David A. Fields Consulting Group The Art of Reconnecting… Or, Is It Time to Walk Away? [Consulting Firm Success Practice]
You can easily master a valuable technique that will improve your consulting firm’s new business pipeline. However, the article also requires your participation.
You’re willing to play along? Great, let’s dive in!
The 1:1:1 message is incredibly effective for warming up cool connections and fanning life into almost-dead relationships.*
(If you’re not familiar with the 1:1:1 message, please briefly scan this article.)
Plus, because 1:1:1 messages are so easy to write, once you become adept at them, you can fire off 10-15 of them quickly. In a short amount of time you can feel darn good about your outreach efforts for the week.
But, perhaps it’s not as easy peasy as chocolate squeezy.
Let’s say Skip Doff hired your consulting firm a number of years ago. Even though you delivered a successful consulting project, after the engagement ended, your ongoing outreach to Skip was spotty, especially during busy times for your firm.
Now it’s been years since you’ve had any sort of conversation with Skip, so you send Skip the following 1:1:1 message on LinkedIn:
Hi Skip.
It’s been waaaay too long since we’ve connected. You got promoted to CMO?! Congratulations! That’s a big jump in responsibility. Do you like the role?
Lo and behold, Skip responds. 1:1:1 works! (No surprise. The 1:1:1 format rocks.)
Thanks for reaching out. I became CMO in May when Brian left. Yes, I love the position. Take care.
Dang, that response was pretty tepid! ☹️
What’s your next step?
Remember I told you participation was required in this article? Now’s the time.
Before you continue reading, please post in the comments whether you would send a response to Skip or not. If yes, what would the gist of your follow-up message be? If not, why not?
Thanks for adding your thoughts to the discussion!
Many consultants have no idea how to follow-up effectively to lukewarm or unenthusiastic responses and, therefore, would let the conversation with Skip lapse.
That’s a missed opportunity.
Skip replied. He engaged with you. That’s a win! Build on that success with a best-practice follow-up message.
FIVE GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE 1:1:1 FOLLOW-UP MESSAGES
Guideline #1: Stay Right-Side Up.
Even though you desperately want to talk about yourself, your consulting firm, how you could help Skip, your ideas for a new consulting project, and the old pudding in your fridge, now is not the time. Your goal is relationship nurturing, not selling.
Guideline #2: Keep it short, and don’t push.
You’re easing Skip into a conversation the same way you coax a reluctant diner to try the broccoli sauteed in garlic—starting with just a nibble.
Guideline #3: Be excited and enthusiastic.
The passion and energy you inject into the conversation can’t be ignored. No one really wants to show up as a dour Eeyore in the face of a cheerful Tigger.
Guideline #4: Move toward a conversation.
Remember the purpose of your outreach is to create engagement and, if at all possible, a conversation. After Skip is engaged, ask him to join you in a conversation about him. (Not a selling conversation.)
Guideline #5: Tap into a topic likely to interest them.
Skip is most likely to jump onto a call to talk about a subject close to his heart.
With the five guidelines in mind, it’s easy to develop at least two best-practice responses to Skip that will move you toward a conversation and perhaps even a consulting engagement.
Response 1:
Wow, Skip, I didn’t realize you became CMO in May. You rock! Does that mean you led the Jump Rope campaign I saw in December?
Response 2:
Wow, Skip, I didn’t realize you became CMO in May. You must have led that eye-catching Jump Rope campaign I saw in December! I’d love to hear how well that worked. Are you open to a quick call later this month?
Both responses require about two minutes of thought or research (egads!) on the part of your or your assistant to ensure you’re hitting Guideline #5—tapping into a topic of interest to your contact.
In this case, it’s easy to find something marketing-related (the Jump Rope campaign) that occurred since Skip assumed his role.
Which response you choose may depend on the strength of your prior relationship with Skip. If it was very strong, the second response may be best. For a weaker relationship, the first, gentler approach may work better.
So, what do you think? Can you incorporate 1:1:1 messages and best-practice responses into your outreach routine?
Text and images are © 2024 David A. Fields, all rights reserved.
Hi, David —
Great topic and l love the interactive challenge you pose to us, your readers.
. . . I would definitely be inclined to respond: Skip has provided me with the opportunity to congratulate him on his new position at the very least. I then might offer to send an article on a new marketing approach I had recently come upon and invite a follow-up conversation about it.
Thanks, David.
Great instincts, Carole. Offering an article in a third or fourth interaction is a nice idea. Congratulating him is right on the mark! Thanks for playing along, Carole!
I would respond to Skip and say, “Again congratulations on the promotion to CMO! That’s really exciting. I’m curious Skip what is your biggest challenge with transitioning roles when someone leaves the company? I would love to talk to you about that if you have 15 minutes sometime within the next two weeks. Looking forward to talking to you soon.
You have outstanding instincts, Shiyterea! I wonder a little bit about the topic you’ve chosen, as it’s not obviously on Skip’s radar; however, let’s assume you did a little bit of digging and you noticed that his company lost a few employees from Skip’s new department. Then, you could say, “I noticed a few senior level people have left the marketing group, and I’m curious how you’ve been transitioning roles. Are you open to a quick conversation to share how you’ve handled it?” One idea to consider, Shiytera is adding a direct ask: “Are you open to a conversation?” That will generally increase the response rate.
I’m so glad you contributed into this conversation, Shiyterea!
Thank you David for your response and insight into this! Having a direct ask is more powerful than being passive and making sure that the topic I introduce into the discussion is relevant to Skip at the moment!
Have a great day David!
We’re all learning, Shiyterea. I appreciate your willingness to share and learn with this community!
OK, I’ll play! I would definitely reply as a) he responded! and b) his response indicates he remembers who I am. I would take that perceived lack of overt enthusiasm as his merely not being ready to engage me at this time, so I would continue to nurture the relationship from here. Now to go back and read the rest of the article and hope I haven’t embarrassed myself lol!
Winner winner, chicken dinner, Iain! Good on you for keeping the conversation alive and for recognizing that his response is a positive sign. Instead of taking his lack of enthusiasm as an indicator of his desire to engage with you (which is about you), you might consider that the tenor of his response is about him–maybe he’s just very busy, or feeling terse for some reason having nothing to do with you.
Well done, Iain. Thanks for joining the fray!
Skip,
Fantastic to hear you’re enjoying the CMO role.
I’d love to hear about your experience so far.
Would you be open to a short call to catch up in March?
– Will
Dang, Will, you’re an A+ consultant! Of course, anyone who knows you knows you’re the very best there is when it comes to interpersonal interactions.
Your response is excellent, and the only tweak to consider is tightening the inquiry about his experience to a narrower topic. We’ve found that people respond better to specifics and that they can sometimes run away from topics that seem too big. “I’d love to hear about your dinner at French Laundry” is easier to respond to than, “I’d love to hear about your fine dining exploits.”
Thanks so much for modeling excellence, Will!
Yes, I would respond and I would ask him something more specific about the role and why he likes it and maybe what’s next for him?
Nicely done, John. Especially the specific question about his role. Asking what’s next may be better for the voice-to-voice conversation. In a message it may actually stop the engagement because Skip has to take time to think about his answer. Plus, he may not want to put his answer into writing (if, for instance, the next step is to leave his company).
Outstanding participation, John!
Skip,
Great to hear – would love to catch up and hear more about the new role – are you available on this date and time? Look forward to catching up!
Nice one, Kevin. Good on you for responding to Skip, and you’re definitely on the right track with your response. Our experience has been that jumping directly to the specific date and time request reduces the engagement rate. One more response from Skip before moving to the date and time seems to work a bit better. Try playing with your own contacts both ways (waiting/not waiting before the specific date time request), and let me know how it turns out for you.
I very much appreciate your playing along, Kevin!