Ms. Bermont

Sales & Marketing

Follow Up - The Two Powerful Words Guaranteed To Skyrocket Your Sales

By Debbie Bermont, President, Source Communications

We are in the age of instant information. Because of technology we now have the opportunity to connect 24/7 with anyone around the world. People carry their cell phones with them to the grocery store, the restaurant, the bank and the movie theatre. From your phone you can send e-mails, documents, text messages and receive pictures across the globe.

With all these advances in technology, follow up, a simple action which has a major impact on your sales and builds lifetime relationships should be easier now than ever before. Unfortunately, there is no correlation between the advancements in technology and the immediacy of follow up in business.

It seems pretty obvious that if someone asks you to follow up with them and they tell you they are interested in buying from your company in the very near future, you would be hot to follow up on their request immediately. Yet this isn't the case with many professionals. How many times have you left a message with a supplier to inquire about their services and they never called you back? How many times have you called another professional and it takes them days to respond? It happens all the time.

Remember every connection you make gets you closer or farther away from a sale. When you are networking and find someone you are aligned with and promise to follow up, you have started the relationship with a positive connection and the valve to more business flow opens. If you don't continue that positive connection with quick follow up, it's like closing the energy valve and slamming the door on the potential sale and any future relationship.

Here are the common excuses people give for not following up:

If you're committed to impeccable service and building lifetime relationships, these excuses only take you further away from explosive sales. The simplest way to increase your sales and earn someone else's trust is to demonstrate reliability. Immediate follow up demonstrates your reliability. Now is the time to turn your instant connectivity into instant dollars -- you have no excuse for not following up immediately to any request.

Here are some common scenarios which can turn any connection into a negative experience and the easy solution to turn it into a positive connection:

The Active Networker

You collect several business cards at a business meeting, conference or industry event and they inevitably get put in your pocket or buried on your desk for weeks. You forget who the people were you met and what you talked about. Those business cards turned from possibly hot or warm prospects to stone cold while they sat in your pocket or on your desk.

The easy solution: When you collect a business card from someone immediately jot a note on the back of their card which reminds you to follow up with a specific action. As soon as you return from your meeting, you should follow up within 24 hours with the promised action. It can include a personal note with more information about your company or a quick e-mail. Whatever you have promised you must deliver right away.

The New Business Pitch

You just finished making a new business presentation and you promised to send the prospect more information and a proposal which will take a few weeks to compile. In the meantime, you become very busy with existing customers and you didn't think the prospect was very promising anyway so the proposal turns into a low priority. You send the proposal four weeks later.

The easy solution: If you promise something in two weeks and the prospect doesn't hear from you for four weeks, the prospect will think this is the type of service you will offer if they hire you. If it takes longer to pull together the information than you originally anticipated, call the prospect to let him/her know about the delay. Even if the prospect is lukewarm, he/she could be hot at some point and will appreciate your honesty and follow-up. Or the prospect could become a good referral source. Every connection is filled with possibilities that could lead to a sale.

The Dusty Leads

You receive leads from advertising bingo cards, direct mail, trade shows or seminars, but don't seem to have the time to follow-up or feel the leads are just not qualified. In most cases, if somebody has responded to any offer you make and requested information from your company then that prospect is really interested in you!

The easy solution: Ask more detailed questions on all your response devices to pre-qualify the leads and let you know if the prospect is hot, warm or just a casual looker. The hot and warm leads should always be answered by phone within 48 hours while your company is still fresh in the mind of the prospect. The cold prospect should receive information within 48 hours. This could just push them up to a warm or hot status.

Follow Up to the Follow-up

You were diligent in immediately sending out the initial requested information and then you got busy and forgot to follow up again.

The easy solution: Make sure you have a well-developed, consistent follow-up plan to all of your new business efforts. Be persistent but professional -- keep contacting the prospect until you are told not to call again. This is an opportunity for you to strengthen a relationship. In most cases once the relationship is established with a positive connection the business will follow.

The Unanswered Phone Call

Every business day is filled with unexpected challenges, deadlines and meetings. Between the new business efforts, putting out fires and keeping your existing customers happy, there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to return phone calls.

The easy solution: Return all phone calls! If you have a hectic schedule, make a point of prioritizing your calls. Set aside time in the early morning or after five PM to return calls if you are too busy during the day. Or have your administrative assistant return the phone call to find out the purpose of the call and to set a time that is mutually convenient to talk. Or send a quick e-mail.

You should return all calls even if you don't recognize the person's name. Everyone could be a potential customer or referral source. You won't find out until you return the phone call.

Develop A Follow-up Plan

Here are a few tips to developing a good follow-up plan so that you don't let any possible connection fall through the cracks.

After I follow up with someone three times, I ask them if they mind me being a pest and would like me to continue with my follow up or if they have decided not to buy. In most cases people have told me they actually appreciate and admire my persistence. I have landed many new clients with persistence and consistent follow up.

If someone has not been moved to action within three contacts, there is a good chance they have just been busy or the timing on their decision has changed. Don't give up until the other person has told you to take them off your list or told you they are not going to make a purchase from your company.

You're in business to make money. Don't weaken your marketing chain by failing to practice good follow-up to your marketing efforts. Consistent follow-up establishes long-term relationships. And long-term relationships turn into long-term customers!

Debbie Bermont is president of Source Communications, a marketing consulting firm, and author of Outrageous Business Growth- The Fast Track To Explosive Sales In Any Economy. Debbie is a leading expert on helping businesses reduce their marketing costs and accelerating their sales growth. Ms. Bermont can be contacted at 619-291-6951 or Debbie@outrageousbusinessgrowth.com Extended Bio...

HotelExecutive.com retains the copyright to the articles published in the Hotel Business Review. Articles cannot be republished without prior written consent by HotelExecutive.com.