I was reading a post on another blog about fishbowls and facial boxes. Then I read the comment about how one consultant got a fishbowl full of leads because a previous consultant never bothered to pick them up!
Why on earth do you go to the trouble of getting a fishbowl placed in a business and then never go back and collect leads??
Following up with a customer or lead is critical with your MK business.
Phone calls, postcards, etc. can be a great way to keep in touch. At the minimum, you should contact your customers twice a year – on their birthday and during the Christmas holidays. (If they celebrate a holiday other than Christmas, then contact them then.)
I am not talking about calling them every other day and bugging them – I mean a once-a-month courtesy call (or however oftem they ask you to call) and make sure they remember you!
I can’t count the number of people I have bought from (in Direct Sales) and then I never hear from them again. So if I lose their card (possible – very possible), I have to find a NEW rep to order from when I need more candles/Tupperware/etc. in 4 months or so.
All follow up doesn’t have to be sales-related. A simple note with your business card enclosed is nice, too.
If you follow up with your leads and customers, you will build a long-term, profitable business.
Then I read on another blog about how one former consultant ( I hope she is a former consultant, anyway) used the fishbowl method without the slightest bit of integrity – never awarding a gift certificate like she promised, etc. She got hundreds of leads and lied and schemed to them all, including the business owners who were kind enough to let her place her fishbowl in there!
Not only did she doom herself, but she probably destroyed any chance for another consultant to place a fishbowl in those same establishments, thanks to her lack of integrity. Great job! (Not.)
If you promise to award a prize, do it! I buy the gift certificate from the owner at the same time I place the fishbowl – to show I will keep my word. When someone wins the gift certificate, I attach a business card and ask that they make sure mention where they got the gift certificate from! Again, this shows the owner that I keep my end of the bargain!
And another point: I often ask about placing fishbowls in businesses I already frequent, so I am supporting that business in more ways than just buying a gift certificate once a month. Owners appreciate that kind of thing. 
Follow up is important, and integrity is a must in this business.
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