043 Patty Farmer | Follow Up the RIGHT Way to Build Relationships

Every expert can give you their “opinion” of the critical elements of business success.  The truth is there are many critical elements that every business owner must master to grow and stabilize their business.

Today, we dive into “follow up” with Patty Farmer who has a defined process for re-connecting with people to build a strong network of relationships.  Patty is a master at building deep relationships that eventually pay off.  I just love the part about asking better questions…listen in when Patty talks about her process. Patty has also recently won the SWIBA award for social media influencer of the year for 2014 which means she knows what she is talking about.

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Patty’s Target Audience: Patty’s target market is anyone who is a speaker, author, coach or a service-based entrepreneur. Within that market, her profitable niche is helping these people find a strategy.

Patty Farmer is a business coach, marketing strategist, author and radio host. She has created a thriving business by building a network through powerful, connected relationships. But she does this in a way most other experts don’t, or at least don’t talk about: the follow-up. In today’s world of social media sound bites, Patty stresses the importance of growing those initial connections to strong, thriving relationships and eventually, conversions.

In this episode, Patty shares with us how she’s created her own system to follow up and how she puts that system in place before she attends an event – rather than reacting to an event. And how important it is to know who you serve so you can connect with and then follow up with the appropriate people.

As a strategist, Patty has specific questions she asks when she meets someone. These questions help her qualify whether or not there’s a potential for synergy between her and the other person. But that synergy is much broader than just her business needs, she looks for a synergy that serves anyone she knows in her network.

Patty understands relationships are built on a foundation of service, but doing so takes time. Sometimes when you meet someone the timing isn’t perfect. But rather than burn that bridge because she doesn’t see an immediate fit, Patty connects with them on their preferred social media network and begins to build a relationship. She also files their business card away for future reference (by industry – not name!).

Patty has taken the old way of networking and turned it on its head. She knows it doesn’t serve us any longer and she’s devised her own follow-up system instead. She’s had tremendous success in doing so; she truly understands that by knowing who you serve, you can create and develop relationships that benefit everyone.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• What are the elements of a good strategy?
• Collaboration, conversion or follow up: which is the most important?
• Her business card strategy for following up after an event.
• What’s one of the most critical things you can do in your business according to Patty?
• The importance of knowing how and who you’re doing your follow up with.
• Why asking who you serve is far more important than any other question.
• The importance of quality over quantity.
• Why NOT to follow up with everyone you meet.

Practical & Actionable (at [30:35]):

Patty’s actionable and practical advice is best summarized with a quote: “Strive to be a people connector, not a business card collector.”

Utilize the techniques and strategies discussed in this show to create a follow-up system for the people you meet at events.

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS SESSION INCLUDE:

• Patty’s web site
• Patty on Twitter
• Hope Is Not A Strategy: Rick Page
• Podcast Movement
• Share the LOVE and TWEET about this episode

To give Patty a shout out for being on the show, follow her and send her a message: Patty Farmer. Connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter at @genehammett and let me know what you liked about the episode!

Do you have questions about today’s episode!?!

Did you know that you can apply to chat with me by phone? This is a limited time offer to help anyone that is serious about refining their business as well as developing a clear & compelling strategy that will drive them forward. Complete the questions and our team will follow up with you to schedule time for your “Business Breakthrough Session”. These are limited to 30 minutes, completely free and oh, so valuable.  Apply Now!

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