How do you set up a follow-up sequence in your speaking business to get you more paid gigs?
If you do this right, you won’t have to keep going out and looking for speaking opportunities because they will be right in front of you. You will naturally fill up your schedule.
When most speakers get booked, they speak at the event, and…that’s it. They speak at the event and then they wonder how they’re going to get the next gig.
But, the business-savvy speaker understands the benefit of putting a real follow-up sequence in place. They understand that when you set up your system, you speak at an event, and you use that as a spiderweb to book multiple events.
Instead of you having to find one speaking opportunity at a time…you book several gigs at once.
I can’t stress to you how important it is to set up your follow-up sequence.
So let me give you an idea of my follow-up sequence and how you can go about creating your own.
Before The Event:
My follow-up sequence starts before I get on stage.
When a client hires me, I put them into a calendar for next year. The date I put them into the calendar for is the same date they contacted me on for this year’s event.
So if they contacted me January 1st 2015 to hire me for an event, they will go into the calendar for January 1st 2016.
Why?
Because it lets me know when they hire speakers. If they contacted me on X date this year, then that means they look for speakers around that time…every year (assuming it’s an annual event).
Most company events are held during the same time as the previous year’s event. If they have an award banquet June, then they will usually have it in June the next year too.
So once a client hires me, they immediately get put into the calendar for next year to remind me to contact them again.
At The Event:
When I’m at an event, I do several things…
First, I collect multiple video testimonials.
The reason for this is because I want to use it for video marketing and it makes it a million times easier to get booked for other speaking gigs.
Second, I do a one-on-one demonstration with the person who hired me (and it gets recorded).
The reason I do this is because it creates a very personal and memorable experience. This allows me to build a better relationship with the meeting planner…instead of just coming and going like most speakers.
After The Event:
And this is where the magic happens…
I will send the video testimonials to the meeting planner who hired me. This way, they know what the audience thought of me.
Meeting planners always want to know what people thought of you. This is also why I tell speakers how important a standing ovation is…not because of your ego, but because it’s a visual confirmation to the meeting planner of how everyone loved you.
So one week after the event, I send a video that has multiple testimonials from the event.
Sometimes, they will use this video for future events and guess what? They will always be reminded of you.
Either way, the more you stay in touch with the people who hired you, the more likely you will get hired again.
When I send the video testimonials, I also ask for referrals.
In the Referral Engine that I talk about in the SpeakPro Academy, I go into detail about my entire process for getting referrals, and how it starts before they hire me…but this is one of the moments where I ask for referrals.
Then, a few weeks later…
I’ll send them the second video…the video with the one-on-one demonstration.
My goal is to not only keep in touch with them but to get them to remember the same feelings they felt when they saw me live. I want them to associate good feelings with me…so when they see the video, they remember what they felt like when it happened.
When I send the second video, I will also ask about future events.
Maybe they had the annual event that they hired me for, but they might also have several other events going on throughout the year…and that’s something I want to know about.
The reason I ask about other events when I send the second video is because I also let them know that I have ‘other tricks up my sleeve.’
A lot of times, clients won’t re-hire you because they don’t want the same presentation (no matter how great it was)…but if you let them know that you have another great presentation then you’re more likely to get hired.
And by telling them I have another presentation, and sending them the one-on-one video, it lets them link the two. They think, “Well…he did show me something after his stage presentation, so he probably does have other really cool things he can do.”
What I’ve done is allowed them to see the possibilities of ‘other’ things I can do.
I will then put any information from the event, from their responses, etc…into the calendar (the future date that reminds me). This way, when the calendar does remind me about their upcoming event, I have all the information I need at hand.
Once the calendar reminds me, I will then send them an email and give them a link to the video again. That way, they will say “Oh yea, everyone loved this guy.”
That’s my follow-up sequence for clients who hire me.
There are also follow-up sequences for spinoff gigs (people I meet at events but aren’t clients yet) and for people through our lead-generation systems who haven’t seen me on stage at all.
There are different follow-ups for different types of clients.
But how do you develop your own follow-up sequences?
Easy…
Just think from their standpoint.
Imagine you just hired a speaker and the speaker does…what?
They speak on stage and then? And then? And then?
Does the speaker send you video testimonials of the attendees talking about how they had a great time? Does the speaker send you a ‘thank you’ card…custom made? Does the speaker send you a box of cookies after the event?
Think about the experience and the feelings you want to create for a meeting planner.
The reason I send the videos is because I record a mind reading demonstration that was done with them…and it’s something they can show other people.
If I was a Sales Speaker then I might do a Jordan Belfort type of thing by telling them to try to sell me a pen…and in the mail, I would send them a custom-made pen. It’s all about how creative you are.
And keep in mind, something as simple as sending a ‘thank you’ card can go a long way when everything is digital.
But keep in mind that you need to follow-up in some way or another. And you need to follow-up differently based on who you’re following up with.
People who already hired you should be treated differently than people who haven’t hired you. And people you’re prospecting to should be treated differently than people who saw you at an event.
Above all, don’t just speak and then leave.
To really grow your speaking business, you have to think in terms of building out your follow-up sequence and building it out in a way that’s customized to you (ex: not too many speakers can send a video of them doing a mind reading demonstration).
So…
What’s your follow-up sequence for getting more speaking gigs?