how do you feel about follow up?

How were these "leads" generated?
Isn't more work what you want? The something else they could turn into is WHAT?

How OLD are they? Can you give us a bit more info, other wise, this seems to be annoying the forum, eh?

Why would anyone generate leads if they weren't going to follow up?

GordonJ

Keep probing to getting their feed back so that you can make informed decisions and reply to them with answers i.e solutions .

Look at it like a relationship .

Are these leads your friends?

If they aren't, then you follow up (by e-mail) until they say "Go away".

If you are following up by phone, you do it until they stop being warm with you....and as long as they tell you they are still interested.

If you tell us more about what you sell, and how you got these leads...and yes, how old the leads are (Meaning how long they have been leads), we'll be better able to help you..

If you think you seem like a pest, it's because you haven't given a reason for each follow up. Study the follow up e-mails of any high end marketer. Just subscribe to their list, and study what they do.

hey thanks for the replies,

I ended up following up with the leads,

(i generated them from a facebook post i did for a free video about a month ago, some i shot a free video for, some reached out but we never got to work together, I'm a videographer),

all of them actually wanted to continue or start filming either a free video or a paid video, (my policy is first one is free)

i guess this was more a personal question because im super introverted and reaching out has never been my strong suit, but thanks for the practical biz wisdom everyone, I will keep following up with everyone i've ever talked to about my business

Follow up is an area, even as a highly experienced salesperson, I may have lost out on many deals because of. Nah, I'm sure I've lost out.

It's a skill and a process.

My superpower is in qualifying a prospect. I do it thoroughly, quickly, and well. What this means is that in a short time I know whether they're a fit or not for the offer on three requirements: Need (do they know they have the problem we solve, and want it solved?), Budget (is their problem large enough to warrant my involvement in solving? Does it justify the price?), and Personality Fit (are they going to be fun to work with, or a Client From Hell?). And if they are not, I move past them FAST.

I have a belief, and it may be a limiting one, that people generally don't change much. A guy who is broke this year is likely to be broke next year. Circumstances don't seem to change much for people. I could be wrong. But this is what I have personally seen over the years. Achievers achieve, strugglers struggle.

HOWEVER--

--and here is where my approach leaves... who knows, certainly "some" to perhaps "many"... potential clients left in the dust.

I rarely speak to someone I've already spoken with again. Not saying I never have 2 call closes, that's not what I mean. I'm saying if they aren't a fit after initial qualification then I probably won't check in with them in 3 months or 6 months to see if they're "still interested" or "things have changed".

And when I have, in my personal experience, they haven't changed. This could be a bias, though.

Anyway, all that to say that follow up is useful and even as a strong salesperson I could still be benefiting more from it. Perhaps I should figure out how to automate it...the issue is I have multiple income streams and offers with different clients across different funnels. So it'd be real work.

For you, here are some approaches I have found to be non-annoying.

First, the "Are you still interested in X?" follow up. This is to be done 2 - 12 weeks after the initial conversation. Up to you how soon and how often, but once a month is definitely not annoying. People forget who you are real fast, especially if they signed up from a random FB ad.

Second, the "Have your circumstances changed?" follow up. This is when you're curious if they got the money since you last spoke, got out of trouble, an individual left, something that changed that could open up their ability to buy.

Third, the "I was thinking of you" follow up. I like this one because it is a 'giving' message. There's value in it. You share an article, a story, a thought RELEVANT to them.

A key understanding I'd like you to take away is that just because "now they have the money", that doesn't mean they suddenly realized they could work with you today. There are pressures on their life. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. For most people, they are going to spend that money somewhere...and it's often the first seller who gets to them who receives it. So follow up can have a valuable impact by getting back on their radar. They are NOT thinking about you 24-7

To replace your feeling of uncomfortableness in follow up, try imagining you're sending a signal to remind them you exist. That you are here to solve that problem they have. That you're giving value. YOU are thinking about you 24-7...they are not.

I often feel I'm "too busy" with new leads for follow up. Could be I've left a lot on the table.

Hey,
I understand your hesitation, but efforts is essential. It indicates your attention, thus it's not bothersome. Most follow-ups, in my experience, resulted in favorable outcomes. Be friendly, inquire if they need anything, or bring up any new products you may be presenting. It's not about bothering them; it's about being aware of them. Go for it!

First, free is good. Always has been and always will be...

having said that, of course, I'm not talking about everything for free.

Free trial. Free subscription...if you want more here's what we offer. Here's a free thing we do...of course we have a paid tier that offers a lot more.

Every successful business does free and will continue to do so.

I talked on here probably a year or so ago (maybe longer?) when Maserati sent me an invitation to drive their new SUV for a weekend. Free. They wanted me to fall in love with it. Free is good and creates more sales.

Now, for follow-ups, I'm not a big believer in chasing a sale...and never have been...

but, having said that, there are ways you can do it and not have the customer feel like you're chasing them.

Birthdays. Hey Bob, happy birthday. Here's a free meal. Good for restaurants etc.

Hey Bob, Happy Thanksgiving. We've had a heck of a year with a lot of successes...blah, blah, blah.

Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Happy whatever. Happy...

little ways you can stay in contact without chasing someone. No mention of buying anything. No question of if you've got a real job yet. No question of if we caught you at a drunk moment when you'll say yes.

The follow-ups, as I mentioned, are 'pulling' and not 'pushing'. It works much better

At times, I follow up until the response goes negative - or I get bricks thrown at the skylight in the copywriters attic wrapped in paper saying "feck off".

If you don't envisage enjoying the art of the follow up...(even though they tend to bump up the revenues - but the initial pitch should be as irresistible as possible - the f/ups are for the stragglers or those who inexplicably "missed" your wondrous words).

Give your "pitch" a set in stone, cast in iron unshakeable deadline - with 5 reasons why and 7 reasons why their life will be forever lessened if they don't respond.

Once the date has passed - there's no need to follow up.

It damages your credibility if you do.


Steve


P.S, I know we see tricks and capers explaining why an unmovable "deadline" has been extended - but it may be preferable not to.

So that the good people know now, and in your future promos, that the deadline is rock solid and real.

And you get the big results far quicker.


Another thought - it's not always the case, but you may have noticed the more you have to push, push and push people to buy, they can become "difficult" customers.

They feel a touch press ganged into buying and if the 179 benefits and 17 promises you extolled 29 times don't quite meet their now "over the top" exact expectations - they're more likely to vociferously complain or cancel. Or both.

I think we all feel like that we are annoying or like contacting them again, i see like flipping the switch, focusing on them, and maybe a short email that you value them, and are here to help them and even say contact by email if i can be any help something like that, i hope this helps you

We like to follow up until they buy or tell us to take them off our list.

Initial contact should always be followed up with right away, depending on industry for at lease a week of phone, sms and email, then into a long-term follow up via automation in your CRM.

In our business our average sales agent gains 34 additional projects per year with long-term follow up, at $4000 or whatever per unit commission, that turns into a lot of additional $$$.

Yes, follow up is king!

I can generate reports that summarize key information and identify areas where further action is needed.

hey so i just wanted to update everyone,

A few things i learned as i'm in month 9 of this production business,

- things are up and down, feast and famine. What i realize about this though is that, when i'm feasting i'm not marketing, when im famining I'm marketing, so I intend to market everyday like my life depends on it, cuz it kinda does,

- with the guidance of Eben Pagan I created a simple business dashboard in Excel just to track my marketing activities, leads, and my sales and expenses, it's kind of a gamechanger because i did not want to manually track everything, but its really helpful,

- i'm continuing to add value to the marketplace, so much so that a guy reached out on monday and basically told me we want the free video, but we want to hire you for recurring work, i was like "whoa, this shit really works", which i knew, I sent him over the script template, he never responded, so *follow up time* wish me luck on that

- just keep adding value, its truly the best course of action imho.. long and short term...

- i'm wrapping up a free shoot i did at the end of november for a lead, and she offered me a free table at her 100 person wedding venue event in Feb, which i intend to go to, to network and add value and get feedback, and she also wants a paid video, (she knows how i work, first ones free), but that will come some time 1st quarter of 2024, FOLLOWUP

- need to generate some type of monthly content plan specifics / details because its the next logical step for both me and my clients

i'm generating basically a lead a day off of facebook groups for my free video lead magnet,

other than that, i just wanted to post this update because it helps me clear my mind and strategize, hope everyone is doing well

Value. Can't go wrong with value. You can acknowledge that it's been a long time since you emailed them. Just start back up again with consistency and they will either unsubscribe or re engage.

From my own experience it is worth of it, expecially if the client was satisfied with the job you did. I am gathering that way some extra work ,sometimes I earn 2 or even 3 times more on same client only because of that I had remind them about me (:

I wonder how those email list builders are getting conversions.
I got hundreds of emails in my inbox that I never open them to read.

So, I will be like, if am doing the same with follow up emails, isn't that a waste of time?