Now
On to Step Seven, Following Up...
Industry
salespeople always ask me, "How often should I follow
up with my prospects and clients?" And my definitive
response is always the same. It depends...
From
a service standpoint, it depends on the needs of the
client. It depends what they have coming up and when. It
depends how much hand-holding they require. It depends how
good you are at delivering your message and how receptive
your prospect is to hearing it.
From
a pragmatic standpoint, it should also depend on how
qualified they are to do business with you, how much they
appreciate the value you bring to the table, how much the
client could ultimately be worth to you, and the return
on your investment of time, energy and effort.
When
you're working on major projects, you may need to follow
up with some clients every day. With smaller clients, you
may be able to get away with just one contact per quarter
or every other month (though I generally recommend at least
monthly contact.)
People
Begin Forgetting About You the Second You Walk Out the Door,
So Don't Make it Too Long Between Contacts
The
most important thing I can tell you about follow up is that
you absolutely must vary your approach. Don't
be one of those salespeople who just badgers prospects on
the phone.
Send
them a note. Email them an idea. Hand-deliver a unique spec
sample. Mail them a letter. Take them to lunch. Highlight
a catalog. Send them a postcard. Clip out an article or
story related to their industry. In short, help them!
Helping
clients to achieve what they want is the single most valuable
service you can ever provide. That's why it's never about
the products. It's always about what the products can do
for your clients.
Creating
loyal, repeat business means establishing relationships
that will endure. And that involves creating rapport,
determining needs, establishing exceptional value, creating
desire, overcoming objections, closing effectively and
following up intelligently. This seven part email
series was designed to help get you started doing just that.
If you
have followed along every step of the way, please
email me. Let me know which parts of this series have
been most helpful, and where I've missed the mark. If there
are specific areas that require clarification, please let
me know. My goal is to make this as useful for you as possible.
If
you own a promotional products business, click
here. If you are a sales rep, click
here.
