I love the idea of transforming every opportunity into the first step of a new plan of action. From being open, to the recognition, to creating the relationship and taking the first step, what a great example. In the background is the assumption that one is committed to follow through and not let the ball fall.

In all honesty, I think I’d be more inclined to respond to the woman’s email you described, which reads like an email from an actual person, than yours, which reads like spam. I understand the strategy behind your email, but bullet points, free email newsletters and random endorsements with no attribution are red flags (at least for me) that this is a form letter, not a personalized note.

If that woman just tweaked her message to include one specific reference to our meeting and my needs, it’d be just as, if not more, effective than your note, which comes off with the subtly of an infomercial.

Agreed. I hate cookie-cutter emails… They seem to be way less effective…

I agree with the idea of follow up, it is important and a personalized reply shows you really took interest in the person. However, the example you gave is going much too far. Personally if I opened my inbox to find that I would not be pleased, it’s far too much the hard sell. I prefer an follow up that is somewhere between your hard-sell example and the bland example.

Staying on top of emails and responders is one of the keys to on-going relations with clients. It speaks volumes about you and your company. There have been a couple time when I catch myself not returning an email for maybe a day or two and you’d be surprised how upset some clients can get.

Respond in a timely matter, but also don’t make it seem like you sit by your computer 24 hours a day. Some clients like to exploit that as well.

All valid comments and much appreciated, thanks so much.

I agree, actually, that my example is too much of a hard sell, at least for most situations.

And that is, in fact the point. Each situation calls for something different, depending on the connection that was made and the need of the prospects or new contact.

Agreed as well - It is amazing to see the difference in response when an email isn’t ‘boiler plate’ or ‘cookie cutter’ style!

Yeah, what @Matt W says.

I don’t want to receive a free newsletter, sales pitch and random (BS?) quote. I don’t even like the “I’ll follow up with you by phone next week”.

Maybe it’s because I work in the tech business but no one phones someone these days unless it’s scheduled, or something urgent or they know the person very well. Someone telling me they’re going to call me next week at some undefined time (and thus potentially interrupt whatever I’m doing) with something I may not even want would be really infuriating.

The first set of issues (newsletter, sales pitch) is just my annoyance with traditional pushy techniques. But as we move into a tech-orientated society, even stating you’re going to call them is becoming faux pax.

I think the original writer is very old-school and not across the emerging ways more and more people want to do business. It certainly makes me think twice before I give my biz card, which does have my cell on it, to random people I meet at networking events.

Your e-mail is good, however - I would never ever automatically subscribe someone to a newsletter. Give them a link to it, great, but when I start getting mass impersonal e-mails from someone I hand a business card to, I politely ask them to remove my name from ALL their contact lists.

Ilse’s follow-up is marginally acceptable until the last paragraph’s threat of hard-sell and spam. If I received such an e-mail, I’d think twice about doing business with the sender.

In fact, I’d rather not receive e-mail from her at all. If she sent me a handwritten note on nice stationery, I’d think the world of her. But an e-mail? Forget it. Anyone can send an e-mail. Heck, there are apps out there today that generate e-mail replies like this automatically.

The woman with Prada shoes probably spent 5 minutes every day sending out these emails. Sure, no special care was taken to tailor messages for specific individuals but her strategy does have other advantages:

a) Her email is non-intrusive; no promises of anything
b) She provided a gentle reminder of who she is
c) The recipient now has her email and contact details in his/her inbox, thus lowering the threshold for any further contacts
d) Any relation, business or private, relies on the number of touchpoints with other individuals as a foundation for further interaction. Her small email just increased that count.

Now, mix her strategy (formula email to all people you meet) with the one in the article (directed emails to a smaller set) and the result is a really good strategy for building and nurturing relationships with all the people that you meet.

Thanks for the great tips. I’ve generalized the idea into how to help anyone. The underlying principle is the same - make yourself a great resource for people - work might eventually come (or not) - just don’t depend on it. He helpful is the bottom line.

Here’s what I came up with:

1. When meeting someone, come with an attitude of genuine curiosity.
2. Maintain a steady, reliable, and valuable atom/bitstream
3. When you come across something of potential value, share it

Matt’s Idea Blog: How to help people
http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-help-people.html