Follow Up: It’s Life or Death of Your Business

Monday, March 12th, 2012 at 4:26 pm

Give a round of applause to Facebook, Twitter, Pinned, and many other popular social networks we cannot live without!

The impact of social media greatly increases the numbers of prospects requesting information from you. More business is always a good thing. Or is it?

Your potential clients or prospects are on the internet looking for you. What a relief when they find what they are looking for and make a connection. A prospect that gets to your website and enters their name is like gold. And they should be treated as such.

Is Call Follow Up Also Equal to Gold?

Of course! Following up is as valuable as Gold, or more!

7 Reasons this can mean the LIFE or DEATH of your business:

Prospects have a reason they are searching for your business. It’s so extremely rare they receive a followup call. A call with someone saying, “I see you visited my site, Thanks!” So rare, in fact, that when it is offered, the business stands out. If value is also received during the call, it is more likely the individual will work with you in the future.

Business owners are busy people. Follow up calls take time and must be an intentional effort. The best way to commit to these calls are to schedule them as a business meeting with the prospect.

The 1st “NO” is not the final “NO.” Many sales or business deals are made after the prospect has already said no. Please do not take this as a welcome to pressure the client. However, do not give up because you hear the word “NO” or “I need to think about that.” A majority of sales are made between the 7th and 12th time the prospects hears or sees the information.

Email followup SHOULD NOT be a primary crutch. Everyone has email right? Right! But if they are like you and I…most of the emails strangely go to the trash, spam, or never read folder? Have you ever sent an email and followed up about it? The receiver had no idea what you were talking about. This demonstrates that email should probably be prioritized 2ndary to a followup call.

Do not assume your prospect will contact you. However sensible this may seem, after a potential client has made a request for information, it is unlikely they will reach out to you again via phone or email. Although it does occasionally happen, it is good business etiquette to reach out as a business owner. Waiting for the client to do this 1st may cost in the long run.

Setting up a followup appointment with your prospects builds trust and consistency. While you are speaking with your prospect, take THAT call as an opportunity to schedule a followup call.

Differentiate yourself from what everyone else is doing…which is not following up. When you stand out as a STAND OUT type of business person, your client will respond. You will receive a positive outcome from your effort, which may be a new business partner or recommendation. Think in terms of the bigger picture. Next, you must…

Simplify Your Followup Process

Business owners can also be easily overwhelmed. This leads to misfocus and disorganization with the amount of customer requests.

Do you really need that in your business? This is the primary reason to properly organize information.

Business owners have the option to use excel systems that store and organize client information. This can be easily created on your computer.

The upside is: there is no cost. The downside is: it will take time to organize this data. Its will require another system to remind you of your call appointments. The data is not all that pretty, but certainly functional : ) There is an easier option.

Make Your Business Follow up Memorable

A prospect follow up system is a must if you want to amplify the results you are currently receiving. I recommend a system that has made the quite a positive impression in my business. It also has increased the output of call followups.

Find out more about Oprius and Take the Free Trial!

And most Importantly! Follow up with Your Prospects. If you are struggling with the right thing to say when you call, remember that is a skill. Check out this free training to find out what to say on the phone with your prospects.