Follow Up or Die

This post is part six of a video training series on sales. To watch part one, Sales is NOT a Dirty Word, click here. To watch part two, 3 Reasons Your Sales Suck, click here. To watch part three, The Truth About Your Relationship with Money, click here. To watch part four, The #1 Thing Business Owners Forget About Sales, click here. To watch part five, 3 C’s You Must Master to Sell Anything to Anyone at Anytime, click here. To watch part six, The 6 Key Phases of a Sales Conversation, click here.

Over the last 7 weeks, I have offered some critical insight into sales. And, it all boils down to this last video:

As I share in the video, if you aren’t going to follow up, save yourself the time, energy and effort of starting the process. After all, most sales come in after several (at least 5) follow up attempts.

I’m always amazed when I am working with a new client and we start talking about their sales management system (most don’t have one, that’s why they hire me.) And I ask them how many times they follow up with a prospect. If they follow up at all, it’s one time.

ONE TIME?!

According to the Referral Squirrel survey, only 2% of sales are made on the first contact and only 25% of sales people even follow up at all. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. By learning how to build a system around your follow up, you can stay top of mind and hang in there until the “not right now” becomes an “in the future.” And the “in the future” becomes a “yes, we need your services now.”

When I was in Mary Kay Cosmetics, I learned the 2 + 2 + 2 Follow Up Method. And it worked. I have recommended it many times. But following up in 2 days, 2 weeks and then every 2 months can have you missing opportunities in the real business world. Don’t get me wrong, some follow up is better than none. But do you know how much time 2 months is when a prospect had a meeting with you because they had a problem that they thought urgent enough to seek an expert about?

Don’t be like me. Once a few years ago, I was doing some follow up and I came across a name that I placed a judgment on because every time in the past I went to follow up, they didn’t have a need. So that particular day, I didn’t follow up. In fact more than 4 months went by before I called again. And when I did, you probably guessed it. They had just hired someone else. You might be wondering why. Here’s a few reasons:

1. I was no longer Top of Mind. Even if they aren’t ready to buy, staying in touch allows you to be the choice when they are ready to buy. In any given day, week, month, quarter tons of people like you have the potential to talk to your key clients. And, if you aren’t consistently talking to them, you’ll easily be forgotten.

2. I didn’t make an impression when I was following up. This is why you can’t do the same old thing every time. You have to vary your follow up attempts. Don’t worry, when you join me for Sell the Incredible, I have an entire campaign that works with all the right variations to take the guesswork out of it for you.

3. I never really connected to the problem and the impact of the problem in a way that helped them see me as the solution. That’s why someone else could easily swoop in and steal my slot.

I don’t want this to happen to you.

Today, I recommend a much more robust follow up plan that is as automated as much as possible to ensure that no contact is left behind and no prospect slips through the cracks. If you want to stay top of mind, you should be omnipresent – everywhere they turn – and there is a way to do it so that it feels good to you and reminds your prospect of just why they need you!

Your Assignment: If you really want to learn a clear and proven follow up process, I will be teaching this and more at my upcoming event Sell the Incredible: Tighten Your Sales Game. You can learn more about Sell the Incredible by visiting www.SellTheIncredible.com. Take a moment to seriously consider whether or not getting more effective at sales is worth it to you and your business. (I can tell you right now that if you’re serious about growing your business, that it will be. I hope you join me.)

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©2016 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, MBA, The Incredible Factor Business Optimization Coach and Mentor, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises®, Incredible Factor University® and the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System®, a proven step-by-step program so you experience financial and spiritual abundance in your life because of your business. For more information and a FREE audio CD “7 Critical Mistakes Even Smart Entrepreneurs Must Avoid for Clients, Connection and Cash Flow!” just fill out the form below.

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