Axiom CPA, P.A. - Axiom CPA Blog

Today I was following up after one of my regular consulting appointments. After writing the email to the client I was involved in another conversation regarding the same topic so I thought I would recap it here in the hopes that it can be useful to a broader audience.

The basic background is this...very few people know how to market professional services. Selling the intangible is about selling relationships. And selling relationships is about contact. Most people involved in delivering professional services (accountants, consultants, attorneys, bankers, realtors...) run into more people in a day than they realize. Some percentage of these contacts are prospects. A friend of mine believes they're ALL prospects and he has a point. If you're not keeping track of these contacts and making a conscious effort to followup in a proactive way you are losing sales...I guarantee it!

I had previously sent this particular client an excel spreadsheet I use to track prospects through our sales cycle. She is very good at what she does and as a result very busy. The idea of putting everything in a spreadsheet just seemed like too much work so in the email I laid out the low tech solution I have used in the past to track prospects and other people I want to stay in touch with. Here's the text of the email (names changed to preserve confidentiality)....

Debra,
Going over my notes I came back to your comments regarding the marketing followup and how much work it is. I recognize that the level of structure in the spreadsheet isn't for everyone but I would encourage you to track your prospects in some way. One very simple format is a list showing the date of last contact, name, and description of what happened. For instance....

1/15/08 John Way took phone call regarding possible new accountant (never)
2/23/08 Lisa Haron email followup from networking event, interested in lunch sometime (1/4/08)
2/27/08 Gary K? Neil's friend, starting a new business in the summer, talked about business plans (never)
2/27/08 Kristin L Modern Photo, sent new client marketing package (1/31/08)

This is the method I used early in my practice. At the time I used a little black notebook that I would carry around and then I migrated to a spreadsheet. To be honest the notebook was a little easier. Each time I would followup with a prospect I would make a note of the new encounter and cross through the previous encounter. In parentheses I would put the previous contact date so that I could trace back what had been done before. Using the notebook I could tell at a glance who I had not followed up with in a while. Here's what I learned...

It takes effort but not a lot of time to track your conversations and encounters, not all of them, just the important ones. But once you get in the habit it's automatic

I referred a LOT more business to people on my list. This is often the best way to get referrals. Refer first and do something for the other person. Because I was always looking back at my list and being reminded of people I was much more likely to think of them when I ran into someone else who had a need.

There are more prospects than you'll ever need. Our window for recall is about 3 days. I don't remember the people I met last week so I don't think to followup with them. However, if I see someone a month later I will probably remember who they are, what they do, etc. But if it's two months later I have probably forgotten their name and other details. So there's this sweet spot between 3 days and 30 days where a list really helps me stay in touch and in front of people so I know they'll remember me and I'll remember them when we run into each other months down the road.

I would go through my list and when someone got to 30 or 45 days since the last encounter I would make an effort to touch base. This is the same thing we do now, we just have more structure to it so that it can be run automatically without my personal involvement all the time.

Give it some thought and maybe try it for a couple of weeks. Unless you're already milking your personal network for all it's worth you should see some immediate returns. If you're curious about a tool that could help grab a moleskine notebook. It's what I still use. I've been through dozens of them and have probably "sold" dozens more to clients.

Best,
Joey