Follow-Up - How Soon?

3 replies
Over the last month I have taken my business from $0.00 to over $10,000 per month. I went back yesterday and looked at areas where I need to improve myself and my overall sales process. The one major issue that I have right now is follow-up for outbound sales and after appointments. I'll triple my close rate if I get better at follow-up.

My initial follow-up is good. I'm pretty good with the 1st and 2nd followup. That's because I know what to say and it's all pretty basic. But my followup process starts to fall apart after the meeting. So in effort to tighten up my follow-up, I have a couple of questions.

1. After an Appointment: Client seems very interested. I generally wait 1 week to follow-up. But I'm beginning to think that is too long.

Right now I have a prospect who told me that he is highly interested as we were on the way out the door. I followed-up with one 1 week after our meeting and haven't been able to get hold of him. Maybe I need to shorten the window between the meeting and follow-up?

Any advice or tips on this area, especially by the 5+ follow-up?
#followup
  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Follow-ups are tough and require perseverance.

    I interviewed Boston-area sales force developer Dave Kurlan awhile back and he noted it can take a dozen attempts to reconnect...

    ...Even with prospects who have expressed interest and ARE interested in meeting with you!!

    One call is probably not going to be enough.

    They still have the daily fires to fight in their business.

    Those didn't stop just because you arrived on the scene.

    You got in there.

    They recognize you.

    But now you have to redo the work and get in there again.

    By the way, what kind of process do you follow? Where do things get left off at when you conclude your first meeting? Is there a clear next step? "OK, you need three days to think about this...if I don't hear from you by Friday, I'll assume you're not interested? ...or should I get back on your radar, and let your receptionist know you WANT me to talk to you?"

    Or is it being left wishy-washy?
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  • Profile picture of the author johntoll
    Thanks for the reply!

    You got in there.

    They recognize you.

    But now you have to redo the work and get in there again.
    That's what I have realized. I actually had a few really strong prospects go cold, now I know that I have to probably treat future calls as a cold call again and resell them because too much time got between the meeting and follow-up.

    By the way, what kind of process do you follow? Where do things get left off at when you conclude your first meeting? Is there a clear next step? "OK, you need three days to think about this...if I don't hear from you by Friday, I'll assume you're not interested? ...or should I get back on your radar, and let your receptionist know you WANT me to talk to you?"

    Or is it being left wishy-washy?
    This is where I need to button-up my process. I don't really have a good follow-up process after the meeting. My plan now is to send an immediate follow-up text thanking them for their time and then returning home with a follow-up email. That will be a start, but I need to get better at following up after I don't hear from them and varying my approach. I'm getting lost in the later stages, especially when I keep saying the same thing again.

    Lately I have been leaving it kind of wishy-washy. Like that last guy told me that he would call me if he decided to move forward. I realized that I should have been more direct and set clear steps. Maybe that's my issue? I'm not setting clear enough steps about what to do next.

    I also get a little confused about what to say on the phone when I'm following up. It's amazing that it's hard to find good follow-up information out there on the internet. There is a ton of material on cold calls and the initial meeting, but not much on follow-up.

    I once had a sales guy call me and say:

    "Hey John, why haven't you gotten started yet." That's how he entered the call. I almost bought right there when he said that. Maybe that's what I need to do.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
      Originally Posted by johntoll View Post

      Thanks for the reply!



      That's what I have realized. I actually had a few really strong prospects go cold, now I know that I have to probably treat future calls as a cold call again and resell them because too much time got between the meeting and follow-up.



      This is where I need to button-up my process. I don't really have a good follow-up process after the meeting. My plan now is to send an immediate follow-up text thanking them for their time and then returning home with a follow-up email. That will be a start, but I need to get better at following up after I don't hear from them and varying my approach. I'm getting lost in the later stages, especially when I keep saying the same thing again.

      Lately I have been leaving it kind of wishy-washy. Like that last guy told me that he would call me if he decided to move forward. I realized that I should have been more direct and set clear steps. Maybe that's my issue? I'm not setting clear enough steps about what to do next.

      I also get a little confused about what to say on the phone when I'm following up. It's amazing that it's hard to find good follow-up information out there on the internet. There is a ton of material on cold calls and the initial meeting, but not much on follow-up.

      I once had a sales guy call me and say:

      "Hey John, why haven't you gotten started yet." That's how he entered the call. I almost bought right there when he said that. Maybe that's what I need to do.
      You know what to do, then!

      > Be persistent, and don't take a lack of connecting right this instant personally

      and

      > Use your words(!) to get clear agreement between you and the prospect about What Happens Next.

      "I'll check it over and get back to you" is not sufficient.
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