Fundamentals of Follow Up

Most business owners understand the importance of networking and meeting people to expand their business, though only a handful of people ever follow contacts up after events. It is almost as if they are expecting everyone to call them.

Follow up is a basic principle of successful networking. No alliances are built, no referrals are passed on and no business relationship is established without first following up and taking the time to talk further with businesses you meet.

The best way to look at a networking event is that it is an introduction, a place to meet people on mutual ground. Though in order to establish a working business relationship you need to take the initiative and time to meet up with people after the event.

When following up after an event it is important to be timely, never let a contact go cold. It's recommended following up no later than 2 business days after an event. Remember to introduce yourself and mention were you met. In some instances you may need to be persistent in order to connect with certain contacts, it is important though to be respectfully persistent and not harass, be sure to establish early if they are interested in meeting with you.

After a networking event it’s a good idea to send out an email which says “It was great to meet you at ... event on ... I would love the opportunity to meet with you to find out more about your business and explain what I do to see if we have synergy and can help each other further”.

When you do have the opportunity to meet, take the time to find out more about their business, and then share about your business. After each of you have finished discuss what opportunities you both can see to work together. This meeting should not be a sales pitch unless they have specifically requested it or they become more interested and ask questions when hearing about your business. Try to keep it as informal and relaxed as possible, coming on to strong or aggressive may turn your contact off doing business with you.

By mastering the skills of follow up you will increase your database of contacts, establish more referral channels, form more mutually beneficial business relationships and become a successful networker. After the next networking event you go to stand out from the crowd and follow up, you will be glad you did!