If we had a nickel for every time someone said to us, “My salesperson never got back to me”, or “The salesperson’s follow-up was terrible”, or “I can’t find or get in touch with my salesperson”, we’d have a stack up to the ceiling. It’s pretty sad.
Scenario: You’ve got a prospect or current client (& the hardest part of selling is getting the prospect or client). Why in the world would you squander the opportunity by getting lazy with your follow-up? Why would you miss out on the opportunity to build a relationship & impress someone with your attention to detail? You know it’s all in the detail.
Do you know how excited your competition would be if they learned that your follow-up skills were lacking? They’d be drooling. They can’t wait to snatch up your business right from under your nose. When you slack in the follow-up, you are practically pushing your clients to your competition. They don’t need the help.
You need to “trick” or “trap” yourself into doing the follow-up. The best mechanism for this is your tasks or calendar. Everybody has these tools on the desktop, laptop &/or phone. These are great tools – especially if you use them. Don’t tell us you don’t need to use tasks. Don’t say the calendar is just for appointments. You won’t remember everything & calendars are great for reminding you what to do – even if it’s a follow-up phone call.
Think of your calendar on your laptop or desktop (if you aren’t using one & synching it to your phone you are screwing up). A calendar is a funny thing – it gets “paid attention to”. When items are on your calendar they get completed. You wouldn’t think of missing a doctor’s appointment. You would never skip out & miss your golf league. You damn sure would never forget a happy hour meeting with your buddies. When these are on the calendar they are important & they get done. Same goes for sales activities – the little tasks. So why don’t you use them? How hard is it to type in “Call Jenny to determine next steps – 248.867.5309″? Not hard at all.
Sales follow-up takes a discipline. It takes a commitment. It takes time. But it’s not hard.
Most of the time Sales Winners get deals it’s because of their follow-up. Take note.