Recipe: Strengthening Personal Connections

One of the biggest challenges during the follow-up stage of the Universal Marketing Cycle is getting people to respond to your calls and e-mails. When prospects enter your marketing pipeline as a the result of your cold call, their casual visit to your website, or your finding their name on a list, you are essentially a stranger. Unless they have a compelling need for the service you are offering at the exact moment you contact them, they have no real incentive to take your call or answer your e-mail.

You can’t make a prospect need you. But what you can do is identify and strengthen the personal connections you have with your prospects to increase the likelihood that they will be open to speaking with you.

When you have a particular prospect you can’t seem to get through to, one useful tactic is to ask for an introduction from someone you already know. Ask your colleagues, others in your market niche, or members of the business and personal networks you belong to if they know this person. If so, would they be willing to serve as your connection? You might request that your connection call or e-mail your prospect suggesting he speak with you, or simply ask if you can use your connection’s name as someone who referred you.

A more helpful approach overall, though, is to focus on filling your marketing pipeline with prospects you are already connected to in the first place. The people you are personally acquainted with in your market niche will probably already be on your prospect list. But your personal connections go far beyond those people you have actually met. Here are some suggestions for people you have a connection with that may not have occurred to you:

Members of any association, club, affinity group, or online community you belong to

People who share a connection with you on a social media network—for example, friends of your Facebook friends, or people who follow the same people you do on Twitter

Other employees of any company you have worked for (as an employee or consultant)

Vendors or salespeople who serve your current clients

Alumni and faculty of any university or training school you went to

Speakers at any meeting or conference you attended

Parents of other children at the schools your children attend

Current and former co-workers of your family members and close friends

Your neighbors and neighborhood merchants

Your local political representatives

When you look at how many names could be added to your prospect list from these sources, your circle of connections is probably much more extensive than you thought. Consider approaching prospects who fall into any of these categories instead of those with whom you can’t find a connection. When writing a letter or placing a call, name the specific connection you have with each prospect in your opening. You may be surprised to see how many more people will start responding to your outreach.