Straight Talk about Sales: YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW UP!

If I could wave a magic wand and obliterate one barrier to my clients’ success, it would be their fear of follow up. When the sale comes to them in the front end of the “sales flow,” (at the DS or MLM party, in the coffee shop, after the first e-mail, right on the phone at the first contact), it’s all good. We love to close the deal and get to our passion, heroically delivering the solution to an empowered client.

Unfortunately, most of the sales occurring on our planet, the transaction of delivering a service or product in exchange for money, don’t happen in the first contact. There are a set of statistics floating around about the relative success of each step in the follow up process, and the numbers are startling.

What’s your sales fantasy? I bet it’s not a happy one!

There is some debate whether this is actually true, but if you take it at face value, then only a few extra steps in the sales process will thin out the herd and increase your odds of success. There is a negative fantasy, a series of thoughts, preventing you from following up. And even though your potential customer might be nice, have actual money in the bank and even a problem solvable by your product, for some reason most people CHOOSE to believe the fantasy in their head over the actual truth.

So what’s the fantasy? Well, it’s not pretty, but for some reason, we would rather believe the list below, than to follow up 5-12 times and radically increase our sales success rate.

• They don’t have enough money.
• They will be irritated if I follow up.
• They will think I’m using them if I follow up.
• I shouldn’t have to work that hard.
• If they really wanted it, they would have bought it already.
• They just don’t like me.

Of course, you don’t know if any of these things are true. If they really were a fantasy, you would have to follow up, wouldn’t you? Truth? It takes passion, authenticity and action to effectively and consistently follow up with clients (potential and existing) and increase sales.

CONNECTING YOUR PASSION FOR PRODUCT TO YOUR FOLLOW UP WILL MAKE IT EASIER!

No excuses: TWENTY easy ways to follow up and increase sales!

We think of sales as a mechanical and heartless connection. Dialing for dollars. Wooden repetition with little regard for the recipient. We also think this sort of activity is only comfortable for the confident and gregarious sales-gladiator, those among us thriving on the hunt. For the rest of us, the activity is accompanied with a feeling of defeat. It’s categorized as something we MUST do to get what we want.

There are so many things we should know about prospecting, sales and follow up. As I researched, I found a fantastic presentation on Slideshare by Jake Atwood,  It’s more complicated than a process of repetition. This aspect of the customer experience is one of cleverness, creativity and consistency. No matter who you are, you can create a roadmap to success that works for you. Here are a few other things you need to know:

• 91% of customers say they would give a referral. Only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. Dale Carnegie.
• 50% of sales goes to the first person to call the prospect. Inside Sales
• Top sellers use Linked In 6 hours a week. Jill Konrath
• Thursday is the best day to prospect. Talent and Ovation Sales Group
• If you follow up with web leads within 5 minutes, you are 9 times more likely to convert them.

So what can you do? I created an infographic with my favorite NINE, but here are a few more ideas:

• Ask them to create some time with you.
• Offer them a gift, a solution to their problem.
• Tell them what you are excited about- paint a visionary picture of their future.
• Tell them when you will be following up again. Ask them when they would prefer you to follow up.
• Don’t let more than 2 weeks pass before you follow up again.
• Reinvent what you offer. Freshen your vision up with each new contact.

Come prepared with statistics and information about their industry or situation. Make them feel this follow up is personal.

• Change your offer if it’s not quite right.
• Keep track of your follow up, documenting each step.
• Create templates—verbal scripts, e-mails and text messages so you can avoid the barrier of original creation.
• Wait for them to say no. Don’t pre-empt them because you have lost focus or energy or hope.
• Be clear, clever and creative about what you do—they might pass it on!
• Post a blog or useful online article and tag them. Find ways to support them.
• Get creative- send them a video explaining what you will do for them.
• Include references and testimonials in your e-mails.
• Reach out in simple relationship- invite them in to your world.
• Hook them up- support them on their success journey.
• Stay top of mind through social media. Remind them of your expertise!

Here’s your “PLEASE DON’T” sales list: It’s short, it’s simple and there’s no place for it.

• Don’t read their mind. You really don’t know what they are thinking.
• Don’t try to access their bank account. Similar to reading their mind. You have no idea how they will pay. That’s their decision. Your job is to follow up until you get to the next fork in the road (YES, NO, MAYBE).
  

  Don’t burden them with your needs or issues. They don’t need to worry about your bills, your schedule or your self confidence. You are there to serve them, not the other way around.

• Don’t pressure them. You can influence their perspective and behavior but you can’t make an end run, hoping to shorten the sales cycle. Lead. Don’t push.
• Don’t get mad because you have to repeat yourself. Sometimes people want to hear your answer in several different ways. Be patient and enthusiastic. Again, you are there to support them.

Here’s the big encouragement. Stop thinking of it as sales. Quit calling the person you are pursuing a prospect. You are a person with passion, on a success journey, hoping to touch as many people as possible with your good news! Isn’t that easier to swallow?

Now get going!