It's All About The Follow Up

What are biggest challenges in prospecting for new clients and promoting your services or business? What about challenges on getting business or career advice?

When you want to lose weight, you don’t just go the “getting on Weight Watchers” route. It's a comprehensive approach; exercising, a support system, goals and a way to measure your progress.

The same applies to building relationships. It's not a one size fits all approach either. If you're more of a socializer (like me) you like face-to-face meetings and events. If you're a little shy and find it hard to talk about yourself to someone you just met, an online networking site works better for you.

Relationship building in its truest form is gaining trust. Your relationship with your closest friends develops because those are the people you trust the most. Part of the comprehensive approach to building a trusting relationship is one where you are continually engaged with them in one form or another. Sound simple, but how often do you do it?

Remember in college how there was always one person who was at every party? You didn't know them, but there they were. Eventually, if you did end up in a conversation with that person, the conversation felt somewhat comfortable, familiar even.

Networking events can provide that consistency and familiarity with potential business leads, clients, customers and partners. When you extend that relationship from familiar grounds to an online format, the relationship grows stronger.

It's true, we do business we people we know. All things being equal, one will always choose to do business with someone they know. They will continue to do so because they’ve grown trust them.

Popularity breeds contempt. Networking events are not a popularity contest or a race to see who gets the most business cards at the end of the night. Mostly, the contempt is directed at networking whores whose mission is to get your card, give you theirs and move on.

But what’s the point of having a stack of cards if you don’t follow up? That’s the key.

Yes, it’s work. But, yes, it works.