"I do well with meeting new contacts. The conversation seems to flow very well, but when I call to follow-up, it seems their attitudes have changed and the interest level has diminished significantly."

This brings back (bad) memories! This used to happen to me when I first started my business - and I can tell you, it was most demoralizing.

Well, fortunately, this doesn't happen much anymore.

Here's why:

1. I took a closer look at those disappointing situations and discovered some patterns.
2. I used the information revealed by these patterns to decide whom to follow up with, and whom to "let go".

It turned out that most of the people who who'd lose interest when I called them later were in what I call the "trade show mode" when I initially talked to them.

This mode is when one says, "yes, I want whatever free thing you have", without giving it much thought! This usually happens at trade shows (though not always) where there's so much being offered, that many people get overwhelmed and say "yes" to everything.

Well, I found that these "trade show mode" folks were rarely ever interested when I followed up with them.

The other group of people were in "inspiration mode" during our initial conversation.

In other words, the speaker or something about the event where we'd met had inspired them to be interested in talking to me again.

However, by the time I followed up with them - even if it was the next day - the reality of getting back to work and the "daily grind" had dulled much of the initial inspiration and interest.

How did I solve this problem?

I started going for quality, not quantity.

I started paying closer attention during my initial conversation with people, to screen out the first group of people. And I probed the second group of people a little more about their interest in talking with me.

This means that I now spend my time and energy following up with only those who truly want to hear from me. And it makes all the difference in the world - for both of us.

So what can YOU do?

Look for patterns in your experience (your patterns may be different from mine). And decide how you'll use the information to reduce your disappointments.