I gave a public presentation on the “Secrets of Lead Generation Webinars” last week. One of my tips was to follow up quickly with attendees and no-shows. Same day is excellent. Next day is acceptable. After that, the effectiveness of your webinar as a lead-propulsion tool diminishes incredibly swiftly.
Sure enough, the webinar host waited a mere 24 hours to send out the archive recording link and the handout I had prepared for attendees. In that time I had already received four emails asking me where the materials were. And I was just the guest speaker, not the host!
I also received an email from an attendee asking for help in figuring out what to say as an opener when following up with registrants after the event. That’s a tricky question to answer in the abstract. Much depends on what your webinar was supposed to accomplish, what your call to action was, and what kind of audience you were targeting. But I attempted to put together a few possibilities that can be massaged as needed to suit your situation. In no particular order, here they are:
1) I noticed you asked some questions about our product/service during the webinar, and I wanted to get back to you and see if I can help answer those.
2) We appreciate you taking the time to watch our webinar. I know that information was a little generic since we had to speak to a large audience, so I wanted to see if I could help focus the tips to help you apply them to your business or your particular needs.
3) I’m sorry you weren’t able to attend our live webinar yesterday. I wanted to make sure you had received the link to watch the recording and to introduce myself so you know who to call if you have questions after watching it.
4) Thanks for watching yesterday. I wanted to follow through on our promise that we would reach out with some additional information on the subject. I have a <white paper/datasheet/trial offer> that can give some extra value for your company. Are you the right person to send that to?
As that last line indicates, follow up materials might include more detailed info on your product/service or a free trial/discount offer. You might like to send a reading list with links to other articles, blog posts, and materials on the web that are related to the topic. “For more detail on this subject, you might like to use this list of resources we assembled for you.”
The main goal is to keep the conversation framed in terms of value to the person on the other end of the line, not in terms of what you want. You both know that you want their money! But you have to approach them from a standpoint of altruism. Your follow up has to be about continuing the distribution of value from your company to theirs. Make sure your sales and marketing team making the calls or sending the emails understands that and buys in to the philosophy.
