“Do what they say; say what they mean”
lyrics from “One Thing Leads to Another”, The Fixx
I’ll admit it; this is going to be a bit of a rant, so here goes. I’m terribly tired of people saying they want something (like more contacts, more business, to make more money, etc.) and yet, they aren’t willing to follow through and do the things that it takes to achieve those things!
Here’s what I’m talking about: recently I attended a fantastic networking event. In fact it was billed as “increasing your contacts by 50%”. It wasn’t cheap to attend (tickets were $45), so I assumed that only the serious networkers would show up.
One of the activities at the event was to identify something that you were looking for or needed (such as interest in your product or services, a coach, people to sign up for a class, etc). At each table, someone volunteered to be your “worker bee” and go around to the other tables, putting out there what you were looking for and if people were interested, they would give their business card to the worker bee. The worker bee’s then came back to your table with five or six business cards for the person to follow up with. All warm leads-wouldn’t you say?
But here’s what’s interesting. I received six business cards from people who were interested in what I was looking for (which was to tell them more about a teleclass I was holding). I also gave out six or seven of my business cards because I was interested in the products or services of six or seven other women at the event.
Here’s the interesting part…
I followed up with my leads, with a nice email-(nice to meet you, my worker bee collected your card and identified you as someone who wanted to hear more about my teleclass etc). However, not one person responded to the email.
In fact, I sent two emails and I called each one personally. Trust me, there was no sales pressure whatsoever-not even implied, just a friendly follow up kind of message.
What I found even more interesting is that not one of the people I gave a card to, to learn more about their product or service called or emailed me to follow up. Not one.
My second example this week is around attendance at my networking group. We meet every other week. People say they are committed, but many only sporadically show up at the meetings.
In fact, there’s one member who talks (and sends emails) to the group around the issue of instituting one-on-one coffees with people in the group. I e-mailed her over six weeks ago with some dates to meet for coffee and I’ve yet to hear back from her. In fact, she’s missed three meetings in a row (we meet every other week) and today she showed up and said she was so sorry, and would be getting back to me.
Do what you say and say what you do….
If you want to grow your business, if you want to expand your network or connections-you MUST FOLLOW-UP! You must. Don’t leave the business cards from a networking event in your jacket pocket or on your desk. If you tell someone you’ll call them next week-call them next week. If someone gives you a referral, call the referral for an appointment. If you say you’re going to make an introduction for someone-then make the introduction.
You must do what you say, and say what you do.
Okay…I feel better now. Thanks for listening and if you have any comments on this subject, be sure and leave them below!
 Mandy works with talented, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” right down below. |
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