It’s been said many times that knowledge is power. I’d have to disagree. Think about this for a moment. How many people have you personally known who possess quite a bit of knowledge and have very little power?

The kind of power I’m talking about is being able to leverage the knowledge you have to positively empower others to take action and achieve results in their own lives. It’s about imparting your knowledge to others so that you grow as a person as do those you come in contact with.

With that in mind, the knowledge and information you glean from meeting someone isn’t where the power or true value is in a relationship. It’s what you do with that information that creates value and power for you, your company and your clients. The impression you leave on others, before and after you meet them, is what builds your brand.

Following up and following through opens up customer interaction and extends customer satisfaction, before and after a sale is made. It strengthens and reinforces the message and promise your brand offers.

Here are some helpful reminders for following up and following through.

1. Remember how you met – anchor this in future conversations. This may not seem important right away, but it can certainly help if you lose touch and want to reconnect with people. One of our agency’s recent clients wanted to develop a direct mail and email campaign to a very specific group of high-level executives she met at a major trade conference. Her company had secured over 500 leads at the conference. Out of those 500 were 23 executives who were ideal clients. The copy in the campaign referenced this major trade show and reminded these executives that they were in fact interested in the services our client was pitching. The campaign was viewed as a success as our client secured two major clients from this. 
2. Remember what was said and learned – re-address this in a follow up note and/or email. For example, if you learn personal items about them, such as birthdays and anniversaries, these are great ways to further build a relationship. In fact, former President Bill Clinton is famous for remembering the dates that are important to others and sending a card or calling individuals in his rolodex on those dates.
3. Send handwritten note and/or email (personalize it). This is especially beneficial after you meet someone for the first time. One of our early clients, who oversees an employee incentive firm, does this not only after initial meetings with someone, but after every meeting. She stays top of mind with a personal and genuine touch and as a result, her business continues to flourish.
4. Call or email them (let them know you were thinking of them). Sometimes simply saying hello and genuinely asking how things are going can result in new business. With just our agency alone, I can recall four major makeover projects we landed just because I wrote an email to a past client or colleague saying hello and asking how their family and business was doing.
5. Special announcements. Keep your contact base up to date on you, your life and your business. Send out an email to notify others of important changes and/or announcements such as a promotion for a new product or new service, letting people know you have a new email address, new Website, new phone number, you moved to a new city, just landing a new client or formed a strategic alliance, an article or a new book you wrote, a new child or grandchild you are expecting. You can even send out an invitation to an event you’re putting on or will be attending. The list is endless. Whatever strategy or purpose you choose all of these are great ways to meet up and reconnect with people in your database.
6. Send over article and/or Special Report/White Paper. Few things are remembered as much as an important pieces of information you share with others. Whether you wrote the article or not, send articles that are relevant and of interest to people in your contact base. A friend of mine who is a networking guru does this all the time. He stays top of mind with thousands of people in his contact base through articles and special reports he sends. Almost all of these are written by other people, but he doesn’t care and neither do the people who receive them. He’s seen as a valuable resource and in turn, he gets numerous referrals from others and keep a thriving business growing as a result.
7. Make valuable connections and introductions for them. This is perhaps the one thing your contacts would appreciate the most - REFERRALS. Keep an eye out for opportunities that you know would be good for those in your rolodex. When you come across them don’t hesitate to make an introduction via email or a phone call.

Following through and following up is a never-ending process. To keep your brand top of mind with your target audience stay in touch with everyone in your contact base, especially old customers and prospects. 

Your contact base is arguably the most valuable and untapped resource and asset in your business. With time being as scarce as it is, the more you can automate this process, for instance, with an online newsletter, the more efficient and profitable your efforts will be.