Following Up is a key ingredient to cooking up a successful business and mastering leads.
Relationships and effective networking are key aspects of achieving success and good relationships take time and care to grow. Meeting people and making connections is just the beginning!
Here are some top tips to help you nurture and grow your networks to become a master at following up.
Follow up straightaway
Your new contact will have met dozens of new people. Establish a firm place in their memory by sending an email as soon as you can, saying how pleased you were to meet them and maybe suggesting another follow up or offering like a special article on something they mentioned needing more information for.
Connect on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the major platform for professional connecting. Personalize your email by reminding them of where you met or what things you have in common. Once connected, LinkedIn will also remind you to congratulate them on a promotion, new job or work anniversary.
Be organized
Don’t just add your new contact’s business card to the pile on your desk. Develop a follow-up strategy by listing and categorizing your contacts using a quality CRM like Realty Juggler.
Allocate time in your schedule to follow up with your contacts to schedule subsequent meetings or simply to touch base. You should try to avoid Mondays and Fridays – midweek is the better choice.
Create opportunities
Invite your contacts to events and launches. As real estate agent you run your own business, invite them to open houses, an event, or an activity. If an opportunity arises, you can recommend your contacts to each other.
Host a professional event, drinks or even dinner for clients and colleagues to connect.
Don’t overdo it
If a contact hasn’t responded, or even rejects invitations, let it go! If you’re waiting for a reply or confirmation, allow an appropriate amount of time to pass before following up. For example, if you’ve sent an email on Friday, don’t pester them on Monday. Wait a few days to follow up. Providing value, your newsletter, or relevant educational information you think they will be interested in will be good follow up without appearing to be a pushy sales person. Keep it general and light unless you know a lot about their needs.
Don’t be rude
As a follow-up on from not being pushy, never be rude to someone who hasn’t responded to you. Your deadline is not their problem! Similarly, don’t send passive aggressive follow-up emails saying, “I assume you’re not interested as I haven’t heard back from you’. No one can afford to burn bridges. You never know where that contact may turn up – it might be on the other side of a duty desk, at the grocery store, or end up showing up at your kid’s soccer game.
Grant Cardone is an International Sales Expert and wrote a great article that real estate agents should read on the “4 Rules of Engagement That Wildly increase your odds of closing the deal”. He feels that follow up is the Holy Grail of sales.
About the Author
Cindy Bishop is a highly accomplished real estate professional with a proven track record in the industry. As the founder of a prestigious real estate education school in Virginia and a sales performance coach with decades of experience, she has honed her expertise in achieving sales success.
With a focus on developing soft skills and cultivating effective habits, Cindy transformed her own real estate sales business. Starting out with traditional methods like door knocking, sphere marketing, and open houses, she quickly realized the power of effective communication and became a top producing agent.
Today, Cindy is recognized as a respected figure in the real estate community. Through her educational initiatives and personalized coaching, she empowers others to reach their full potential in the competitive world of real estate sales.
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