Keep timing in mind. Refrain from texting prospects late at night or early in the morning. You don’t know the personal schedules of your prospects, and no one wants to be woken (or worse, have their kids wake up) in the middle of the night. Communicate consistently. In today’s world of online communication and social media, consistency is key. What do I mean by consistency? When you don’t see someone in person, it’s easy to go off the radar, so it’s important to use online communication to your advantage. Reach out to prospects and clients regularly in a friendly way to check on them. Don’t “blast” them with messages or “ghost” them (to borrow a term from the kids) — simply let them know they are on your mind. I like to create a simple “reach out” schedule for this purpose and stagger out when I’m going to send my contacts a message. Reaching out in a timely, consistent fashion is part of good communication. Aim for the middle of the road. A friend of mine has a voicemail message I’m always making fun of. Why? Well, it sounds like he’s on a gameshow winning millions of dollars, and it ends with him crowing “HAVE A STUPENDOUS DAY!”
In other words, it’s a little over the top.
How does your voicemail message sound? Have you listened to it lately? It should not be totally dull and monotone for your callers OR unrealistically chirpy. Aim for a warm, friendly tone of voice, and don’t forget to thank people for calling you. This goes for when you call them and leave a message, too — or anywhere else you have audio, including your website. And here’s another trick I’ve learned to maintain that “middle of the road” mood in typed correspondence: watch those exclamation points. It’s great to show excitement once in a while, but too many of them distract from the words you’re typing and can take away from your sincerity. Avoid vague or negative language. We’re all guilty of being vague sometimes when we’re either in a hurry or don’t have things completely figured out. But trust me, in your online correspondence, the less vague you are, the more prospects and clients will trust you and feel like you are valuing their time.
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