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Follow-ups are the one thing separating you from 94% of individuals on the planet.  Anyone can prospect, approach people, and make an elevator pitch; but few follow up with the person afterward.

After reading “Never Eat Alone,” I realized how incredibly easy following up actually was.  Often all it is is an email or a phone call, but you force the person to think of you and your conversation as long as it’s done in a timely manner.  Too late, and you just lost your opportunity.

Here are five tips on following up that have worked exceptionally well for me:

1. The 24-hour rule.  Follow-up with someone in 24 hours, even if it’s on a weekend.  Blackberry’s and Q’s are making the workplace more transparent.  Personally, I will collect business cards throughout the day.  When I get back to the office I enter them in my contact database.  At the same time, I type up a short email thanking them for a favor or telling them it was nice to meet them.  I usually include a question or something I promised to follow-up on in the email.  This is more bait than anything.
2. Make a promise.  I always try to promise something when I first meet someone.  One time, I was carrying around a digital tablet.  Another guy in the meeting asked me what it was and where he could get one.  So, I collected his information, and sent him the link to it when I get back to the office.
3. Make a Connection.  Everyone has problems.  So when you meet someone, pay attention to them.  If they are having a problem, try to fix it.  And if you can’t maybe you know someone that can!  We aren’t talking about sales presentation, but more about just helping people out.  For instance, one of the consultants I was working with was looking for a calendar for another client.  I installed a script on one of my servers and sent him a link before he finished asking me my advice.  It worked perfectly for him.
4. Find an interest.  This is often easier said than done, but find something in common.  It is more important to make a personal connection in an initial meeting than to sell a product.  In fact, business comes second.  You will have more than enough opportunities to sell your wares as long as you make a memorable impression and follow up.
5. Keep it short.  The follow-up is meant to be short.  Two or three sentences, tops!  Usually, in the follow-up, I suggest going to lunch about two weeks out.  Oftentimes, I am open that afternoon, but you have to account for the other person’s schedule.  And once you get into meeting the upper echelon of business people in your area, you need to accomodate their schedules.

Follow-ups are key.  Challenge yourself to following up with everyone you meet or chat with long enough to get a business card.  If you don’t do more business or have a larger referral network in a month, call me and I will coach you personally!

An elevator pitch closes deals before they even get started. You want funding for your startup? Master your elevator pitch. You want to sell to a new client? Get you elevator pitch down… It’s the most crucial part of your presentation. If you don’t master it, a prospect will speed away quicker than KITT in Knight Rider.

So what is an elevator pitch? Wikipedia says:

“An elevator pitch (or elevator speech) is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (say, thirty seconds or 100-150 words).”

To me, that’s pretty generous. If I can’t deliver it in one sentence I haven’t done my job. I don’t understand my product or my business. Nothing is so complicated that it takes more than 20 words. The key is to be illusive. You need to structure the sentence so it invites questions. No questions = no interest.

To start, sit down with a piece of paper. Write down what you are going to provide. Make sure you convey your value adders like time savings, sustainability, ease of use, software based… That is crucial.

For example, I am considering starting a ‘new media’ consulting firm. What’s my elevator pitch? “Axiium enables emerging and traditional business to harness the new power of the Internet through blogging, podcasting, screencasting, and collaboration tools.” That’s it. This leaves the other 25 seconds of the elevator ride for questions :0)

The key is to engage in a conversation about your business. You want to picque the other person’s interest. It isn’t terribly hard to do, but does require some effort.

Just remember – If you can’t tell someone what your business is in one sentence or less, you don’t truly understand the idea yourself. But keep working… It will come.