Do you find you get all dressed up to network and then let your follow-up pants fall down?
Are you an online or in-person networker who procrastinates or hesitates with follow-up? What is the point of networking if you don’t follow-up?
Your goal really doesn’t matter – new clients, new referral partners, new collaboration partners, a new job, a needed resource. An 80% majority of people, while in a good amount of company, don’t follow-up! The 20% minority who do seem well aware that the majority of results come from ensuing communication with people you network with. Being either type, you have a one time opportunity to receive a free copy of the 63 page eBook, How to Steadily Turn Prospects Into Customers: Taking the Mystery Out of Follow-up Reluctance.
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What will you find in this free guide?
– understand why we don’t follow-up based on 414 online survey respondents,
– discover what benefits in addition to greater sales results that you receive from following up,
– identify how to turn your listening into follow-up prospects love,
– uncover how to plan your follow-up to the prospective customers liking,
– get the details to three distinct ways to combine and create a system to your follow-up and
– fall in love with an under used component that can encourage you to minimize, if not eliminate your lack of follow-up.
To receive your free complete eBook, How to Steadily Turn Prospects Into Customers: Taking the Mystery Out of Follow-up Reluctance you must be one of the first 7 people to comment with a most unique and true sales or networking follow-up story, or about a most unique and true greatest fear of why you leave follow-up behind. And who decides the best comments? I do of course! With the name of Pat Persistent Weber it’s perfect.
The first 7 people to comment with either follow-up or fear stories, will receive their eBook August 31, 2010. Any others, after the first 7 and before August 31, will receive a 15 page excerpt. This is all in advance of the September sales launch which includes a 15 page free excerpt.
I want to help kick things off with what caused me to be fearful many years ago:
When I was in the computer field as a new salesperson, one of my earliest memories is of an appointment with a physician. I arrived about 15 minutes early at his office for our appointment. The doctor was coming back from surgeries at the hospital and was running late. The office manager was kind enough to spend about 10 minutes with me giving me a small summary of what she thought the accounting problems were. In the late 1970’s computers were highly sought after to increase small business success with accounts receivable. As she was finishing up, the doctor arrived – unusual it would be through the front lobby. He came directly into the front office where I was with the office manager. She introduced me. He went ballistic! “I don’t remember setting up any appointment with you? We don’t need a computer! We need employees who do their work better.” His arms were flailing, he was loud and angry. Being stunned, I apologized and made an exit.
It was 3 or 4 months before I was able to earn my reputation back on the sales team as Pat Persistent Weber. You see I made many follow-up cold calls and had a high appointment rate because of my follow-up. Procrastination hit me like a plague from fear of turning the next follow-up into a disastrous affair.
Want to overcome your follow-up reluctance?
What’s your story: Follow-up or fear? You could win your free guide!
I learned that following up was crucial when I was in the mortgage business, but lately it has hit home how much follow up is needed.
I have a writing client who will hire me from time to time. I noticed that when I point blank asked him for work, he would find pieces for me to write. If I didn’t write, I would eventually get work, but not as often.
I would have thought this would be annoying to him, but it was quite the opposite. I was obviously very interested and eager, which I believe probably appealed to him.
I learned from that, that you cannot follow up too much. When business is slow I go through my contact list and send out friendly emails to folks I have talked to in a while. It takes some time, but usually work floods my way after!
Pat:
Sometimes persistency pays off and sometimes being in the right place at the right time works. My brother’s new company hired a distributor to cover a number of states. He was not getting enough business from the distibutor so he asked for some advice. I told him that all the leads need to be covered. A prospective purchaser contacted my brother about his product. It was in distributor’s state but I called him anyway. It turns out he spoke to distributor but was not convinced to buy. I sold him on the phone for a $25,000 product. How did I do it? I spoke about all the benefits of the product but also how he would get ongoing marketing help from the company that would lead to more revenue by using the product.
Is that a top story? You tell me.
Rob
Patricia, thanks for this very thought provoking post! Fear of looking “hungry” for business, and annoyance of hearing “no” before a prospect truly understands an offer is what comes to mind. Both are really just obstacles that must be overcome right?
Rob: it’s got a message and fits with persistence. I can’t say it’s a top story yet. It is however the first story! Thanks so much.
Ooo Keyuri, out of all those survey replies, never read a “hungry” for business! I like that. Your story could be one of the winners.
And you are correct that those are obstacles and tend to come from both a misdirected focus as well as some misconceptions about follow-up.
A keeper. Thanks.
A valuable lesson: you opened the interest and the prospective client would LIKE you to follow-up. As often as THEY like.
Nice Laura.
When I first started in business I felt like a pest if I followed up. Of course no one ever called out of the blue. It occurred to me that I encourage people it call me in a month or two if I am not interested at this time. I started asking my contacts if it would be ok if I called them in a few weeks or months. I almost always get permission to follow up. Sales conversions increased by 70%.
Great idea to have a promotion with your blog.
Julia it sounds like you went from pest to curious and with that you get permission!
Excellent.
How many times would I have been able to interview heads of states if I hadn’t done follow up? Not many.
In media and business development you do so much follow up you don’t think twice about it. You just do it.
A number of years ago I was at a meeting where the managing editor of Crain’s New York Business (the local business journal for NYC) was giving tips about pitching stories to them. He said he would often receive a good story idea with the comment from the PR person, “I hope you find this of interest and I will follow-up with a phone call in the next day or two.” He would print out the pitch and lean it against his desk lamp waiting for the call — it almost always never came. He was mystified and he said he wasn’t going to call. If someone says he is going to call he should call, especially if he is trying to sell something. So maybe when we send notes or leave voice messages for people and we don’t hear back, they are waiting for us to try again. Why should they call? They aren’t trying to sell anything.
Wow Catarina. That’s an incredible piece of information – follow up is NECESSITY in media and business development.
Thanks.
Jeannette this is a fabulous example of what I mean when I tell my clients that it is THEIR obligation to do the follow-up, not the prospective client or referral partner.
When you say you will follow-up and don’t, if you did leave a good first impression, that’s gone.
My guess is more often than not we don’t realize that timing is almost everything even in the buying cycle.
Thanks Jeannette.
Follow-up is crucial…. but so often we don’t have the words to use that will bring fruition. We are fearful of the NO….but should be more fearful of the YES! Knowing what to say, what tone to use and how to work around the concerns, especially as an introvert ;), makes the follow up even harder sometimes!
Pat Hi,
I’m not sure if it’s that original – but about twenty years ago I was given a really appalling ‘rag bag’ of accounts in a sales job – scattered all over the southern part of the British Isles. A load of stale and sleeping accounts. I was in the mood of ‘Thanks Boss’ but persisted with the sifting and sorting. One of them really caught my eye – a large tertiary service organisation. It took 9 calls and 3 visits over 3 months before resigning myself to having worn out a lot of resource for nothing.
On the 4th call (a Friday afternoon – what else) – I was sat in reception and then told the guy I’d come to see could not see me due to an ’emergency’. I was told though – that I could see someone else (them knowing I had driven over an hour to get there). That alternative person was a joy – proactive, open and honest.
I discovered they had a huge problem I knew we could help with. 3 months later I’d won one of the largest deals for a state-of-the-art personnel system rolled out nationwide. It was a pig to put in the first as our software partner was less than helpful to begin with – not being familiar with any of our technology. The strength of the support we gave the client though forced them into compliance.
That account yielded a great deal of business – and a really credible installation reference site.
My learning there (W.R.T ‘follow-up’) is marrying gut feel with persistence.
Warren Buffett refers to such decisions in his investment business as ‘picking up the old cigar butts off the sidewalk and giving them a few last draws’. Most people are repulsed by the idea – but doing that for a decade turned him from being a shrewd local investor – into the greatest speculator of the 20th Century – and built Berkshire Hathaway into what it is.
Jill, fear of the no is a misplaced fear however I like your fear story! Keep posted.
I love this success story Richard. It also speaks to the situation of shift of decision makers doesn’t it? And that is about timing.
Thanks for sharing this success!
One thing I have learnt Patricia when we were selling a product via the web was to tell the person downloading the trial we would be following up and asked for their preferred way. We offered email, phone etc.
We didn’t convert everyone but had a higher rate than when we did not use this approach as it allowed for us to communicate with potential customers they way it suited them.
Susan so this has me asking, when you SAID you would followed up, and got their PREFERENCE, did you do so?
Very nice.
Pat,
My biggest fear is not having anything to say. Especially when it’s the 24 hour hot lead that you’ve mentioned. You don’t want to sell them anything at that point, but what if everything you say has a one word comment. I try to think of asking questions that require more then one word answer, but it’s like talking to my teenage son. But when you don’t know the person that well, it’s hard to stimulate a conversation. Especially if they are the shy type.
Ah yes the “leave ’em empty” syndrome. This is a common issue. One suggestion, ask yourself what DO you want to accomplish with that 24 hours hot lead? You are on the path with question that help the prospective client tell you more.
Thank you Linda.
Yes we did follow up with all of them. If you look at it it just doesn’t make sense to let any chance of a sale go.
Great post Pat. I have been on both the fear and follow-up scale. I enjoyed reading a few of the above stories. I appreciate follow-up if done tactfully. I forget things.
Jim
Humor enabled follow-up could be a hit 2: Free Batteries- The dead batteries were given out free of charge. #pun
Thanks Jim. So I’m curious, you are usually the buyer. What specifically would make the follow-up tactful for you?
Susan, thanks for saying that – If you look at it it just doesn’t make sense to let any chance of a sale go. That’s what it’s about isn’t it?
Pat,
Specifically following-up in 3 months if that is what I asked for. And not bugging me with extra calls and stupid stuff.
It would be nice if they would also forward the puns they run across but I don’t have them trained to do that yet. 🙂 Old bloggers never die, they just archive #pun
Great to know what your tactful is. People who sell want to find that out for each prospective client.
Ask and you shall receive:
I couldn’t quite remember how to throw a boomerang, but eventually it came back to me. #pun
There have been many times over the years that I’ve wanted to do business with someone but I got the sense that they cared about me or my repeat business but that they would sell to me if I reached out to them.
An example of this is the car salesman who did not reach out to see how I enjoyed the test drive or to ask if I had any questions.
If he had taken the time to call me or send me a card of appreciation, that would have gotten my attention and made me feel like he valued my business.
What are you doing to let your customers and prospects know that you care about them?
D’vorah Lansky
Relationship Marketing Specialist
I dare say that most sales ARE lost because of what Bob Burg calls, the Go-Taker mentality. Instead of giving, instead of being a go-getter in that giving process, someone just – takes. That’s what your car salesman did.
When we focus on the other person, it’s quite natural to let them know we care in a way that is meaningful for them.
Some of my clients like to go for coffee (well for me tea) with me.
Others like me to call THEM with a referral.
Still others are just stoked with a birthday card.
It’s in the eye of the one who buys where we want to decide how to let them know we care.
Thanks D’vorah!