Welcome to Daily Confidence for Entrepreneurs Show Episode 19.
Join my friend Debbie Hoffman and me for a conversation and discover How Authentic Follow Up Will Get You More Yeses.
Listen to the podcast here:
KEY POINTS:
How do you boost your confidence?
What are the challenges that entrepreneurs face?
Why are referrals important to a thriving business and why people are not asking for it consistently?
What is the most common limiting belief that that’s stopping people from following up?
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:
5:52 – When you’re more prepared, you become more confident. When you’re more confident, you put out an energy that becomes magnetic.
10:52 – A great way to prepare for a networking event is to know what you’re going to say when people ask what you do so that you don’t go on and on.
31:33 – Preparation, systems, limiting beliefs, and referrals. These are four key areas that I want to see where people gauge how they’re rating themselves in those areas.
35:45 – You want to follow up within 24 to 48 hours after meeting them while you’re still top of mind because if not, they will forget.
49:57 – If you’re not following up, you’re not going to be able to make the impact you’re here to make.
TRANSCRIPTS:
Mostafa Hosseini 0:02
Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening, wherever you are in the world. My name is Mostafa Hosseini. I’m your host for Daily Confidence for Entrepreneurs. We aim to share tips and actionable advice that you could use daily to run your business and boost your confidence. Today, I have an amazing guest and an amazing topic, which is one of my favorites. Welcome, Debbie.
Debbie Hoffman 0:31
Thank you so much. It’s great to be here.
Mostafa Hosseini 0:35
Debbie is a heart-centered entrepreneur. What we’re going to talk about today is crucial and essential for business. We are going to be sharing gifts later today.
You can qualify for the gift or can enter the draw if you, like, subscribe, comment, tag a friend who could benefit from the conversation, and post questions while we’re talking about this amazing topic about retention which I’m going to share here in a minute, then your name will enter the draw for the gifts that we’re going to be giving away.
One thing that we do is to have a checklist called the Confidence 52! Checklist. There are 52 items that you could pick and choose from to boost your confidence instantly. I’m going to post a link here in the chat box, grab your PDF in this checklist. There are 52 of them. If you don’t like one or two, there are another 50 to pick and choose from.
This list is the result of me working on my confidence over the past 20 years. There are lots to explore and do. If you do one per week, it will take you a whole year to go through it so there are lots of picks and choices. The link for those who are listening is dailyconfidence.show/resources. You can download the checklist from there.
Now we’re talking about how authentic follow-up will get you more yeses and how to become more confident with follow-up and getting yeses. Let me introduce my guest. This is an absolute favorite topic of mine so we’re going to dive right into it.
So many entrepreneurs struggle to generate consistent sales because they don’t have a reliable follow-up system in place. They spent so much time, energy and money, creating the perfect website development programs, packages, and Facebook ads, but they’re not following up effectively.
Debbie Hoffman, founder of Power-Up! Your Follow-Up will introduce you to her heart-centered approach to building your business by focusing on relationships, creating value, and serving the needs of potential clients and referral partners. She understands what it takes to get more yeses without being salesy. Welcome, Debbie.
Debbie Hoffman 3:06
Thank you so much. That sounded good. Who wrote that?
Mostafa Hosseini 3:11
I wonder who wrote it? Let’s dive right into it, Debbie. What is your story?
Debbie Hoffman 3:21
I have a very interesting story and worked on wall street for 20 years, I was super successful there. It was me and the guys but finally, I was a mom and I wanted to be home with my family. I quit and left a very high six-figure income. My friends thought I was crazy and my family, but we thought we were going to be fine.
Then the real estate market crashed and my husband was a high-end custom home builder. When the market crashed, we lost everything, Mostafa. We lost the house, filed for bankruptcy. I was depressed, a wreck, and it was the worst time of my life ever. What saved me was finding a mentor.
I’ll never forget that moment when I reached out to this coach and knew she could help me. I said yes, and it made all the difference in the world. The other thing that made a huge difference for me was that I had a follow-up system that I had created during my Wall Street days. I just tapped right back into it to rebuild my network marketing business.
Also, that’s when I started my coaching business and I went from zero to six figures in 14 months without brand new business. I truly believe that when you have a follow-up plan in place, no matter what happens to you in your life, you can always rebuild.
It has happened for me and for clients I’ve worked with. The reason I’m here and so passionate about follow-up and teaching people sales are because I came this close to accepting a job and going back to work for a wall street company.
Fortunately, the universe said no, but at the time, I was devastated. Looking back now, obviously, it was the most perfect thing that could have happened. I want to help entrepreneurs pursue their dreams and make the impact they’re here to make and never have to choose between their happiness and money. That’s why I do what I do.
People don’t know these skills. They don’t have these skills naturally and need to learn them. Once you learn them, it’s super easy but most people have not been taught sales skills and follow-up skills. It’s just my genius. It’s just what I do in my sleep and I love to help others to do the same.
Mostafa Hosseini 5:34
I love it.
When it comes to confidence, do you have any routines or things that you do to maintain your confidence when you’re not feeling so good?
How do you go about that?
Debbie Hoffman 5:51
I have the inner game part and then I have the practical part so I’ll share about both. My daily practice in the morning, where I meditate, journal, and read a very spiritual book.
First, I write down what I’m grateful for because gratitude creates the highest vibration in the body, all those endorphins kick in.
I also create my dream day, what I want my day to look like as if it’s the end of the day. I’m looking back and just kind of reporting on what happened. That gives me so much confidence because I have something to put out to the universe.
I just live it and as I’m writing this stuff down, it makes me smile because it’s all really good stuff that boosts my confidence every morning. Practically, what I do and I teach this to my clients is to be prepared before you do any meeting, talk, interview, and invitation, anything.
My clients are telling me this too when you’re more prepared, you become more confident. When you’re more confident, you put out an energy that becomes magnetic. I always prepare before anything that I’m going to do so that I’ve got it and it’s in every cell of my body.
Then, I can just come across authentically and have fun doing and not have to worry about what I’m going to say or do because I’ve already planned for it. I’ve already prepared for it. So, inner game, outer game.
Mostafa Hosseini 7:19
You write down your gratitude journal, plan out your day and what you want it to look like. I love it and do a similar thing. I think I do a gratitude journal and go through my day, but I do it in the evening before I go to bed. Just review my day then plan out what I’m going to focus on the next day, which is really good stuff and very effective.
Debbie Hoffman 7:48
Yes, for sure.
Mostafa Hosseini 7:50
What inspired you to start your business?
How did you get into this business?
Why just retention and follow-ups?
Debbie Hoffman 8:01
It’s a really interesting story and I didn’t wake up one day and go on an amazing follow-up. I need to teach people this. The way it happened was that I was a vendor at a women’s conference when I was representing my health and wellness products. A woman asked me to follow up with her because she wasn’t ready to make a decision.
I did that for 14 months. Not easy to do to keep up with somebody that long but finally, she said yes, and became a client. She left me a message one day and said, Debbie, you need to teach me your follow-up system. You’re amazing at it, I suck at it, we need to talk. I had no idea what she was talking about.
We got on the phone and she said, nobody follows up with me the way you do. You have a gift. People struggle with this. You need to do something with this. I said to her, what are you talking about?
Mostafa, I still didn’t get it and I was clueless that I was doing anything different or special. I was clueless if people were struggling with this. I’m so grateful to her because, with her inspiration and encouragement, I launched this business. It was just not something I was looking for.
As I said, I didn’t wake up one day and say, I’m amazing at this. But I truly believe we all have a gift. We all have that thing that we just do naturally that we take for granted. Sometimes we need somebody outside of ourselves to point it out to us.
I’m so grateful that she did that for me because now I’ve been able to help hundreds and hundreds of entrepreneurs improve their follow-up and make their dreams come true. Really.
Mostafa Hosseini 9:33
Fantastic. You are good at follow-up and very consistent.
Debbie Hoffman 9:39
Thank you. I got to walk my talk, right?
I write down what I'm grateful for because gratitude creates the highest vibration in the body and boosts my confidence.
Mostafa Hosseini 9:43
Yes. That’s important, walk the talk.
What are some of the challenges that entrepreneurs face the most?
Debbie Hoffman 9:56
Okay, there are a lot of challenges, but I’ve come up with Four Key Challenges that I see most entrepreneurs deal with.
- One is, preparation, like I was just talking about, they don’t prepare for stuff. They just wing it like networking events, they just show up, they host people down when they’re asked what they do because they just haven’t prepared.
- The second is, they’re disorganized. They don’t have a system in place and feel very scattered.
- The third is that I hear this all the time, they don’t want to follow up because they’re afraid of being salesy or pushy. Lots of limiting beliefs, fears, and stories come up that stop people.
- The fourth challenge that people have is that they’re not consistently asking for referrals. They’re sitting on a goldmine.
Those are the four key areas that I see people struggle with the most.
Mostafa Hosseini 10:52
When it comes to preparation, what are you referring to?
What do we need to be prepared with?
Debbie Hoffman 10:57
Before anything that you do, any meeting you’re going to have with a potential client, with a JV partner, any offer you’re going to make, networking event you’re going to go to, you want to prepare in advance like what you’re going to say.
One of the areas I focus on a lot in networking because I’ve been hosting these networking events. A great way to prepare for a networking event is, what are you going to say when people ask what you do so that you don’t go on and on.
It’s such an epidemic out there, that people just host folks down with too much information. So, that’s a good example. Just get clear on what you’re going to say.
Then what questions you’re going to ask people to get curious and, and learn about them. Preparation is such an integral part of my system like it shows up throughout the entire sales process. It’s like we don’t want to be winging it, we want to be prepared with what we’re going to do and say at every step of the process so that we do show up more confidently as I mentioned earlier.
Mostafa Hosseini 11:56
Absolutely. I agree with that. One thing that I always try and talk about is sending your intention on what you want out of this meeting or out of this networking event.
What do you want out of it? Like you said, prepping the questions and the what-ifs? What if they say yes, what if they say no, and if you’re not prepared, that’s I think how most people blow up their chances or opportunities.
Speaking of which, I’m reading a book on negotiation called Never Split the Difference. He talks about prepping, listing all of the objections, and anything that may come up and you have to be ready for. I love that, getting ready.
Debbie Hoffman 12:44
You know, I’m smiling ear to ear for two things. One is when you talked about Setting Intention because I just had my networking event and I always talk about setting an intention. I asked people, what’s your intention for today? You want to put it out into the universe. The law of attraction like you put out your intention that comes right back to you.
Another thing that’s so amazing, and this was not planned, everybody. This is just so cool how things work out this way when you mentioned being prepared with what if they say yes, what if they say no?
So I helped my clients put together what I call the Objections Library. It’s a list of all the concerns that you hear over and over again. Then you write down how you’re going to respond.
When a concern comes up, you’re ready. You don’t get flustered and your energy doesn’t shift because people will detect that if your energy shifts you get flustered and you don’t know how to respond. They’re going to notice it and you lose some credibility, trust, or just something changes there. It’s just kind of funny that you said that.
Mostafa Hosseini 13:44
When you’re clear on your intention, getting it is a lot easier. Whenever I attend a networking event, like a JV event or any type of event, once I’m clear on how many people I want to have, by the time I walk out, every single time I have superseded my intention and my goal.
Here’s a good example of a bad intention. I want this to be a successful event. What is success? How do you define success to quantify your intentions to make it work?
Debbie Hoffman 14:27
One thing I want to add to that too, is we want to set an intention, but let go of the attachment to the outcome. Let go of the attachment to the results because if you have an attachment to that, again, the energy shifts.
People will feel that desperation or that energy that you’re trying to get them to do something. You put out the intention into the universe and then let go of the results. Then you can be just freer to show up authentically as who you are.
Mostafa Hosseini 14:57
Absolutely.
What are some of the limiting beliefs when it comes to follow-ups?
Debbie Hoffman 15:04
The thing I hear the most is that people equate sales and follow-up with having to be pushy or salesy, and they don’t want to be that way. Then they don’t follow up and they don’t invite people to work with them. It’s just a story that people have made up.
Again, if they don’t have the skills and the tools, they might feel that way. What I work with my clients on is to have a mindset shift around follow-up. Let’s say, when you followed up with someone, you were letting them know that you were showing up in service to them and that you cared about them.
Like with letting go of your agenda, letting go of your attachment to the results, that would create a very different experience of following up. There is a way to follow up that feels compelling and you’re building a connection, versus being salesy and repelling. It’s a mindset shift around it.
Every time I call people, they thank me for following up because very few people are following up. They’re saying, “Wow, thank you so much.” They feel I care about them because I’m showing up in service to them.
Mostafa Hosseini 16:12
Something I hear all the time is people say I don’t want to bother my customers. Think of them as your best friend. When you call your best friend, do you bother your best friend? Can you imagine if you don’t call for like two or three months? When he says why you didn’t call, you would say I didn’t want to bother you. Can you say that to your best friend?
We have the same experience. When we call people on our list and our community members, they thank us. They say “Oh, thanks for thinking of me.” and they get surprised that we picked up the phone. We have amazing conversion rates on those calls. You’ll talk about it.
Debbie Hofmann 17:00
Can I share just real briefly here some statistics on this? It will drill down this point even greater than what we’ve just said. Research shows that 48% of entrepreneurs never follow up with a person not even once. That means half the people you’ll meet at an event, you’ll never hear from them.
Also, it takes a minimum of five contacts before the average person will say yes to doing business with you. Experts say it can be 8 to 15. It varies with five minimum but here’s the thing, Mostafa, only 8% of us, entrepreneurs are making that fifth contact, which means 92% of us are stopping short of where the business starts to happen.
That’s the whole point, it’s all about the follow-up. The more you follow up with people. I was consistent with you. The more consistent you are, the more that relationships develop, the more trust gets created, the more you learn about each other, and the more likely they are to become a client, a JV partner, or whatever it is that you’re following up with them.
When you first meet somebody, the relationship‘s just getting started. The follow-up is how it’s deepened and nurtured step by step. I hope for those of you who feel salesy or pushy that this will be a game-changer for you just hearing this. If you take nothing else away from our interview today, take that away.
Follow-up shows that you care about people, as long as you let go of your agenda and the outcome. Just show up, serve, and see how you can help them.
You put out the intention into the universe and then let go of the results. Then you can be just freer to show up authentically as who you are.
Mostafa Hosseini 18:32
Can I share one more stat here? 80% of sales happen within 18 months of the first point of contact. As you said, 92% don’t even go to the first week, never mind 18 months. Our job is to stay in touch forever. Until the customer is ready to buy or they know someone ready to buy.
Debbie Hofmann 19:00
Or they’re a clear No. We want to follow up till we get the yes or the no or the referral.
Mostafa Hosseini 19:06
Which even when they say no, we take that as a Call me later.
Debbie Hofmann 19:10
Is that a no or no forever?
Mostafa Hosseini 19:14
Exactly. We may not be having a bad day, anyway.
Debbie Hofmann 19:18
When you mentioned the 80% there’s another stat I forgot to mention that 8% of the people that are making that fifth contact, of course, they’re doing 80% of the business.
So, you will rise above the clutter and above the competition if you consistently follow up with people because when they need what you offer, they’re going to be thinking about you for sure.
The other thing too and this might sound a little strong, but I truly believe this. I believe that we have a moral obligation or responsibility to follow up with people because if they have a problem that we can solve, how dare we not let them know.
It’s up to them to make the decision, but it’s our responsibility to reach out, make that connection, and let them know we can help them. If not, they could still be suffering with whatever it is that we could help them with. That’s how strongly I believe in this.
Mostafa Hosseini 20:15
I’m with you 100%. Even if they say no 10 times, it’s still our responsibility to reach out because we have a solution to their problem.
Debbie Hofmann 20:28
I have a few clients I followed up with for two years and one for four years. She joined my one-year mastery program back in January and she’s saying thank you to me so much for not giving up on her.
Now the timing was perfect. She loves the community, she’s was ready for it. That’s the power of having a system. You can keep track of all these people, so they don’t slip through the cracks.
Mostafa Hosseini 20:50
Absolutely.
When you talk about being organized and having systems in place, what does that look like in your world?
Debbie Hofmann 20:57
That’s a perfect segue from what we were just talking about. When I say Cisco, I talk about systems and I talk about two different kinds of systems. One is the technology where we can keep track of everyone. For people who are just starting out having a CRM, a Customer Relationship Management system is essential.
I mean, everyone needs one and for folks who are doing more sophisticated email marketing. Having an email marketing system is critical. But when you have a system in place like that, it helps you keep track of all the people you’ve spoken to. You can keep the notes in there.
The way I was able to stay in touch with these clients for two to four years was because I had reminders set in the system after I asked them when they would like me to connect with them again, they told me and it would show it up in my system as an alarm.
Write a reminder then call them. I could never have kept track of all that stuff in my head. That’s the first part. The first system is the technology and then there’s the system of what do you do when you call people.
What do you say? How often do you reach out? Are you calling, are you texting, are you emailing them, or are you going on social media? Like how often and what method of communication?
Then that’s where I come in. I work with my clients and create a step-by-step follow-up system for them. So they know what to do and what to say and then they’re more confident. They’ll make the call so that phone won’t feel like a ton anymore.
I love following up with people and I love calling people because I know what I’m going to do and say. I’m showing up in service and having fun doing it. That’s what I mean by having a system.
My clients who are using CRM, all are now once they start working with me, they’re saying that their life is so much easier. They’re staying in touch with their potential clients longer and not giving up so soon. Guess what? More people are saying yes to working with them so it’s critical to have a system in place.
Mostafa Hosseini 22:59
Absolutely.
What are some examples of systems that you use? How do you define a system?
Is it a Checklist, Infusionsoft, or another CRM?
Debbie Hofmann 23:18
There are so many CRMs and email marketing systems out there. it’s not one size fits all. When I sit down with someone, I find out what their needs are, what they’re going to be using it for, and determine whether they just need a simple CRM to keep track of people one at a time, or if they need a more sophisticated email marketing system.
I have a resources tab on my website, where I vetted some CRMs. Some are super easy, very affordable, and some are more complicated. I found some that are fabulous. It’s a long conversation and it just really depends on what people are going to use it for.
Mostafa Hosseini 23:53
Got it.
What’s your favorite CRM? Which one do you use as your favorite?
Debbie Hofmann 23:57
Well, I use Infusionsoft. It’s not my favorite. There’s stuff about it I love and I think their email marketing system is really good, but their CRM isn’t as good.
There is a system I have partnered up with Melissa Blair from Cultivating Sales. On my resources tab, it’s there and it’s a great system. Then Active Campaign is fabulous as an easy, affordable combo of CRM and email marketing systems.
Again, it just depends on what people need, and what functionality they’re looking for but at powerupyourfollowup.com/resources, I’ve got them all there.
Mostafa Hosseini 24:40
Fantastic. Debbie, later if you could share the link to that resources tab on your website in the comments here. That would be great.
Why are referrals important to creating a thriving business and why don’t people ask for them consistently?
Debbie Hofmann 25:00
I’ll share some statistics to answer this question because it’s really, again powerful. Forty-five percent of people who are looking for a service-related business come from the recommendations of others and 45% come from referrals.
Research shows that again, it’s different with every industry. One out of 20 people on average will say yes to working with you but when that person is referred to you, it’s one out of six. Your chances of someone saying yes to working with you, when they’re referred to you, improves by 300%.
We’re sitting on a goldmine. To listeners out there, if you’re not asking consistently for referrals from your clients, you’re leaving so much money on the table. The reason why I hear is that I asked all the time.
When I used to speak live in person, I would always ask people to raise their hands if they consistently asked every client for referrals and hardly anyone’s hand ever goes up, maybe one. I asked, why aren’t you and these are the things that come up.
They say, I feel like I’m coming across as too desperate, if I asked for a referral, or I don’t want to be pushy or salesy, I’ve already gotten them to become a client. Now I’m asking them to refer people to me? I don’t want to bother them.
Like you said earlier, those are the three key things I hear. I’ll tell you, your clients love to give you referrals. Again, mindset shift around this, if you provide a great service to your clients or a great product, and they’ve gotten wonderful results, it makes them feel so good to be able to refer you to someone else who also will benefit from the product or service that you offer.
We just need to ask and need to know when to ask, how to ask, how to train them, how to give us the referral, and how to train them what we want them to say on our behalf. I have a whole referral strategy, system, and templates. Everything to make it easy for people to refer folks to us.
It’s so much easier, like everyone’s going out networking, or doing ads, or doing cold calls, or doing all this stuff. All they need to do is talk to their clients and ask them for referrals but you have to be clear on who you’re looking for too and articulate who your ideal client is.
Mostafa Hosseini 27:27
Debbie, you’re speaking my language. I feel like this conversation could last for a whole day.
Debbie Hofmann 27:31
I know I love talking about this stuff.
All you need to do is talk to your clients and ask them for referrals but you have to be clear on who you're looking for and articulate who your ideal client is.
Mostafa Hosseini 27:34
What I say when we talk about this here is, even Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive.” He didn’t say stay quiet and you shall receive. Also he didn’t say appear independent, and you shall receive, he said, “Ask and you shall receive.”
Debbie Hofmann 27:52
He didn’t say do it alone.
Mostafa Hosseini 27:55
You should ask and I agree with you 100% on being clear on exactly who you should ask for because if you tell your customers, I’m looking for entrepreneurs, they’re going to send you everybody and anybody.
Debbie Hofmann 28:12
They won’t come up with anybody either or come up with anybody.
Mostafa Hosseini 28:16
Everybody’s an entrepreneur. They wake up one day, and they feel entrepreneurish. Then they’re like, “Oh, I’m an entrepreneur.” If I’m looking for a four-year-old accountant in the state of California, who do you know that might fit that bill, then you’re a lot more likely to get that is qualified.
The other thing that people should pay attention to is, with your existing customers, the credibility, the trust, and all that is established already. They know, like, and trust you and so they would open up the door to their network. It’s like an untapped vault of cash that you just have to open. You have to pick up the phone and ask, will you give me some cash and the answer is yes.
Debbie Hofmann 29:08
We are just so in sync with our philosophies. I love it. That’s why we’ve connected because we have so much that we’re in alignment with each other in terms of our philosophy and our strategies.
You remember those old Rolodexes, where we used to keep track of people’s information on the little Rolodex thing. My analogy is we all have a Rolodex in our head and the more specific someone is when they’re asking for referrals, the easier it will be for us to go through our brand and go, “Oh, I know somebody.”
If you say who can you refer to me or I’m looking for entrepreneurs, they’re not going to think of anyone and you’re not going to get referrals. We have to be very clear on who we’re looking for. The clearer we are, the easier it will be for people to refer to us and we’ll get more referrals. So that’s just the way it works.
Mostafa Hosseini 30:02
I’ve been in the marketing world for over 10 years helping people with God knows how many different areas of marketing and what not. By far, the first thing that I go to if I’m helping someone to boost their sales and get off the ground is retention in the stuff that we’re talking about.
Gang, if you’re listening and watching now or later, this is a crucial topic about getting your sales up to speed and getting your profits up and running. This whole thing is much more profitable compared to new lead generation about six to 10 times and this stuff that we were talking about is very important.
If you’re joining us later, my guest, Debbie Hoffman, and I are talking about follow-up and client retention and how amazing that is. You can enter the draw for the prize that we’re going to be sharing later, like, share a comment, or ask a question, as we’re going through this, then you will enter the draw.
Debbie, I understand that you have a quiz where people go through and get an understanding of how good they are doing with their follow-up. I’m going to share the link here.
For those of you who are watching or listening later, you could go to its powerupbizquiz.com where you could go in and do an assessment. Tell us about this quiz. What’s happening there?
Debbie Hofmann 31:33
It’s so awesome. In less than 10 minutes, you’re going to get clear on where potential clients and income are slipping through the cracks. Everyone who I speak to who’s taken this quiz says, “Oh, my God, this was such an eye-opener for me, I had no idea. These things weren’t even on my radar screen.”
The four categories that I’m asking questions about, to assess your skills, are the same as what I share today about preparation, systems, limiting beliefs, and referrals. These are four key areas that I want to see where people gauge how they’re rating themselves in those areas.
There’s a method to my madness. It’s an eye-opener, and you’ll get to see where you’re doing well with your follow-up and congratulations on that. Then you’ll also see what areas you need to focus on to start generating more consistent sales results.
Mostafa Hosseini 32:31
If you score poorly, you’re with 98% of entrepreneurs on that. In my experience, 98% of business owners that I talked to do nothing with follow-up, they just don’t want your customers. I call that dead. You watch Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer? Anyway, Cesar Millan is a dog whisperer. He fixes misbehaving dogs and has this analogy that he says if you are going in and walking in on a misbehaving dog, first you have to go no talk, no touch, no eye contact. Those are what I see most business owners do with their customers. No talk. No eye-contact. It’s as if they’re trying to correct their customers. Are they misbehaving?
Debbie Hofmann 33:24
You’re hilarious. That is so good. All system to that, I share with my clients about following up with clients, people who’ve worked with you, but just like what you said, they’re not doing it. When you do that, you find out how they’re doing.
You find out what kind of results they got, and you find out language that you can use in your marketing. When you’re talking to potential clients, you can get referrals and testimonials. There are so many benefits that come from that follow-up but most people are not following up and they might be ready to work with you again. People aren’t doing it.
Mostafa Hosseini 34:09
What is one system or tool that people that are watching or listening should implement or use right away right after they get off this call to prepare for the follow-ups and get right into this, get into action?
Debbie Hofmann 34:25
Okay. Why is this such a simple thing to do? But people are not doing it. Whenever you schedule an event that you’re going to attend, or workshop, a seminar, a networking event, like any event where you’re going to meet people, you’re putting it in your calendar, and you’re blocking off the time. Immediately block off time in the next several days to follow up with these people.
People are not doing it, and I’m asking them why they are going from event to event and not following up? They say, “I don’t have time.” It’s because they fill their calendar with other stuff so you’ve got to block it off. Follow-up time.
It’s an appointment with yourself, and you don’t cancel an appointment with yourself. Treat it as seriously as an appointment with a potential client.
You’re not going to be texting, you’re not going to be receiving emails and checking emails during that time, you’re just going to be making your calls. If you treat that as seriously as you treat a client call or a potential client call, you’ll get it done, but people are not doing it. Just do it right away.
The longer the event, like a three-day event, you want to set aside time for the next week or two. If it’s a one or two-hour event, just maybe the next couple of days, just short blocks of time. The longer the event, the more time you want to schedule for more days.
Mostafa Hosseini 35:45
You don’t want to wait so long that they don’t remember you anymore.
Debbie Hofmann
Right. You want to follow up within 24 to 48 hours after meeting them while you’re still top of mind because if not, they will forget. Now if it’s an event when we get back into going to events live that people have to fly to, I recommend waiting. People need to get back into their life, their families, and their routines. You don’t want to call right away, you wait two or three days.
Mostafa Hosseini 36:15
I love what you’re talking about. When you call and follow up with people from networking events, you’re going to be surprised how many people will say thank you for calling me. Again, 90 or 80% of the people from the networking event will not follow up so you’re going to stand out and be different.
Debbie Hofmann 36:37
Yes. As I said, you are going to rise above the clutter because they’re not doing it. Most people are not doing it. It’s such a waste of time, effort, energy, and resources to show up at these events and then not follow up. Better just not to follow up at all or stop going to these events until you’ve followed up with all the people that you’ve already met. Why keep going if you have this backlog of people who you’ve never called?
Treat a follow up call as seriously as an appointment with a potential client. Since other people are not doing it, you will rise above the rest.
Mostafa Hosseini 37:05
Can I share some stats? 80% of the action happens after the event and 80% of people don’t do any follow up so they don’t see the results. Then they wonder why the networking event didn’t work.
Debbie Hofmann 37:26
They say that all the time, networks will not work.
Mostafa Hosseini 37:29
I went there and nobody called me or nobody wanted to give me cash at the event. Will you give me your credit card?
Debbie Hofmann 37:37
Who gets married on the first date? Very rarely does that happen?
Mostafa Hosseini 37:43
I love what we’re talking about here. You have given us some golden nuggets that we could use today. I was at a three-day summit last week, which I should get on and follow up with a few. But I should be more consistent with that myself as well. I understand that you got a gift to share with our community?
Debbie Hofmann 38:18
I am so excited about this, I put together a gift and it’s called Three Key Scripts to Power Up Yo Sales (Without being Salesy!). Again, people are more confident when they know what to say so I picked three scenarios.
Mostafa Hosseini 38:41
When I was posting a comment, I’m going to fix it in my next comment. Go ahead. Sorry.
Debbie Hofmann 38:45
No worries. I chose three scenarios that we as entrepreneurs deal with all the time.
- One is, you found a business card from somebody you met a long time ago, and you’re about to throw out that card. I always say don’t ever throw out a card. That’s like putting a dagger in my heart. You never want to throw out a card but people think it’s been too long, it’s not going to look right that I call them. I have a script of what to say to this person who you don’t even remember where you met possibly. That’s number one.
- Number two is, you’ve had a conversation with someone in discovery session, enrollment conversation, whatever you call it, and they weren’t ready to say yes. Then you follow up with them and they’ve gone MIA. What do you say to get them back into your world? That’s something we all deal with all the time. People go MIA.
- Then the third is, if you meet someone who could be a JV partner for you or a power partner for you, what do you say when you call them? How do you make sure that what you say is all about collaboration and not about selling to each other?
I’ve got these three scripts and I have not released scripts outside of my programs before so I’m excited about this. Then I’m super excited, this is a special bonus gift to add to the three scripts. I host bi-weekly networking events twice a month where I’m bringing heart-centered entrepreneurs from all over the world to connect, collaborate and support each other.
People are loving it. Everyone’s just saying, “Oh my God, the people here are so amazing.” I’m going to give you six networking events that you can come as my guest for free for the next three months. Two events a month in the next three months.
Mostafa Hosseini 40:33
What is the value of those tickets that you’re giving away?
Debbie Hofmann 40:37
People pay $19 to come to an event so it’s $114 I think for the six events.
Mostafa Hosseini 40:43
So, that’s the price but what’s the value of that event?
Debbie Hofmann 40:47
The value of the event is priceless.
Mostafa Hosseini 40:50
I mean, if you get one partner, it will be a few $1,000 easily.
Debbie Hofmann 40:57
Right or one new client. Just think of what an average client brings in for you and that’s the value of the event. I love that.
Mostafa Hosseini 41:06
Love it. That’s absolutely valuable and very generous. Gang, if you’re watching or listening, go to dailyconfidence.show/gifts, opt-in, and receive these very, very valuable gifts.
She gave us seven gifts, six tickets to get to her event, and her scripts on reactivating a lost contact. That is priceless. I am going to go get that script. I’m looking at a stack of business cards on my desk right now that I could use this script to call those people and say, “Hi!.”
I don’t know what the script says but I’m looking forward to it. Let’s say I have 100 business cards sitting in my car. If one of those people turns into a customer or to a solid referral, that could easily be five or six figures for me, if not more.
People overlook this very easily. Get this scrapped, show up to her events. She’s giving you all the tools that you need to make a successful business. Thank you. I love what you’re doing here.
Debbie Hofmann 42:25
You’re so Debbie Hofmann welcome. Also, for some reason, I can’t put in a comment so I can’t put in the link to the Resources tab for people who are looking for systems. Could you put that in for me? I don’t know why. It’s just not giving me the place to type it in.
Mostafa Hosseini 42:40
Give me one second. Let me see if I can find a way.
Debbie Hofmann 42:43
Maybe if I’m a co-host or something. I’m not sure but I can give it to you too If you want.
Mostafa Hosseini 42:47
If you could put it into a private chat. I could probably copy-paste it.
Debbie Hofmann 42:52
Okay, that I can do. Wonderful.
Mostafa Hosseini 42:54
Love it. Debbie, what do you do for fun?
Debbie Hofmann 42:59
I love to hike. Be out in nature, bike and be at the beach. I just love to be in nature that warms my soul, it fills my heart and spirit so I love doing that. I’m a really good cook. I don’t consider myself a very creative person but that’s the way I express my creativity.
Those are the things I love to do and I love being with family. It’s been hard now because I’ve got seven grand kids, and I haven’t been able to see them in a long time.
Mostafa Hosseini 43:48
Do you have grandkids?
Debbie Hofmann 43:50
I do. They’re my step kid’s children. They’re my grandchildren. My husband’s older than I am that’s why he had a head start on me creating these kids.
Mostafa Hosseini 44:09
I posted a link to Debbie’s website with the resources. What were the resources that you had listed?
Debbie Hofmann 44:18
CRM, email marketing systems, all sorts of things. I’m expanding it now to include inner personal services and I’m in the process of doing that. There’s a lot of services that are going to be up there but there’s a lot there now already. Anything you need for your business will be up there.
Mostafa Hosseini 44:35
Got it. What are the top two or three books that you recommend to people all the time?
Debbie Hofmann 44:43
Think and Grow Rich, is a really good one by Napoleon Hill. Then what’s the Wallace Wattles book? What’s the name of that book? It’s so good. I can’t remember the name right now but it’s a really good book.
On the spiritual side, one of the books that I mentioned I read every morning, it’s a spiritual practice called Everyday Holiness. It’s a game-changer. Doesn’t matter what religion you are, it’s based on ancient Jewish philosophy, but it has nothing to do with religion.
It’s all about being aware of how you’re showing up in the world every day. Focusing on these different soul traits like patience, trust, and generosity. It’s been a game-changer for me in my life and I recommend that to everybody. I just think everybody could benefit from having more of an awareness of how they’re showing up in the world.
Mostafa Hosseini 45:41
Fantastic. I think my internet was fluctuating for a few seconds and lost your sound there for a second. Could you just read and repeat the names of the books that you just mentioned, please?
Debbie Hofmann 45:59
Yes. The first one is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Wallace Wattles. I can’t remember the name of it. Just put in Wallace Wattles, it’s amazing. Then Everyday Holiness.
Mostafa Hosseini 46:13
Was that Science of Getting Rich?
Debbie Hofmann 46:16
Yes. The Science of Getting Rich. Thank you. I love both of those books. The Inner game, Everyday Holiness, is all about being aware of how you’re showing up in the world, and all these different soul traits. We all have these different traits. We’re always being tested, just being more aware of how we’re showing up, and having an awareness of going through our day more as the observer in our life, rather than being on autopilot. Being kind of robotic.
It’s been a game-changer for me in my life. Now, for me, it’s all about surrender, trust, and faith. Having faith, trusting exactly what’s happening is what’s supposed to happen. Just surrender to the whole process so that’s all come out of this daily practice. I read this book every morning.
Mostafa Hosseini 47:04
I love it. What was the name of the book again?
Debbie Hofmann 47:07
Everyday Holiness. As I said, it’s an ancient Jewish spiritual practice, but it’s not religious. I have friends of all different faiths, who are benefiting greatly from it. It has nothing to do with religion.
It's up to them to make the decision, but it's our responsibility to reach out, make that follow up call, and let them know we can help them.
Mostafa Hosseini 47:26
Got it. Thank you for sharing those books. I’ve read the first two but I haven’t read the last one. I’ll put it in a long-to-read list. Probably a few years’ worth of reading.
If you had a Facebook ad, that the few billion people that are on Facebook around the planet could see, what would your message be?
Debbie Hofmann 48:02
Are you bleeped out there? If I could create a Facebook ad with a message
Mostafa Hosseini 48:06
That everyone could see what your message would be?
Debbie Hoffman 48:10
To always be authentic and come from your heart. That’s what I’m all about and that’s what this world needs right now. To come up, show up, serve, and share from the heart.
Every day, think of one thing you can do to make a difference in someone’s life. Just have a daily practice to think about what I can do to help somebody today, and the world would be a much better place if we were all doing that.
Mostafa Hosseini 48:48
Love it. Authenticity. That is amazing. Gang, if you are joining us later, Debbie’s gift was six tickets to her event and she’s sharing her scripts that she usually shares with her students in her program on how to reactivate lost contacts or people that probably don’t remember you anymore. Getting in there and reactivating those contacts on your list could be very profitable.
I had to hold back on sharing because this is a favorite topic of mine since I was like a little kid that I wanted to talk to. Feels like we could go on forever. Is there anything that you would like to mention that you haven’t yet?
Debbie Hoffman 49:47
Well, I’ll expand upon something I said before and that is, you all have a gift. You all have a message that you want to get out in the world and my mission is to help you share those gifts, get your message out so that you can make the impact that you’re here to make.
If you’re not following up, you’re not going to be able to make the impact you’re here to make. Reach out to me if this resonates with you, we can have a conversation. This is key, and you could have everything else in place.
If the follow-up system isn’t in place for you, it’s just not going to maximize the benefit of all the other wonderful things you’re putting in place with your website, your programs, all the social media, and everything that you’re doing.
Don’t neglect this piece. I hope it’s on your radar screen now if it wasn’t before. Reach out to somebody, if it’s me, great. If it’s someone else, fabulous. Just get support to help you to create your system.
Mostafa Hosseini 50:50
Yes. I appreciate that. Now, one more thing that popped in my mind concerning confidence, is the fact that talking to an existing customer is a lot easier than talking to someone that doesn’t know you.
We all have to a certain extent, that fear of rejection. Talking to someone brand new is like you’re going to have to build up a lot of confidence to get there while talking to someone that already knows you, trying your services, and going through that entire process to sign up for your services is so much easier. You’ll be confident in that conversation so fast.
I can’t say enough about how amazing her program and what she’s working on is, and how the results are a lot faster almost immediately. Like in our experience, every single time that we call the list, we have a 20 to 30% conversion rate. Out of every 10 calls that we make, two or three of them turn into something either more business and upsell or a referral.
I’m going to be blunt about it. You’d be naive, not to take her up on her offer, and to not call your customers because it’s leaving money on the table. Anyway, I’ll let you follow up on that.
Debbie, this has been a great conversation. We connect on so many levels that I feel we could sit down and talk over a weekend and still have more to talk about different things. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, your wisdom and your precious gifts. I look forward to chatting again.
Debbie Hoffman 52:41
Me too. Thank you so much for having me. This was super fun. I just love being with you today. You’re a kindred spirit, for sure.
Mostafa Hosseini 52:49
Absolutely. Amazing. Thank you. I appreciate that. For those of you that are watching or listening, one way that we help our people or customers and people that follow us to boost their confidence is by developing their One-Page Marketing Plan, simplifying everything, and making things simple. I do that through our course called Simple Marketing Formula. I’m going to leave the link in the comments below.
The next one that we’re going to run is going to be on October 23rd. It’s going to be a three-day format so that you get to create and implement your one-page marketing plan in three days or less. This is a live workshop. It is valued at well over $2,000 and you’re getting it complimentary. Get the link.
Join us and a group of other serious committed heart-centered entrepreneurs and work on building your business, simplifying everything so you can hopefully see results for your business.
For those of you who are watching or listening, if you like, subscribe, comment, tag a friend, join our Facebook group, and like our Facebook page for the show, your name gets entered into the system or into the draw for gifts that we’re going to be giving away later.
Also, if you rate our podcast, write a review, or ask a question as a comment on the podcast on Apple, on Google, and on Spotify, that also qualifies you for the gifts that we’re going to be giving away.
Thank you for joining us at Daily Confidence for Entrepreneurs. My name is Mostafa Hosseini, your host and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Have a great day. Bye now.
Debbie Hoffman 54:30
Bye, everybody.
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:
- 3 Key Scripts To Power-Up Your Sales (Without Being Salesy!) – Gift from Debbie Hoffman
- Powerupbizquiz – Gift from Debbie Hoffman
- Cultivating Sales with Melissa Blair – Resource from Debbie Hoffman
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles
- Everyday Holiness by Alan Morinis
- Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
- Confidence 52! Checklist
- Simple Marketing Formula
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