JAGGAR International

Perhaps you were intending to catch a potential client of major industry player at that networking event and narrowly missed the chance or perhaps you’re looking to create a relationship with a potential client and don’t know where to start.

We have a few tips to help you secure that callback:

You’d planned to chat to a potential client/ big-wig who has some idea who you are but you narrowly missed your window by leaving it too long: 

rather than letting the moment slip by, take the opportunity to send the person a note to say sorry for missing them and how you’d love to speak to them about ‘XYZ’.  Don’t make it pitchy, short and sweet is far more effective. If you have an established product, you could personalise a ‘Swag Bomb’ to send or if you provide a service or aren’t yet established, try sending flowers (or some kind of alcohol or food to the boys) with a really brief note to get on their radar. Ensure that you include your contact information or at least your website URL if they aren’t aware of you personally. We always recommend both because inevitably if you do use a floristry service or the like, they’ll leave off something important so ensuring you’ve added some kind of contact info throughout the note, is the best way to get a call back. 

You Caught Them at the Event and they Expressed an Interest:

This is known as ‘warm calling’. They know who you are and what you do and they wouldn’t mind knowing more. It’s not yet a sales consult though so steer away from the sales pitch and just focus on making an impression.  The general advice out there is to use the ratio call: email: call but nowadays, you’ll find that most people let their phone go straight to voicemail if they don’t recognise the number, so make sure you’ve rehearsed your call just in case – nothing worse than a rambling voicemail populated with ‘umms’ and ‘ahhs’. Also, keep it short – voicemail is for short and snappy messages, not audio novellas. 

You Missed Your Opening At the Event and They Have No Clue Who You Are:

This is plain old ‘cold calling’. Phone calls aren’t the way, emails will likely be ignored immediately, so we recommend sending a physical item (refer to first point above) rather than an impersonal email or call. You’ll have more of an impact on the person, they’ll have a positive experience of you/ your business before you even meet or chat and they’re more likely to call you.

Whatever you do, focus on making an impression rather than a sales pitch. People HATE being sold to. Even if they’re interested in the product or service, as soon as you get your sales voice out, they’ll tune out. Make an impression- show them who you are as a person, what your company stands for, the quality and reputation of your brand and then work on establishing an ongoing relationship. 

Any career is based on reputation and relationship. Even if you’re not in sales per se, you are selling yourself or your brand so it’s imperative that what you’re selling is a high quality product. Work on it. Make an impression.