Master The Follow Up Process

Read Time: 5 Minutes

I’m not a fan of the phrase “follow up”. or “check in”. As soon as I see those words on a text, dm or email I “check out”.

I don’t want or need to be babysat. I assume others may feel the same. 

So, I focus on adding value, not following up or checking in.

I’m going to walk you through what it’s like to OWN your follow up process. We’re going to cover the steps, the structure and a few solutions to get started!

We will dive into what “follow-up” is and why the vast majority of people fail at it (hint: it’s staring at them in plain sight, but they don’t see it). We will then explain the simple and practical steps to having effective follow-up, followed by an easy way for you to follow up with your leads and past clients.

By the end of this, you will have learned:

• The mindset reframe of follow up.
• The simple steps of effective follow-up.
• An easy structure to follow up with your leads and clients.
• Rules of engagement.
• Ideas & templates to get started!

Mindset: 

• Reframe calls/texts/emails to a piece of “one on one” content
• Everyone can have their own unique process and methods

If you invest just a bit more time to personalize and add value to your message, you will see much more success in your conversations. When I reframed my conversations to creating a piece of valuable content, my success rate went WAY up and the quality of my communications evolved into more meaningful relationships.

Steps:

• Commit to a process
• Show up consistently 
• Use creativity; always deliver VALUE!
• Be authentically YOU

It really is this simple. Sure, every conversation is different but your process can be the same. Use this simple framework or create your own. Iterate as necessary but show up consistently whatever you do.

Structure:

• Intro
• Reason
• Item/Question 
• Call to action

This has worked for me the last 30 years. Keep it simple, get to the point and value the other person's time. Adapt it to you, be authentic and always aim to leave the person looking forward to your next connection.

Rules of engagement:

• Know your market
• Buyers
• Sellers
• Investors
• Add value
• Educate/Empower
• Timely fact about market
• Community update
• Neighborhood housing update
• Your NOT checking in
• Your delivering value
• Your learning 
• Your asking questions
• Lose the term past clients
• Everyone should be a current client
• A wealth manager doesn’t have past clients, they just have clients
• Let them know the next time they will be hearing from you
• Email - info only
• Text - texting is conversational 
• Call - personal, inflection, relational

Ideas: Seller

• Screenshot of Zestimate
• What’s your opinion on this price? 
• Email/text
• CTA for home value review
• Leave a voicemail
• Make it intentional with a call to action
• Text after letting them know you left a voicemail
• Send an email
• That’s 3 touch points all directing the same message 

Ideas: Buyer

• Screenshot of home from MLS drip 
• Did you see it?
• Call/text/email
• CTA for conversation 
• Leave a voicemail
• Make it intentional with a call to action
• Text after letting them know you left a voicemail
• Send an email
• That’s 3 touch points all directing the same message 

Templates:

Seller:

• Hi NAME! This is NAME with ABC REALTY. I was thinking about your home today and I just emailed/texted you a screenshot of what Zillow thinks your home is worth. I would love to hear your opinion on this. I have mine and would be happy to share. You can reach me at PHONE NUMBER or reply back to my text/email and we can talk about it. Have a great day! Talk soon. 

Buyer:

• Hi NAME! This is NAME with ABC REALTY. I just texted/emailed a screenshot of a home that just came on the market. It may be a great option for you. Did you see it? You can reach me at PHONE NUMBER or reply back to my text/email and we can talk about it. Have a great day! Talk soon. 

Call To Action:

• What questions do you have?
• Get into them
• If they have no questions:
• Start asking some to establish how you can deliver value
• Let them know when you will be in touch next
• Schedule that next contact for yourself (CRM, calendar, whatever)

Thanks for reading. 

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