There are a few things that no business can succeed without. And one of them is proper follow-up.
Why won’t a business succeed without proper follow-up?
Because if you drop the ball when someone has expressed interest in your service, product, or working with you in any way, it translates into a direct fall or loss of prospective clients, and earnings. And it’s probably not helping your business image much either.
Follow-up was always necessary but especially these days because people are bombarded with information and you need to rise above all of this noise.
And proper follow-up is an art. It can’t be pushy, it must be pleasant at all times, but it must be persistent.
And I call this art: “Voracious Follow-up and having your clients LOVE you for it!” And that is what your follow-up has to be.
Voracious yet nice and not weird or brusque or in any way forcing. You need to follow up and have your potential clients see you are “Cool”. And I don’t mean cool in some arty way, but just a really great person to deal with.
That is the key. You need to be seen and regarded as someone who is just always cool, no matter what. Because that cool person is the one that people want to deal with, buy from, and hang out with in life.
Now, I have a question for you. Have you had a customer experience, either from a salesperson in a shop, or a phone support person or anybody and left that experience feeling great because that person was cool? Friendly and nice, yet did their job?
So, you see, it’s a great feeling. And that is the way you want your clients to “Feel”.
And I completely agree with what Maya Angelou said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
The key is being unforgettable in the best possible way.
Now, how exactly do we follow through voraciously, yet cultivating our Cool Factor?
There are two main things:
1. The first thing is that you have to really believe that what you have to offer is valuable and that people really, really need it.
And I feel like a pretty good example of that because I have 100 percent conviction that what I offer as a coach is valuable, that when people coach with me, I will completely turn their lives and businesses around. And I have proof of this and testimonials and I see it happening before my eyes.
So, when I’m following up with someone who has expressed interest in working with me, I follow up with a very solid confidence in my service. And you can’t have this confidence if you doubt what you are selling.
I assume that if you are in business, that you have confidence in your service. And if you don’t, change your service or product so that you are a billion percent behind it.
And it’s good to keep that in mind when you are following up that you are not “bugging anyone”. I know that this a major fear of lots of people when it comes to following up with prospects. You have to realize that what you offer has great value.
And I even want you to put that up in front of your desk where you work. “What I offer has great value”.
So, that’s the first part. Belief in what you are selling.
2. You have to actually follow up.
Not think you have followed up or imagined because you have thought you have followed up that it magically happened without you having to actually follow up! But actually, really doing a proper follow-up. And by proper follow-up, I mean until you get an answer, a yes or a no.
And if you do get a no, graciously back out, while still leaving the door open. So, something that is not sour grapes but respectful of their decision and then something like, “If you ever want to do this in the future, I’m still here and would more than glad to assist you”.
But whatever you do, once someone says no and it’s emphatic, then don’t be that person who actually IS bugging. Then that does apply!
How do we follow up?
I have a very clear and simple system that really works and because it’s a system, you just use it every single time and you have something solid to fall back on.
First of all, when you meet a new prospect or someone refers you, you email or call them for the first time. And that first email/call has to be cool. It has to be pleasant and it has to be very clear about what you are offering.
I actually give a template to my clients and help them rewrite this so all of those elements are taken care of. And you offer a couple of very specific times that work for you to to connect and ask if one of those possiblities works for the prospective client and if not, you ask times that work for them.
So, you can see that we have very specific times and very confidently scheduling something specific in. And that is actually courageous. A person who is afraid to follow up, kind of throws the ball in the prospect’s face to have them sort it all out and hope that they will become a client by magic. It’s kind of like operating in a sort of fog.
And this is the part that people LOVE. They love when you do the work for them. When you save THEM time. You are the one who wants them as a client. They don’t even know they want your service yet. So, it’s fitting that you do the work. Right?
So, do the work. Make the plans. Off the bat, they will respect you for that.
I can’t tell you how many times clients have thanked me for following up and said that they so appreciated as I made their lives easy. Now, who doesn’t want that? I saved them having to dig my card out, enter the email address, write an email etc. Instead, this lovely email from me just appears in their inbox, saving them all that time. And who here understands that this helps me get clients?!
And please, never, ever put in an email that you are really busy. If you want to turn people off, do this! We know you are busy. Everyone is busy. And the thing is that when someone gets that message, the assumption is that you think THEY aren’t as busy as you and that their time isn’t as valuable.
So, whatever you do, get really grounded and real before reaching out to people.
Ego will hurt you every time. Nobody responds to that. They respond to courage and respect and confidence. So, yes. Be confident but not cocky or self-important. And always, but always, be pleasant in your interactions in business. When you aren’t, it always comes back to bite you. And always do what you say you will do or you will get a reputation for not being trustworthy or dependable. Always keep the deal that was agreed upon.
The System:
So, here’s the lowdown.
The system is you send the first email (or leave the first voicemail), you wait no longer than three days and send a follow-up email saying that you hope that the email went through and re-state why you are reaching out. Or you call them, if that’s appropriate. And here is the super, duper secret that I learned when I was a top Executive Recruiter for Huge Wallstreet Players: Never, ever have even a tiny bit of reproach or “guilt-causing” in your communications.
I would follow up sometimes 48 times. Yes. 48 times and not once did I have any hint of exasperation or expectation. It was always the same exact upbeat tone. And it works. And why should I be exasperated? They didn’t want anything from me, or they didn’t know that yet. I wanted to get THEM on the phone.
Please be mindful that your prospects don’t owe you anything. They don’t owe you an answer to an email. They don’t owe you a call.
Now, after the second follow up, who quits at that point? Anybody?
Well, this is where the problems come in. Studies have shown that it takes an average number of 6 contacts (or touches) with the prospect before making them a client or customer. So, keep digging till you get to the gold. Don’t give up.
So, back to our system…You keep following up every few days and you keep pleasant and keep your “Cool Factor” until you get some answer. If after six pleasant follow ups, you have heard nothing, then check in with yourself and see if this is really a prospect and decide what is appropriate. If it is a hot prospect who actually expressed real interest in your service or product, and is maybe just a very tough person to reach, never give up!
So, that’s it. Two major things to master “Voracious Follow-up and Having your Clients LOVE you for it!”
And the truth is that a lot business people don’t follow up because we are afraid deep down, that other people won’t like us. And I will go deeper into this in a near future post. So, stay tuned!
Again here are the two things:
1. The first thing is that you have to really believe that what you have to offer is valuable and that people really, really need it.
2. You have to actually follow up until you get an answer. And you have to be super nice and cool at all times.
So, that’s it folks! I hope you have gotten a lot of value out of this post and if so, please don’t be shy. Comment below and tell us what you thought.
With Love and to Your Success!
Jeanne
xox
