Now that you’ve made a great FIRST impression, let’s tackle the work on the lasting impression.
Do you realize that more than 90% of people do not follow up with the people that they meet?
Think about that a moment. How many people have you met in the last month? How many of those followed up with you with more than the perfunctory email? How many of those have you followed up with?
More to the point … when was the last time that you did something memorable in your follow up with someone you met at an event?
Melissa Wadsworth, with Wadsworth Communication is excellent at this! I’m almost spoiled by the fabulous and heartwarming note cards that she sends to me on a frequent basis. You can bet that she keeps “top of mind” awareness with me! And, rest assured that I know who Melissa Wadsworth is because of her follow up skills.
With so few people actually bothering to follow up … do you see how easy it would be to be a STAR and create your own lasting impressions?
There are a number of ways to do your follow up. It is ok to send an email as a follow up – but that’s not very memorable – you’ll want to do more than that!
You can do hand written notes or greeting cards. You can send clippings from the news that you think the person you just met would be interested in. Whatever you do decide to do, though, you should have a system in place for getting it done.
One thing to remember: Always make your follow up about them and not about you. Remember the What’s In It For Me that everyone has on their mind. Be memorable because you are thoughtful about the other person … not that you are looking to sell them something. That comes later!