Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up
Posted in Customer Service, Networking, Sales, Coaching, Marketing, Success, social Media by Manny on October 12th, 2009 To See this article on Video: Click here
Are you doing the right follow-up with your accounts
or are you just letting them fall off the table like
so many sales people do? How long do you stay
in touch with a prospective buyer? How long do
they stay on your database? How long do you
keep trying?
One thing people can never accuse me of concerning
sales is giving up. They might wonder why I am still
chasing a client (prospects are only clients not yet
doing business with you), after years of never
getting any business. But they will never see me
give up unless there is no way this client could
ever use what I sell (in which case, why was I
chasing them in the first place).
So, how do you learn the right process for follow-up?
What is that right process for follow-up anyway?
I learned follow-up by selling computer consulting
services in the 1980’s to large accounts. At that
time I had a list of 100 key accounts that I knew
could use what I sold but were not doing business
with me. So I had a simple program, every month
I called this set of clients. I ask for the director
of information systems. Some times I got through
and got a no. Sometimes I didn’t get through
and left a message. Every month I called them.
After a while they knew who I was and would joke
with me and we started to build a relationship. This
went on for months and months and months.
Yet my persistent work did pay off. One day they
would say, “Manny, you just won’t give up until
you get in here and we talk about working together”.
And they would give me an appointment. Other
times it would be, Manny, you called at just the
right time, got a need, get in here and let’s talk.
This process sometimes took years. But I keep
going, finally got the business.
The point is very simple and it really does work.
If you have a prospective buyer (one who can
use your service) and you follow-up, build a
relationship and persist in going after them.
You will win in the end. It might take a while,
but you will get the business. Problem is, most
people quit about 1 call short of success. Just
like most people stop 20 feet short of the top
of the mountain when the fog gets to heavy to see.
Today I do coaching and sales consulting work.
As many of my existing clients know, I do not give
up. I just stay connected, educate, inform and
build a relationship until they do business with me.
I sold an account earlier this year, after 4 ½
years of working the client. Finally they saw a
need for me. If I had of gone away, they would
never have called me? But persistence again
paid off for me. What about you, are you doing the
right follow-up, are you being persistent, are you
continuing until you get the deal? Or, are you
stopping just short of the mountain top.
The great thing today is that you can do follow
up so much easier, so much quicker and with so
much bigger of a group by simply using email.
This does not mean that the phone has gone
away, it just creates a second method to do
follow up. Yes, some people do get mad about
emailing them, but they also are usually the
ones that get even madder when you call
them. So they might not be prospects at all?
I learned from some of the best that those who
like what you have, even if they are not buyers
today, will never push you away. They might not
read your email for months, but they will never
unsubscripted because you never know what the
future will bring.
Today’s key thought is very simple. Do you have
a program of consistent follow-up on the people
you meet and the prospects you find. Is that
program working for you? If not, what are you
doing to get a program together that works.
Today we simply discussed the importance of
follow-up. In the future we will be talking about
what that means and how to do it, so please
stay connect.
Follow-up Is it really simple. Actually it is to
simple for some because it just requires
staying connected in some small way. Most
would rather keep casing new business, it is
much more exiting.
But for those looking for great success, once
you find the right prospects, just keep doing
the follow-up and you will be amazed at how
much business you end up with.
If you are not getting the results you want,
as fast as you want, you should think about
coaching. It can help you but together a sales
follow-up process that really works and creates
the results you want. Coaching is key to helping
you and your business attain greater results.
It really works?
It can be that edge that you need.
Learn more by clicking here or paste this address
into your browser.
http://TinyWebLink-001.com/?pid=3510811
Coach Manny Nowak
Encouraging, educating, inspiring and strengthening
business owners to be the best.
