Sales Success: Remember, It's All in the Follow-Through
There’s an old saying: Don't quit five minutes before the miracle. In other words, if you're not persistent when following through with prospects, you might make a final attempt to contact them just before they're ready to buy.
"Most of us are so concerned with being a pest that we err on the side of not being persistent enough," says Andrea Sittig-Rolf of Sittig Incorporated. In her experience it takes anywhere between 4 and 10 follow-through attempts after the initial appointment to get a response from a prospect and move to the next level in the sales cycle. Many times prospects don't get right back to sales reps simply because they are busy. So, it's important to be both patient and persistent.
Here are a few things you can do to increase the likelihood of connecting with your prospect during the follow-through, says Sittig-Rolf.
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First and foremost, always, always, always, send a handwritten thank-you note after the first meeting—before you make a follow-up phone call or send an email. If you're able to include an article that's relevant to the prospects’ business or some other item of interest to them, include that as well. Do not use the thank-you note as a means of selling. Thank the prospects and offer additional valuable information as it relates to them.
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Call your prospects' cell phone number, rather than office number. When calling the cell number, if you don't reach the prospect and instead get voicemail, don't leave a message. Cell phones these days list the phone numbers of missed calls and, let's face it, we're curious to know who called when we miss a call from someone who didn't leave a message.
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If you prefer to leave a voicemail message, tell prospects you have a couple more questions to ask—rather than saying you are calling to answer any questions they may have.
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If you prefer following through with an email after the initial meeting and the prospect doesn't respond within a week, send the exact same email again one week after sending it the first time. Usually after the third time you send it, you will get a response.
Also, try alternating phone calls and email so you give prospects the option of either calling you back or sending an email, depending on what's easiest for them.
By Andrea Sittig-Rolf, of Sittig Incorporated (www.sittiginc.com), may be contacted at 206-769-4886 or by email at info@sittiginc.com.
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