Top of Mind

Here are 10 tips to help you effectively follow up with clients.

By Bill Brooks

I was recently shopping for a car, and a salesperson followed up with me in a way that defies belief. He called my house and left word for me to call him back. Here was my question: Who is selling what to whom?

Did I call him back? You guessed it!

It is the responsibility of the salesperson to do the proactive work of contacting a prospect—not vice versa. Let’s review 10 effective ways to meaningfully and powerfully maintain contact with your prospects and customers.

• Be sure to take time to plan and schedule follow ups and be sure to establish a format, outline or agenda for the actual one-on-one discussion. Don’t just wing it.
• Carefully discern which prospects are most easily justified as follow-up candidates. Remember, not all prospects are equal.
  Find a way to record the details related to each conversation. My recommendation is that you use some form of contact management software.
• Don’t put it off. Always remember that if the prospect is a prospect for you, he is just as likely a prospect for your competition.
• Develop a way for each contact with the prospect to move you closer to something—another meeting, a more advanced presentation, an alternative product offering, a sale or a referral.
• Design each contact with the prospect so that you leave with additional in-depth knowledge about him. Use that knowledge to take your relationship to a higher level.
• Make sure there is sufficient time between contacts so that you are not perceived as a pest or someone who has nothing else to do with your time. Allow sufficient time for your message to sink into your prospect’s mind, world and circumstance.
• Set aside sufficient time for the contact. Realize that as the relationship becomes richer, more time will be required. It is not a sprint—sometimes it is a marathon.
• Be sure you have a good, productive, positive reason for each contact. This might mean allowing sufficient time between contacts to allow your prospect to need additional information. It could be a promised contact to present different options or a commitment to give something to the prospect. Remember, you need to have a legitimate reason for the contact.
• Listen to your prospect. What is he saying to you? Design your contact around what he says, not what you want to do.

If you’re going to do it…
I’d like to share another story with you. I was recently looking for a professional service provider for our firm. I called two possible candidates, and I was very precise with both about our time schedule.

Candidate No. 1 called me within the time frame I had given and even had several of his clients call me—people for whom I have great respect. Candidate No. 2 called me much later, left a voice mail and asked me to return the call.

…do it right
Candidate No. 1 also contacted the person in my firm who will be using the service. For candidate No. 1, there was now depth in the account, strong validation of his capabilities and a perception that he legitimately wanted the business.

We selected candidate No. 1, of course. I contacted the second candidate to tell him of our decision. After I conveyed the message, I was asked, “Why did you call me in the first place?” I was also treated to a very terse and short phone call.

What happened? Candidate No. 1 simply outsold candidate No. 2.

How often are you outsold for similar reasons? All things being equal, the salesperson with the best strategy for following up and delivering what the prospect wants—when he wants it—will win the sale.

Bill Brooks is CEO of The Brooks Group, an international sales training and business growth firm in Greensboro, N.C. For more information, visit www.brooksgroup.com or call 336-282-6303.