How Effectively Do You Follow-Up?

The second greatest cause of lost sales is due to one fatal flaw in the sales process – POOR FOLLOW-UP! There are three reasons sales people don’t follow-up effectively: poor timing, poor technique and poor organization. Let me explain how professionals follow-up and how you can double your sales.

One of the most difficult decisions a sales person makes is when to follow-up. The story is told of a salesperson, who after the first meeting with a decision maker was told to follow-up in three weeks at which time a decision whether or not to buy would be make. The salesperson obediently followed the decision makers request and followed up precisely in three weeks only to be told that they had already purchased a couple of weeks earlier from someone else. The decision maker mentioned that he vaguely remembered talking to the sales person, but when the competitor presented his solution it seemed compelling so he made the purchase.

The salesperson confused and disappointed promised himself that he would never make that mistake again and determined that he would follow-up much sooner next time. That very day, the sales person met with another decision maker who also told the sales person to follow up in a few weeks. The sales person, now much more savvy than before, thought to himself, “I will follow-up next week so I won’t loose the sale to anyone else.” Sure enough, the next week the sales person was standing in front of a somewhat bewildered decision maker who said, “What are you doing here! I thought I told you to follow-up with me in a few weeks. I haven’t made up my mind yet, and please quit bothering me!” Now the sales person was really confused. It seemed regardless of what approach he took to following up with the sale he was wrong.

As sales people we want to know two things from the decision maker: Do you have any questions and have you made up your mind yet. Asking those two questions can be aggravating. We want to know the answers but we don’t want to seem pushy. The solution is not to ask, but to create an environment where the answers will be given. To do this we must have a reason to be in front of the decision maker and that reason is to present them with something of value that will help them in the decision making process. At the Business Performance Group, we call this something a “romance piece.” It is any information in a tangible form, designed to be left with the decision maker, which will provide a reason to be in front of them and to also give the decision maker additional information to make the correct buying decision. If the decision to purchase is going to take place within thirty days, the salesperson can follow-up as often as a couple of times per week using a romance piece.

Romancing the sale solves the problem of when to follow-up and provides a successful technique for being in front of the decision maker. This powerful technique will build rapport while at the same time providing useful information. Don’t leave the decision maker to make the buying decision without your frequent input. Romance the sales and watch your sales increase.

Do You Have A Sales Tool Kit?

Most sales people “wing-it”; they sell bare-handed instead of using the specific tools of sales. In construction, would you drive a screw without a screwdriver, or hammer a nail without a hammer? Would you use a hand saw when you could use a power saw? Let me explain what should be in your sales kit.

The purpose of a sales person is to find opportunities, discover pain, present the best solution to remove the pain and finally, to complete the sale. The sales tool kit is used to convincingly and accurately present the solution. Sales tools are used not only in the presentation phase of the sales process, but most importantly during the follow-up stage. Follow-up is the most important part of the process, and the time that sales tools can be used most effectively. These tools are used to help convince the prospect to make the correct decision.

We have all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is a true statement, then a sales kit should contain pictures to more effectively present the solution. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a sample of the product should be worth a million. Product samples should be part of the tool kit. Let the prospect see the sample, touch it and experience it. Letters of recommendation from happy satisfied customers should be part of the sales kit. No one will be more convincing than a customer who has had a positive experience using your products or services. These letters should be used to overcome potential objections and concerns.

Technical data should be part of the tool kit. Company information should also be included. Awards and special recognition are effective tools. Lists of high profile customers and high profile projects or applications of your product are also very effective tools. Your sales kit should include post cards to thank prospects for their time and to remind them of their hot points concerning your product. Every tool kit should include sales agreements. Your sales tool kit should include all the tools necessary to sell your particular product or service. The tools you include are limited only by your imagination. When you find a new or more effective tool, include it. You can never have too many tools in you sales tool kit. A tool has no value if you don’t have it when you need it. Always carry your tool kit with you and you’ll have greater sales success.

A Ten Most Wanted List Will Dramatically Increase Your Sales

If you really want to make more sales, create your own Ten Most Wanted List. Identify prospects or companies you want to sell, but have not had current success. Put them on your list. The list will create a focus and urgency you have not experienced before. Post the list where you can see it several times during the day. Your mind will go to work on strategies and plans that will allow you to be successful.

The FBI’s Ten Most Wanted program was implemented by J. Edgar Hoover on March 14, 1950. According to Eric Hickey’s Encyclopedia of Murder & Violent Crime, the average amount of time a fugitive spends on the Ten Most Wanted list before being captured is 314 days. Recently, a local fugitive wanted by the FBI for more than two years was apprehended after being on the list for 114 days. They knew that by putting him on the “List” he would soon be apprehended.

Several years ago I was relaxing on the beach in Hawaii after spending an invigorating morning swimming with sea turtles on the Waikoloa coast. I found myself engaged in conversation with a sales person from California who was involved in the heating and air conditioning industry. He was telling me about one of his competitors that had taken several of his key accounts. Obviously this sales person had become complacent with his account base, but this incident provided a major wake-up call. The salesman went on to tell me how in his anger, he researched his competitors clients, created a list of the ones he wanted, and proceeded over the next year to steal away eleven clients, almost every one of those on his list.

Over the years, my clients have effectively used a Ten Most Wanted List to focus on those prospects they really want to sell. If the FBI can capture fugitives on their list in 314 days on average, you should be able to close the sale with prospects on your list in just a matter of months.

Begin With The End In Sight

Sales people can begin with the end in sight through visualization or some other measurement tool that will put the end in perspective. Let me recount a story that will illustrate this principle:

In the early morning of July 4th, 1952, the California Coast was blanketed with fog. Twenty-one miles to the west on Catalina Island, a thirty-four year old woman waded into the water determined to be the very first woman to ever swim the distance from Catalina to the California Coast. Her name was Florence Chadwick. She was a seasoned distance swimmer with incredible stamina. She had already achieved recognition as the first women to swim the English Channel in both directions. As millions of people rooted for her successful swim, she walked into the numbing cold water and began to cut her way through the powerful waves to the California Coast.

As she swam the numbing cold temperature of the water became one of her great adversaries. The sharks that infested the waters were also adversaries. Several times during the course of the swim the people traveling in the boat alongside her had to take rifles and fire them into the water to scare away the sharks that were swimming with her. But her greatest adversary was the dense fog that enveloped her. She could barely see only a few feet in front of her as she swam.

Fifteen hours into her swim she asked to be taken out of the water. After they treated Florence for mild hypothermia they informed her that when she stopped she was less than one mile from the shore. In fact, she was almost at the point where the ocean current would have helped wash her in. She could have ridden the waves to the beach.

Florence told reporters, "If I had known how close I was, I wouldn’t have quit, if I could have only seen the shore. But when I looked up all I could see was fog and it didn’t look like I had made any progress at all. If I could have only seen the shore I could have made it."

Let me use this story as a metaphor relating to sales people and their ability to clearly visualize their goals and dreams. The importance of being able to look through the fog of discouragement, rejection, and just plain “bad days” can never be over stated. Just like Florence Chadwick, if you can’t see or visualize, or some how measure your achievement as you travel through the many “fogs of life” you may quit even though success is within your reach.