Network Like a Pro! Part 2: From Contacts to Contracts: Effective Follow-Up Tactics

Can mastering your follow-up game after a networking event unlock doors to business success? This week on Scale Up Strategies, we tackle the crucial art of effective follow-up communications. 

Mary shares her secret weapon—AI-generated email templates—for crafting personalized and timely messages, while Laura emphasizes the importance of scheduling dedicated follow-up time right after an event. 

We'll guide you on how to avoid the common mistake of spamming new contacts and the necessity of obtaining permission before adding anyone to your email lists. 

Learn from our recent experiences where diligent follow-ups transitioned casual conversations into valuable opportunities, proving that the real work begins after the initial handshake.

But that's not all. Consistent networking is the lifeblood of business growth, and we're revealing how you can make it a strategic part of your plan. 

From integrating a CRM system to keep your connections organized to the benefits of staying engaged on social media, we cover it all. 

We suggest attending a minimum of four networking events per month and getting involved in chamber committees to boost your recognition. 

Building trust takes time, and we're here to show you how the 3C method—Connect, Cultivate, Convert—can help turn those connections into lasting business relationships. 

Grab your favorite cup of coffee and prepare for actionable tips that can elevate your networking game to new heights!

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Transcript

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:03

You're listening to Scale Up Strategies, the business growth podcast for coaches, consultants and speakers. We're your hosts and business coach experts Mary Fain B randt and Laura Bashore.

Laura Bashore: 0:16

We're sharing all our insider tips from 20 plus years in business, including how we successfully scaled our businesses without losing our minds or our husbands.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:27

Sure, you can piece it together and try to DIY your way to success, or you can listen to us every week and learn the shortcuts, because we promise they're really awesome.

Laura Bashore: 0:38

So grab your favorite cup of coffee, tune in and let's start the show.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:43

Hey there, fabulous listeners, Welcome back to Scale Up Strategies, the business growth podcast for coaches, consultants and speakers. I'm Mary Fane Brandt.

Laura Bashore: 0:53

And I'm Laura Bashore. In our episode last week, we talked about why networking is critical for your business. Today, we're going to focus on executing and planning your follow-up strategy for networking. So this is part two. If you skipped part one, go back now.

Mary Fain Brandt: 1:17

That's right, laura. A successful networking strategy doesn't stop when the event ends. It's all about what you do next. So let's start sharing our own strategies for network execution and I'm going to tell you what's been working fabulously for me and my business. So networking is great. You're getting yourself out there, you're shaking hands, you're exchanging business cards Hopefully, you know, you're having in-depth conversations. The follow-up, you know, is what is really key. One thing I want to mention is mapping things out of how long it's going to take you to get there, because you know what I don't like is people showing up late, like if you're a half hour late to a networking event, I'm going to notice that.

Mary Fain Brandt: 2:06

So following yeah, right, so I think that we needed to bring that up. So, with follow up, it's not about coming back and spamming everyone. Can we just say that this is not the time that you come back and you send everyone that you just met. You put them on your email list without their permission oh my gosh, you don't right is that the worst I am on email. I hate that. I hate that. I block it right away.

Laura Bashore: 2:37

And now your reputation is ruined with me yeah, now I will not have a conversation with you when we meet again, yeah.

Mary Fain Brandt: 2:44

Do not automatically add people to your email list. Do not send them something they didn't ask for. You need to ask them. Hey, it was great meeting you. Laura, I see that you're a business coach.

Mary Fain Brandt: 2:55

I have a quick checklist. If you'd like to have it, I'm happy to send it to you. Right? You don't throw things at people and add them to your email list to send it to you, right? You don't throw things at people and add them to your email list. But what you do want to do, laura, is you want to follow up in that first 24 hours.

Mary Fain Brandt: 3:12

So what I've done is right. I've used ai to create my email template and I put placeholders in to say hey, it was great meeting you. First name at the event right? So these little blocks we had a great conversation about and I have to. So I always say AI, 90% done, 10% you.

Mary Fain Brandt: 3:32

So I have an email template that I use for my follow-up and it has my booking link in there I get to put their name, what we talked about, and I have to say that I went to a networking event a couple of weeks ago up in Scottsdale. Say that I went to a networking event a couple of weeks ago up in Scottsdale and you know I met probably like seven people at the event, cause I got there a little later. That was planned, though, um, and I did that email follow-up and I'm going to be on two podcasts, because, to the people I spoke to was about being on their podcast and one person it had been over a week since I I didn't hear back from them and they wrote back saying hey, got your email. Sorry about that, I'd like to book a call with you, and they went on and they already booked the consultation call with me, so if I hadn't followed up, I doubt that that consultation call would happen.

Laura Bashore: 4:21

Right, because people do get busy, and so that's why having a great follow-up strategy is so crucial to you being successful and feeling like you got something out of the effort that you put in by attending the event.

Mary Fain Brandt: 4:37

Absolutely so. What's your networking follow-up strategy?

Laura Bashore: 4:48

energy. Oh well, one of the things that I've really started doing is scheduling blocking out 45 minutes the next day to do my follow-up. So it is on my calendar and I'll tell you. It's really been helpful because, just like you were mentioning Mary, if you are using a template, you want to make sure that you have enough time that you are reviewing the email that you created before you send it.

Mary Fain Brandt: 5:14

Yes, because otherwise you can make a mistake.

Laura Bashore: 5:19

Yeah, the wrong name or the wrong event person, the wrong name or the wrong event.

Mary Fain Brandt: 5:30

Yeah, a template is just to help you like. Have like 80% of it done, but you have to read it, so you need time.

Laura Bashore: 5:33

You should and so you need the time. So the one of the last events that I went to, I actually started something new. I for some reason just really made a lot of great connections and inroads at the last event I was at. It was a chamber event. I came home and I had 17 people I needed to follow up with. That sounds crazy, but just want to throw out there that they were all organic conversations that just occurred. So I just want to share with you what I was able to do at this one event that just occurred.

Laura Bashore: 6:05

So I just want to share with you what I was able to do at this one event. So I ran into someone who you and I had talked about having on our podcast and I was able to ask him in person hey, you want to come on and and you guys will hear from Richard in a few episodes coming down the line, so I was able to get that secured. Also, the board I'm on a board for Classics for Kids, which is a nonprofit here, and they had asked me specifically if I could reach out to one of the members of my chamber because they were interested in seeing if their organization would donate to us. Well, he happened to come up to me and we were organically in a conversation and so I said, hey, by the way, I need to ask you if this is okay. And then I met the one who was visiting. So what I started to do?

Mary Fain Brandt: 6:55

because that was- a lot of conversations and a lot of different conversations that wasn't like, oh, I'm interested in your service, and a lot of different conversations that wasn't like, oh, I'm interested in your service. Or you know, you had a lot of different types of conversations. How do you keep that all straight, laura?

Laura Bashore: 7:11

Well. So I came home from it and to make sure that I didn't forget everything, I just pulled out the business cards I collected and also someone handed me a printed out resume I wanted me to review. It was great, it was a lot going on here. So I was like, oh my gosh, I got to do this too. So what I did was I just spent five minutes when I got home, while it was fresh, writing down every single person's name on a note card and just a quick like three to two words to help me remember, so that the next day, when I had my 45 minutes of scheduled time to do my follow-up, I knew exactly what I was going through. I've never felt so organized. I was really excited.

Mary Fain Brandt: 7:57

That is a really good technique and I'll write like little notes on the business card. But you had an event that had a lot of different conversations going on, so I think you know being strategic and being organized is the only way that you can really have a successful follow-up. So blocking the time writing on the cards and having an email script ready to go.

Laura Bashore: 8:18

Yeah, because if you're just into generic, nobody's going to respond to you. They can tell that it's generic, so you need to have that key piece of information that's going to respond to you. They can tell that it's generic, so you need to have that key piece of information that's going to ping them and remind them. You know, and, just like you said, I had a lot of success out of it. The person I asked for the donation he sent the donation the very next day, confirmed with Richard that he would be on our show, so I sent him the email and that was confirmed. And the person with the resume I sent that out. Someone who was interested in coming to team came to our team meeting the next week. So take the time to do your follow up and get what you need out of it.

Mary Fain Brandt: 8:58

Well, we just gave you a whole bunch of follow up strategies, I think the next thing I want to talk about I love this is scheduling the coffee meetups. So there's a couple of things. When someone just said to me the other day I went to like five networking events this week and we'll get to Y5. I know right, that was a lot of costume changes, girl. No, a lot of driving, yeah, gotta look different. My costume changes, girl. No, a lot of dry. Yeah, gotta look different, yeah. But someone said oh, I want to pick your brain and I get this from Felina Hansen of Harrah Hub in San Diego when someone says oh, felina, I'd like to pick your brain.

Mary Fain Brandt: 9:37

Her response is oh, that sounds painful. So I use that now and I'm like oh, that sounds painful, but if you want to book a consultation, call with me. Right, you can do that. The other thing that a lot of business owners do we set up these coffee meetings right, virtual coffee but there's really no guidelines or barriers, or what does that really mean, a virtual coffee?

Laura Bashore: 10:01

So here's a twist.

Mary Fain Brandt: 10:03

We need to reframe those as collaboration calls. No more coffee meetups, collaboration calls, because when you reframe that, it really sets it as a purpose driven tone right. Think about, oh, a coffee chat or a collaboration call A collaboration.

Laura Bashore: 10:21

Call like you right.

Mary Fain Brandt: 10:22

You got to show up and you know that this is a business call. This isn't for you to pick my brain or to sit there and just have coffee with me. This is a collaboration call and I think changing the name of it it sets a clear that this is a business agenda and collaboration calls can lead to amazing opportunities Like how can we collaborate? Should I be on your podcast? Should you be on my podcast? Do you have a networking group that I should join or go check out? So you know whether it's a partnership, a referral or a new client. It helps us be prepared with specific ideas on how we can support each other.

Laura Bashore: 10:58

So I am renaming my coffee chats to collaboration calls and I love that too, because it's like, as a business owner, we are busy and where we choose to spend our time is important. And to your point, if someone just says they want to have coffee with me, I mean I might not even respond to them for a week because I'm just the thought of it. When you mentioned it, mary, I tensed up, I'm cringing on the inside. I'm like I don't want to just chat with you. I don't know you, I don't know what you want, and what you think is important for you may not be important for me. And that's not being rude, that's being realistic.

Mary Fain Brandt: 11:37

That's being strategic with your time. It just might not be a priority that you can fit in this week. So coffee chat versus a collaboration call. Everyone should rename those. Keep the coffee chats for your close friends and colleagues.

Laura Bashore: 13:01

Yeah. And then I think you know putting people into your CRM, using your CRM why? Because, to your point of the person who you initially reached out to after your connection at the networking event, and then a week went by. Had you not organized and had a way to follow up with that person, it would have just left, but you left a consultation and possible business on the table by not having a system in place.

Laura Bashore: 13:31

Sometimes we just get busy You're busy, I'm busy. The person we're trying to connect to may be busy as well. So don't forget to also connect with that individual on your socials, and that's one thing we haven't mentioned yet that I'm going to kind of plug in here too. Connecting on your social media platforms and responding to that person or adding in a comment can make it so that you stay top of mind as well. So, after an event, please remember that when you're posting about it, tag the event, tag the people in the photo with you, and you'll find that the next time you post something, that individual is more likely to comment on whatever it is that you're talking about, and you will continue to have a connection that lives beyond your networking event.

Mary Fain Brandt: 14:22

And I want to add to that tag the venue and tag the sponsors.

Laura Bashore: 14:27

Oh yeah, I mentioned venue, but not sponsors.

Mary Fain Brandt: 14:30

Tag those sponsors.

Laura Bashore: 14:32

Tag those sponsors Absolutely, because you never know, those may be someone who might sponsor an event that you do.

Mary Fain Brandt: 14:40

Let's start tagging away, laura, because we need sponsors for our podcast. Yeah, who wants to be tagged? Who wants to be tagged? Hey, so you know what let's talk about. We talked about prep in the last, the previous podcast. This one is the follow-up. And a question I get asked a lot is how much networking should I do? Networking isn't a one-time thing where you go to a networking event and you're done, like that's it. I did one event for the month, I'm done. It really needs to become part of your business routine. I think a bare minimum is to aim for four networking events a month. Now, I know I just said I went to five this week. What I see happening recently is.

Laura Bashore: 15:26

I've made it I know the cluster.

Mary Fain Brandt: 15:28

I know they cluster right. So it's like every other week I have a plethora of events and that's okay because then that gives me that week in between to kind of breathe. But I had a business coach tell me once that I should be out networking. What did they tell me? I think two to three times a week to grow your business. So I think that's realistic.

Mary Fain Brandt: 15:51

Do my chamber, glendale chamber, shout out to you every wednesday business over breakfast. I try to go to two new networking events a month that I don't know, like I don't know anyone there or I'm invited. I've never been to check that goal off this week. Um, but you need to incorporate it into your business strategy. And talking about chambers, they're a great networking group. You're a member of chamber, I'm a member of chamber. But I just want to give some advice. There's two things, and one is from Richard Marks when you join a chamber, join a committee so you can get known faster. True story pro tip. And the second thing is it takes time for people to get to know, like and trust you. At a chamber you meet weekly, maybe you're going twice a month and you get like two minutes to you know, give your spiel and shake hands or what have you. So just know that it takes time. The chamber is probably my biggest source of clients for this last year, but it took nine months to build that up, so that's a little bit different.

Laura Bashore: 17:01

Not all chambers do that, and so that's something to think about as well. At the chamber that I'm involved in, it's not weekly, but I did get involved on their economic advisory council immediately when I joined, and I also started helping three times a year with their Operation Connect, which is where we do a workshop for those who are transitioning from military to civilian life.

Laura Bashore: 17:40

And so we each have pieces where we connect with them. Yeah and so, and then I go to the monthly networking that they have. They have a regional networking, but I don't go every month to that because, to your point, mary, I have other ways where I'm connected to the members of the chamber. So if I need to substitute something in because there's something unique happening on that same day because you know people like to cluster those events, it seems like they're all happening in the same week, same day or same couple of days I say you just have to be strategic about that. But I network, I definitely meet that two to three times a week and it's because networking is a piece of my business. It's not just a one-off that I do, it's a consistent stream of revenue and that's the way you want to think about it. If you're serious about networking, then get serious.

Mary Fain Brandt: 18:34

Absolutely. It has done wonders for my business.

Mary Fain Brandt: 18:38

I don't know where I'd be without networking, whether that was online, in person, in California, in Phoenix, at conferences, social media marketing world that you know, one of the biggest events I have and you've been to my brunches that I've held and met those amazing people from social media marketing world and that opened up the doors to being on LinkedIn lives and podcasts and speaking opportunities at colleges. Um, and those relationships that started five years ago are still fruitful and they're still bringing consistent, they're bringing me opportunities. So nurture those relationships. I always say the 3C method connect, cultivate, convert. Connect with people, cultivate the relationship and convert it to an opportunity. Convert doesn't mean client. All the time I want to change what convert means. I'm not a hardcore salesperson. Convert means opportunity. There's so much more like that besides just clients.

Laura Bashore: 19:39

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think some of our strongest things are not that one-off clients, it's actually the business partnerships we develop.

Mary Fain Brandt: 19:48

Absolutely so, laura. I think we're coming up to wrapping up the show here. Uh, we, we. We did networking 101, where I got um under the grill of these questions that Laura has um created to ask all of our podcast guests, and we thought, well, you probably want to know a little more about us. So Laura asked me the questions in networking episode one. This is networking episode two. So, laura, it is time for you to get grilled. I just like saying it. Are you ready?

Laura Bashore: 20:23

Yeah, I'm ready. I'll tell you as soon as you started leading into this, I got a little nervous, but I'm ready.

Mary Fain Brandt: 20:29

Okay, so here we go. Question number one what is? No, I'm just kidding, I was going to change the question, but I won't do that to you. What was the last risk that you took as a business owner?

Laura Bashore: 20:46

It's a good question, and not just because I thought it would be. So the last risk that I took recently I started investing in my business again. So what I mean by that is I run my businesses lean, yes, so I always want to make sure I'm in the black. That's important to me as a business owner. But I've reached another point in my business where it's time to scale up to the next level, and in order to do that, I have to do some upfront investing. I just started in on it and, while it makes me a little nervous, it's also I realized that I get those nerves when I'm on the precipice of something new that's going to be profitable for me. So that's the risk. I've made some major investments this year and I'm looking forward to seeing the dividends.

Mary Fain Brandt: 21:44

All righty, I love that. What is the quote that you live by in your business?

Laura Bashore: 21:52

Well, as you know, I am very much into music and so, while my quotes may not seem business, it is, and I'll explain why. Without music, life would be a blink to me. And it's by Jane Austen, and normally Jane Austen is known for writing. Yes, she's one of my favorite authors. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorites, um, so when I found out that she was so invested in music, it really made me take a step back and see her differently. To me, music is all about evoking emotions, taking risks, and that is something that I do throughout my business. So anytime I get nervous, I just remind myself of that and take the next step forward.

Mary Fain Brandt: 22:39

I love it, okay, and I know how much you love music, okay. This next question is going to be super hard for you. Are you ready? Maybe, what is the number one social platform that you use in business?

Laura Bashore: 22:54

Oh man, so many great ones to choose from. But I mean, who are we kidding? Linkedin all the way for this girl, All the way Score LinkedIn.

Mary Fain Brandt: 23:07

It's the winner so far. Okay, yeah, okay Question. The final question is what is the key to your success?

Laura Bashore: 23:17

Key to my success is setting high objectives and achieving them through the strategic execution of smaller goals. Okay, and if it sounds like I had that written out, it's because, yeah, I use that on my speaker bio because, it's true, I set really lofty goals. You know, I'm always looking very far into the future and then I use those to drive how I'm going to make the decisions in my business. I love that.

Mary Fain Brandt: 23:47

I love your key to success. Okay you guys. Thank you, laura, for those answering those questions so our audience can get to know you a little deeper. And I'm going to just recap our networking execution checklist and remember this will all be in the show notes for you. So, number one follow up within within 24 to 48 hours. Use AI to write your emails. It can write some pretty good emails, but just remember. Tip number two is personalize those follow-ups so you can have the template, but you got to go in and put the first name, what you talked about in the event you were at. Number three is to schedule your collaboration calls. I love that.

Mary Fain Brandt: 24:27

Number four organize your contacts and your follow-up method in CRM, and there's a lot of great CRMs out there. Some you can even start for free. Number five is stay active on social media. Shout out to the organizations on social media, those in attendance, like speakers and sponsors. That will help them see your name and you'll be top of mind. Tip of tongue, as Stephanie Liu says. Number six is attend events consistently. Networking isn't a one-off, it's not one and done. And number seven take some time to reflect and refine your strategy. Is it really working? Is it producing the results you want? And if it isn't, ask yourself why Is it what you're wearing or where you're going?

Laura Bashore: 25:11

I like that. I like that one. Yeah, networking is a powerful tool for your business, you guys, and it takes planning and execution. So, with these tips that we've covered, you'll be on your way to building a robust network of meaningful connections that are ultimately going to lead to you scaling your business.

Mary Fain Brandt: 25:32

And that's what this is all about scale up strategies. As always, we love hearing from our listeners, so share some networking tips and stories with us, and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review our podcast Until next time. Here's to good coffee, great conversations and even greater success. Cheers, bye. If you enjoyed the podcast, show us some love. Please rate, review and subscribe to our podcast, and if you have any feedback, go ahead and share that with us too, because we want to hear from you. Until then, stay focused, stay motivated and stay caffeinated.