7 Things Your Prospects Really Want From You

bridge and trees-1-378010-edited.jpg Be persistent and creative when following up with potential clients.

Have you ever had that uncomfortable period between first meeting a prospective client, and making the next contact? You’re busy and forget to follow up quickly, then time passes and the second touch becomes harder to complete.

So you make excuses, “I already called her twice” or “I don’t want to bother him.” It can be uncomfortable to phone a prospect who didn’t return your previous call, is never in the office, or may not appear interested in discussing your services.

Why don’t they respond? They might not be ready to buy. Maybe she didn’t get your e-mail with attached qualifications (blame the SPAM filters). Or perhaps there are very pressing business issues that are keeping him busy now. Good news—there are ways to prevail.

I remember meeting someone at a conference where we had a really engaging dialog. What a great first meeting! We exchanged business cards, and within a week I sent an e-mail with the information she requested. No response. So I called a friend to seek some guidance on ways to follow up.

Here are a few ideas we generated that I can put to use, and may be helpful for you.

Send a personal note. Sometimes a phone message will be deleted, or an e-mail gets buried in their inbox. I carry a few nice thank you cards, envelopes pre-stamped, to send to people I meet while on the road and want to follow up with. A handwritten note, sent soon after the first meeting, can be a great way to stay in the prospect’s mind. I use non-standard size stationary, something smaller than a business letter, so it draws attention in a pile of hard copy mail.
Tell them about an upcoming event. Find a conference or speaker that addresses an issue you think they have based on your initial contact. Forward information via e-mail, or send a ticket for admission if it happens to be local to the prospect. Even if he can’t attend, this gesture may elicit an acknowledgement and continued dialog.
Send a letter summarizing your last discussion. An alternative to the personal note is a more business-like communication that summarizes the topics discussed during your initial meeting. In the conclusion, provide a few suggestions for follow up. While this is a bit more formal, it can offer a convenient way to provide additional details describing your service offering or ideas.
Send an article about a relevant topic. There may be options for reference materials that you could enclose with your note or letter that will create an impact or generate interest. Consider a recent article published by you or someone else in your firm. The intent of this correspondence is to inform or educate; it’s not a sales pitch.
Invite them to visit your web site. My initial contact cited above was interested in sustainability and return on investment. Our web site contains a section devoted to Sustainability, and a special link to Tools and Methodologies. At this location we provide innovative approaches used to calculate Sustainable Return on Investment. Send a brief e-mail with a link; one click and he’s right where he needs to be.
Offer to give a talk or brown bag at no charge. While this could be a costly second touch, if you think the business potential is high enough and you have something off-the-shelf to deliver, it might be a good alternative. We provided a brown bag session on Green Remediation for several clients, including a webcast to tie in a few of our remote experts. The event was well received by them, and cost effective for us.
Introduce them to a colleague they might like to know. Malcolm Gladwell’s best selling book, The Tipping Point, identified “Connectors.” Think of a few people you know who are experts, and offer to introduce your prospect to one of them. There are side benefits of being a Connector, like receiving future referrals from either of the individuals you put in contact with each other.

These are just a few examples to get you started thinking of ways to follow up and keep contacts fresh. Try a quick brainstorming session with a colleague the next time you are trying to get a response from a new prospect.

Your network is only as good as it is relevant, and recent.

About the Author: Wally Hise is vice president of federal marketing for HDR Engineering, Inc. (Omaha, NE). Contact him at wally.hise@hdrinc.com.

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