A great many businesses lose sales because they neglect one critical aspect with dealing with prospects… The follow up.
And by follow up, I mean picking up the phone and actually talking to prospects!
Here’s a real example I recently encountered.
The business places expensive advertisements for a franchise opportunity in newspapers. The ads cost upwards of $5,000 each and asks prospects to send in for more information – which they duly receive.
Part of the package asks them to fill out a prospectus if they’re interested in having a meeting to discuss the franchise opportunity.
Just about none of the prospects send anything back. And that’s where it stops.
The franchise owner’s attitude is, “Forget them – they’re not interested. Move on”.
And that’s a huge mistake. These people were interested in something the business had to offer. Maybe some of them are spurious enquiries, but a small percentage could be good quality prospects who just aren’t ready yet.
So what should the business be doing instead?
The first thing we need to realise is we’re all busy. Yes, someone asked for more information. When they received it, they may not have even opened it. And if they did, scanned it and put aside to get to later. Maybe the kids were screaming, maybe dinner had to be put on the table, there are a myriad of interruptions. Life comes in the way!
So the first thing I suggested was to send them a reminder. The package went out in the mail – so send it again. Yes, send the whole thing again. If you just send them a reminder letter, they have to go look for the original package – and who knows if they’ll find it. Make their lives easy!
If you still don’t hear from them, pick up the phone and call. But here’s a critical point. DO NOT TRY TO SELL ANYTHING!
Your job at this point is to find out more about them. It’s a very gentle probing exercise – not an interrogation. You want to find out what prompted them to respond to the ad in the first place. What their situation is, what their hopes are, what else they’d like to know in order to move forward.
Your goal is to discover their truth. Not to make them feel pressured into something where they’ll run a mile. Do not ask manipulative questions. Questions that put them into a bind – where they feel pressured to move ahead due to answers they gave.
Here’s a quick example of what I mean…
A few months ago I downloaded an investment whitepaper from a financial planner’s site.
A few days later, I got a call from their office.
The chap started to ask me a series of questions regarding my situation. At no stage did he ask permission, or find out if this was a good time. However, in the interests of market research, I played along.
The questions got more and more probing. My thought was, “Hey, you don’t know me. You don’t have a relationship with me. I’m giving you the information due to my “research”, but under normal circumstances, I’d tell you to bugger off.”
He then tried to manipulate me into having a meeting with an advisor who could create a financial plan for me. “Well, you’ve said this and this, and you want that – so it makes sense to make a booking, doesn’t it?”
And that’s where he lost me as a potential client. I felt pressured into doing something I didn’t want to do. I simply wasn’t ready to move forward. I didn’t really know them, certainly didn’t like or trust them – yet.
So what should he have done instead? Ask me how I’d like to proceed. “Where would you like to go from here?”
Yes, he ran the risk of me saying I wanted more information, or a low risk meeting – maybe attending a seminar where I’d get to meet the people in a low key environment etc.
He should have asked if I’d like to receive a regular financial newsletter containing tips, case studies and testimonials.
If yes, he should have made sure I received low key, non threatening information over the months prompting me to take action when I was ready.
Incidentally, I’ve received nothing since. So they effectively wasted their time and money.
So back to our franchisor.
Same deal applies. If the answer to “Where would you like to go from here” is they’re interested but not ready – could be a time, money, or other issue, institute a keep in touch mechanism that keeps them warm.
Some sales are quick. Others especially where it’s a major life decision like buying a business, could take months or even years.
Your job is to be there when they’re ready. But don’t let that stop you getting new blood into the funnel!
Finally, if you’d like help with creating getting more fresh blood into the funnel, creating ads, keep in touch marketing or being coached through the sales follow up process, call me on (02) 9499-7958 or reply to this email.
Rashid.
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