Are You Following Up?

Hi, it’s Rick Nuske here…and although this shouldn’t surprise me, somehow it always does.

The number of stories I’ve heard about business owners not following up with their leads, blows my mind. I mean, how much money are these business owners leaving on the table for someone else to come along and scoop up? My guess is that it’s probably a large amount which could have otherwise been in their pocket.

But I’m not completely perfect…when I started marketing, I didn’t even know what a marketing campaign was, let alone what follow up meant. It’s probably no surprise when I say that follow up is now standard practice at My Future Business.

Effective follow up requires a discipline that a lot of business owners either don’t have, or don’t bother practising. But what if you could guarantee an extra $30,000 revenue every year from following up, would you do it?

I’m always collecting marketing material landing in my mailbox. And what I’ve noticed is that the same companies who invested in mail outs, don’t ever touch base with me again. No follow up whatsoever. Amazing!

Here’s a little something to try. Next time a piece of advertising mail lands in your mailbox, maybe one of those postcard type mailings, keep it and take note of who it’s from. My guess is that you might be lucky to receive one more mailing focussed on that offer. But from there, I’d be willing to wager that you won’t hear from them again about that specific offer or related offers ever again. Talk about a wasted opportunity to maximise return on investment!

If you’re guilty of using the ‘one-hit-and-hope’ marketing approach, why not consider trying a different strategy which focusses on a number of steps, rather than the all too common ‘one-hit-and-hope’ marketing approach, which more often that not, doesn’t convert.

This marketing sequence includes doing something a little different, and takes some effort on your part.  And be sure to know your target market before trying this. Couple this effort with some major lead generation and you’ll be amazed at the results.

As part of this overall process, be sure to observe how much it costs you to acquire a new lead. Importantly, make sure to capture their name, email, mailing address, and if possible, their contact phone number when your new lead makes contact with you for what ever free lead magnet you’re offering.

Here’s a 30,000 foot overview of a marketing campaign which includes the all important follow up sequence from step 4. onwards.

1. Develop a suitable lead magnet packed with value that appeals to your target market.

2. Arrange a marketing campaign using lead generation tools including pay per click, newspaper ads, billboards etc.

3. During step 2, capture the leads details i.e. name, email, mailing address and phone number.

4. Mail out you lead magnet to your new leads using the mailing details provided in step 3.

5. Send an immediate automated email to each lead who requested your lead magnet to confirm their order of your lead magnet with links to your website.

6. Next day, set up your email auto-responder system so it automatically sends out another email advising your lead that the lead magnet they requested is on its way. Add some information on what they’ll find inside to keep them eager to receive it.

7. The following day, actually make contact with the lead via a phone call…imagine that, an actual phone call!…gasp!! During this call, let them know who you are and ask them to confirm that they have received your lead magnet. Ask if they have any questions and try to book an appointment/consult with them.

8. The very next day, send them a physical Thank You postcard in the mail. Make it personal and refer back to your recent conversation with them.

9. Next day, send out another letter containing whatever it is you’re offering…your core offer. With it, provide a pre-paid return envelope, or link to appointment/consult booking page for them to respond to. Provide a link to a survey to learn more about what they’re looking for.

10. Follow up with a date deadline to respond to your offer or they will miss out. This step is incredibly effective at driving up response rates.

11. Finally, add your lead to your monthly mailing campaign, which might include postal mail and email.

So that’s it. A basic level overview of one of many ways you can set up an effective follow up sequence. 

I’d love to hear about your follow up processes….leave me your comments below.

Click Here For Help With Setting Up Your Own Follow Up Campaign