If you’re like most business owners, you’ve got a list of business cards sitting on your desk and a list of people you are supposed to call, but you just aren’t doing the follow-up that you should be doing.

Deep down inside, you just don’t want to bother people.  You’re worried about coming off as salesy or pushy.

Perhaps you’ve already contacted them once.  And if they wanted to work with you, they would have already written back, right?

Not quite.

So many times we take the “ignored e-mail” or “no phone call” as a sign that the person we are trying to reach doesn’t like us or our business – that they are actually willfully avoiding us.  It brings up so many insecurities.

Truth is that no matter how excited a potential prospect is when she is standing in front of you, there are a million things that crowd out that excitement as soon as she walks away.  It’s not a personal thing – it is simply that life is busy.

You are actually doing your potential clients a service by following up multiple times and checking in on them.  You are reminding them about the importance of your service and the difference that you can make.

And here’s what you should really pay attention to: it works!  I’ve signed so many clients into my programs who either didn’t respond to initial contact or said no the first time around. They actually thanked me for thinking of them and continuing to be persistent.

Here are some steps for your client follow-up:

1.  When you meet a person initially at an event or through a referral, follow up via e-mail and phone.  Then wait about 5-7 days and follow up via e-mail and phone again.

2.  If there is no response, put them on your “hot list”.  Your hot list is the first group of people you will contact to invite to your next free or low-cost speaking event or workshop.  That way they will get to experience you again and be reminded of their initial interest.

3.  Create a follow up system either by hand or online so that you know when to contact your leads again.  I suggest reaching out to your leads again in 1-4 months depending on their level of interest.  Be sure to set an alarm or a note to remind yourself of the follow up.  I use an online system called Highrise to help me keep track of the follow up.

Remember it is so much easier to enroll a prospect that has already expressed interest than to find a brand new one.  There is cash in the follow-up!

Please leave me a comment and let me know how you follow up with your clients.