Relationship Building - Continuing the Connection

Stewart M. Hirsch, Esq.
Strategic Relationships

You need to develop relationships to build up your practice. It's not enough, however, to simply have a first meeting. To ensure that the relationships - and your business thrive, you must also follow up with your contacts. Here are three basic rules for effective follow-through:

Always Set the Next Steps

"Next steps" are the actions required to complete a task. In relationship building, they involve deciding on who will do what, and when. Usually, the easiest way to set next steps is to ask the other person to set them with you. Simply find out how the other person would like to proceed. Or propose a next step, and ask whether the other person agrees. Or ask the other person what alternative would work better for her or him. Here are some simple ideas for setting next steps:

Always Do What Was Agreed

To continue a relationship, it is imperative to do what you agreed to do. When you keep your word, the contact has hard evidence that you take the relationship seriously. You establish and enhance trust and credibility.

Here are some ways to further your goals:

• Send a letter or e-mail confirming the agreed-on next steps.
• Do what you promised to do, within the agreed-on time frame.
• If necessary, remind the other person - in a gentle manner - of his obligations, and tell him that you are looking forward to hearing from him.

Follow-through will differ depending on whether one is networking or developing a client. When networking, you should try to add value to your contact's business, and help the contact to add value to your business. Follow- through with a prospective client requires that you stay in touch and keep the process moving — but without pushing too hard.

With a strong networking contact:

• Find something to add value to the relationship quickly, such as a client or referral source you can give to the networking contact. Do this within a week of your meeting, if possible.
• Properly introduce your networking contact to the client or referral source. Let both know the potential value each has for the other. Give each the information they need to follow-up with each other.
• Explore and determine how you and your networking contact can further develop your relationship.
• Agree on regular intervals to maintain contact.

With potential clients:

• Follow-up when promised, and begin the conversation by saying something like: "I am calling to follow-up with you as you suggested (or as we agreed). Is this a good time to check-in?" By reminding the prospective client that she agreed you could follow-up, you eliminate the risk of seeming like a cold caller.
• If the prospective client does not have time to speak when called, ask when you should follow-up again.
• If the connection does happen, and the prospect isn't ready to enter into a professional relationship or provide new work, ask when you should follow up again.

Take Charge if No One Set Up Next Steps

No one is perfect. Professionals often put off follow-up communication for a variety of reasons — too busy, not comfortable, forgot why the follow-up was to be done. Whatever the reason, follow through as soon as possible - and be honest about the delay. Try these suggestions:

With networking contacts:

• "I'm sorry that it took so long to get in touch with you. Do you still think it makes sense to talk?" (If the person said they were going to call first, you can add: "You must be very busy too, because I did not hear from you".)
• "I wanted to call you many times, but I unfortunately haven't had the time. I still think there is potential value in getting together. Will you have any time in the next couple of weeks?"
• "I did not want to call you until I knew I would have time to meet. Are you still interested in following up?"

For potential clients:

• "I wanted to follow-up with you but did not want to seem too pushy. It sounded like you were interested in our working together on some matters. Does it still make sense for us to talk?"
• "I haven't heard from you since we met, and I thought you had a situation you wanted to discuss. Could you still use some input?"
• "I really enjoyed speaking with you when we met some time ago, and I wanted to follow up and see how you are doing. Do you have a few minutes?"

The bottom line is that there is rarely anything to lose and potentially much to gain by making the belated follow-up call or even e-mail to reopen communications. The key is to keep the connections continuing.

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Stewart, a former in-house lawyer, is a client-development coach who helps professional services providers get referrals and make rain. This version of this article appeared in the American Bar Association's Law Practice Management, Volume 28, Number 4, May/June 2002

©2000-2002 Stewart M. Hirsch, Esq.
Strategic Relationships
68 Ames Street Sharon, MA 02067
(781) 784-5280
s.hirsch@strategicrelationships.com