrals? Share this post and comment on how build your pipeline made a difference in your business.