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Leslie Presnol
Hey, quick heads up. If getting fully booked is your goal this year, let's talk. I've set aside a few times this month for free consults where we'll look at what's working in your local marketing, what's not, and the five most important things for you to focus on to bring in clients. Then I'll walk you through exactly how we do this step by step inside the LocalPreneur Academy. I'll answer any questions you have and make sure joining us feels like the next right step for you to schedule your consult. Just pick a date and time using the link in the show notes and I'll see you soon. You are listening to the Grow youw Local Business podcast where local marketing expert and life coach Leslie Presnol shares the strategies and the mindset to help you reach more people in your city and bring in a steady stream of clients. All right, let's dive in. Hey, welcome to episode 89. Today I want to talk about creating a follow up process for when a potential client reaches out to you. Whether that's on social media or over the phone or through your website or email, like any way they contact you and inquire about your services or working with you, or even if you talk to a client and to have a conversation and they're thinking about moving forward and you're waiting on them to get back to you, like you've sent them the information they need or you've talked to them, maybe you've done a consult. Like just think about what does that process look like in your business. I know everyone's business is a little different and we all have a different process and journey that our potential clients go through. But at some point you likely have people who reach out to you and ask you questions or you have a conversation or send them information and then you wait. And this is where a lot of the drama tends to happen, like in this waiting phase. And I have just noticed that when I talk to my clients inside the localpreneur Academy that sometimes this is when we start to spin out a little. As business owners, we think a lot about what they like the potential client could be thinking. We start to worry that they're going to change their mind or go work with someone else down the street instead. We worry about like was it our pricing? Or if they have questions that we didn't answer, if there's something else we need to say, we worry about, you know, just should I say anything, should I message them back if you know, I don't know when to send them a message, like if it's going to make us look desperate or graspy. Sometimes we just have so much happening in our brain in this in between time. And I think this happens for a lot of reason, especially earlier on in our business. It is very easy to get attached to people who are reaching out to us. We want the sale so bad sometimes and we make the success of the sale really mean something about our own success and what's possible for us. We really need the yes to make us feel better sometimes. There's just a lot going on there. So I think first is to just recognize when you're in that place. Like recognize when you're letting these outside circumstances of results or people getting back to you or potential clients, when you're letting all of that dictate your emotions or your inner world. I think that's the first thing to get really aware of. And we're human, so don't judge yourself. That's not what this is about. But I think first just getting awareness around that, like, oh, I'm really ne. I'm really noticing that I am thinking that I need this yes or this person to reply back to me or get back to me quickly so, so I can feel better. And that's really what we want to get out of. We want to be able to create that okayness and that safety for ourselves whether or not someone says yes or no or whether or not they get back to us or not, or whether it takes them a month or a day to get back to us. Like we still want to be able to just move forward in our business and not let that mean anything about us or our potential future or success. And this is something that I work so much with my clients on is just really staying in this more neutral place and getting, staying unattached to these potential clients. Because you do show up differently in your marketing and in your conversations and in your messaging and in your emails and DMs when you're talking to potential clients, when you need something from them to make you feel better. So I did just want to mention that because of course we always want to be working on our thoughts and feelings in our marketing and when we're showing up and talking with potential clients. But what I think can also really help you today is creating a follow up process. And the reason is, is because having just a good solid follow up process is a way to take a lot of your thoughts and feelings in the moment or in this waiting phase out of the equation. Because from my own experience. And just from coaching so many of my clients, I know we do get in our heads when we're thinking about getting back to someone or we're wondering or worried that they've ghosted us. Our emotions can get high in those situations. So having a very clear follow up process that's more of a standard business procedure can be super helpful because it just becomes like a checklist of things you do with every single potential client. And it's just a very neutral thing in your business versus you having to be like really wanting this sale and be all in your head and be questioning, like, what do I say? When do I say it? When do I send these messages? Like, it's been 24 hours. Should I say something like, we just want to get rid of all of those questions in mind drama by creating a follow up process in your business. So the first thing I would do to create a follow up process is just to decide when you would even use this in your business. So like, for me, I have a very specific set of emails that I send my potential students or clients after we do a consult together. Like, these are just, these are people who reached out, they said they wanted to do a consult with me on Zoom and talk about the localpreneur academy. And so we've been on a call together for an hour now. Like we've talked face to face for an hour and maybe we ended the call and they were like, okay, great. Like, I want to think about it. I have some things I need to think about or I want to talk to my husband or my partner. And we never just got to a decision one way or another on the call. So I just have a very clear follow up process in place for these specific people who I've met with on a consult, but they haven't really decided yes or no yet. Or I was just talking with a client and she's a photographer and she was saying how people will reach out to her and inquire about her pricing and packages. And she was saying that she would send them an email with all of that information and then they would ghost her. And so we just worked on getting her a very clear follow up process in place. Like what emails would she send after that point? Like, they've inquired, they've asked for very specific information so that initial inquiry was made. So just decide for you, like where a follow up process would make sense in your business. Like, is it after they reach out and ask about something? Is it after you have a conversation with them? Is it after you do a consult, like when would it make sense for you get clear on that? Or even if you need to decide, do you even need a follow up process? So just decide on that and then after you do, there are three main things that you're deciding on for your follow up process and number one, that's what you're going to say, number two, when you're going to say it and number three, how many times you're going to follow up. And it's really important that you make all of these decisions ahead of time and that you use it as a process, meaning you use it what you come up with for every single potential client. And the reason is, is because you can create all of this and think from a very neutral place, like from your CEO brain, from thinking with your best ideal people in mind who are excited about working with you. Because again, in the moment when we're trying to do this, when we're in the middle of a conversation with a potential client or we're waiting on somebody to get back to us, we get in our head about all of these things and we start to second guess ourselves. We pan. Our judgment just gets clouded because of our emotions. So I would just make all of these decisions ahead of time when there isn't like, I don't even like to say it this way, but like when there isn't a client on the line or money on the line and you just get to sell yourself on each decision of the process and really like your reason for each one. Now when I was talking to my client about this recently, she was saying how she didn't want to follow up with potential clients because she didn't want to come off as salesy and she didn't want to annoy them. And she even told me that in her follow up email to a recent potential client that she actually wrote in the email that I don't want to be a pest, so I'm just going to reach out this one last time and then I'll know that you decided to be a no. And I think this is so important because I want you to really think about and this is what I told her that I want you to really think about your follow up process as being this very professional thing that you have in place. Again, it's a very like neutral, professional business procedure that you just have set up. And it always helps me to. And I have my clients do this like have them think of other professions and how they would handle certain situations. So like when the dentist calls me to remind me that it's been six months and it's time for my teeth cleaning. I don't think that they're being a pest. I'm just like. Or I don't think they're trying to just get a sale from me, right? I'm like, oh, okay, great. They have a really good calendaring system and I'm glad they're keeping me on track with coming in and getting my teeth cleaned. And I've been working with a trademark attorney and, and whenever I get the follow up emails and the reminder emails, I'm not thinking they're being a pest or they're just trying to get my money or whatever. So in my brain, these are very professional businesses who just have these procedures in place. So what is stopping you from thinking of yourself in that same professional manner? Your follow up process is just a procedure, okay? It's a professional procedure. It's a series of messages or emails or touch points that will continue to move your client closer to working with you or answer any other questions they have, overcome any objections they may have, giving them value. It could be a number of things. And look, if I'm saying these things, you're like, oh my gosh, how do I do that? What do I actually say? Then definitely come join us in the local Preneur Academy. I teach you how to create what I call local go to content around each of these things. So you're just always moving your people across this invisible bridge. But from this place of professionals have systems in place. You get to decide what your follow up emails or messages will say and when you'll send them and how many you'll send. So this means write out every single email or message ahead of time. Save it to where it either goes out automatically or it's something that you can copy and paste and send. Writing them ahead of time will take your emotion out of it. And you can write from a very neutral, clean place and think of everything you would need to say to someone who truly wants what you have and then decide when you will send them. Like how long after you send one message or how long after your initial contact with that person do you follow up? How many messages total? Will you send? Decide all of this ahead of time. This will take you out of questioning all of this in the moment. Like, should I follow up again? Should I send them another message? You get to decide. So, and this is totally just an example, I'm pulling numbers out of thin air right now. But Maybe you send one email within like 48 hours and then another one two days later and then another one. I don't know. You get to decide what works for you. I actually send every single person that I talk to on a consult an email directly after we talk. Like as soon as I can get to that email, I send it and then the next day. So within 24 hours they start receiving a series of emails from me. And mine is set up automatically in my email system, which is really cool. But I take them through just more emails like FAQs of being inside the localpreneur academy. I share more testimonials and case studies. I share some behind the scenes videos that I don't share like publicly. Uh, I, I share some coaching clips so they can really get a feel for what it's like to be coaching with me inside the program. I give them a peek inside of the program. I share what it's like inside the Facebook group. Like I share screensh so they can see what the support and coaching and feedback in the group actually looks like. And I talk about some of the main objections that I know they are probably facing, like having time or you know, fear of investing. And sometimes whenever I have a really good idea for another email or I'm like, ooh, I could say this, or I know they might be thinking this, maybe I should say this, I'll just add it in. But this is really important. I wrote all of these emails from a good place in my mind. Like I was excited to write these emails and I think that's really important. It didn't come from this place of I'm being salesy or I need this sale. It came from the thought they want this, they want my help, they want this result that I'm offering. And I was thinking about the person who reached out to me, who just spent an hour on a call with me but still has some hesitations. And I can totally empathize with that whenever I'm writing the emails. So I'm thinking about the person who just came to me, shared about their business with me, told me what they wanted to create, what their vision was. And I know that they did that because they want a certain result. So I'm just going to keep fighting for that result for them in their emails. I'm going to keep telling them what's possible. Like of course they're still probably a little scared or worried about the time or the money. Like I get that. And I can still show up and keep telling them what's possible because I know what's possible. I can believe hard for them. Even when they're struggling to believe it themselves. I can see the bigger vision for them. Even when they struggle to see it themselves, or even when they are slipping out of belief of what they can do. Right. So I didn't write any of these emails from, oh, this is about me getting a result or this is about me getting a sale. I need this client, and that is important for you too, to not be in that space when you're creating your follow up process. Okay, so when you have this like desperate, graspy, kind of needy energy, we all know what that feels like and we could all slip into that so easily. But your people can feel that too. Like that gives off a certain energy in your emails or in your messages and your client can feel that. So again, I think that's why it's so important to just have these messages or emails. However you do it, as a process that you write ahead of time. When you can get yourself into this different headspace and where you're just here to help your people and you're excited to work with them and get them the result and the transformation that they want, it's such a different space to be in versus you're thinking about yourself versus them. Like, I cannot wait. Whenever I think about the person that I just got a consult on and now they're getting these emails, I get excited for them to receive all of these emails. I'm like, oh my gosh, they're about to get some of the best emails. Okay, so think about it like that. Like, how can I just continue to give and get them excited and making sure I'm saying all the things they need to know to continue moving them further along? Okay, so I hope you found that super helpful today. Go create your follow up processes and I will talk to you next week. Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode, I want to invite you to check out my program, the LocalPreneur Academy. This is the only program for small business owners who want to become the local go to in their industry with a steady stream of clients. You can find more information@lesleypresnell.com and I'll see you inside.