Quit Wasting Time With Worthless Follow-Ups; How to Know Who to Pursue, and What to Do to Close Them ~ A Free Sales Training Article by Art Sobczak

Quit Wasting Time With Worthless Follow-Ups; How to Know Who to Pursue, and What to Do to Close Them

Right now, deep in your computer's hard drive, or perhaps buried in a rat's nest of manila files and post-it notes, you probably have prospects or old accounts you're clinging onto in hopes that some day they'll buy from you.

Hey, I know very well how this system works. You have "ownership" of the prospect or low-volume account. If for some reason the prospect finally sees the light and calls you with an order, you can puff out your chest, take credit for the sale, and pocket the commission.

But, if you're expending effort with people who never could or would buy from you, or making mistakes with those who are valid longer-term prospects, it's actually costing you money.

For example, let's say you need to call someone twice per year to maintain ownership of the prospect. If you don't know specifically what their interest and potential level is, and you're bothering them (or anyone) with inane phrases like,

...you might as well tote your money down to the nearest casino. Your return on investment will be better--and you'll have more fun.

In this Report, I'll show you how to quit or avoid this nonsense, and show better long-term sales results. We'll go through,

* how to ensure you're spending time pursuing worthwhile prospects who will eventually turn into customers,

* for those prospects you do deem worthwhile: how to use a marketing strategy and tactics to keep your name in front of them between your calls, and, finally,

* how to be sure your calls are not nuisance-type, "Hey, how's it going?" value-empty contacts.

I always urge sales reps to "move them forward or move them out" when referring to prospects. This means if the prospect isn't moving closer to purchasing each time you speak, they're taking your valuable time. If "no" is ultimately what you're going to hear, fine, hear it today, find out why, and you've been successful.

Separate the movers from the "slugs." For those prospects telling you, "We're just not in a position to do it now," ensure that's a valid reason, and not a polite way of blowing you off--which it often is. Here's a way to figure out if they really are a prospect and worth following up.

1. Verify They're a Prospect. First, determine if this is a phony excuse, or if they truly are interested. "I see. Let's talk about that. So you're saying that you are interested in doing business together, but there's something that makes now a bad time?" If they affirm that they are interested, proceed with the next steps. However, they might confess that there really isn't much potential to work together. If that's the case, at least find out why.

2. Find Out When The Timing Will Be Right. Get them to tell you when you should reestablish communication. "Ok, when do you want me to call back so we can resume our conversations?"

3. Confirm They'll Buy. Get commitment they will buy at the time they provide you. "So in three months when I call back you'll be in a position to move forward, right?"

4. Find Out Why That's a Better Time. There must be a reason that the future will be a more opportune time. Find out. "What's going to happen between now and then that'll make the Third Quarter a better time?"

By following this process you narrow down the pool of prospects you're pursuing long-term.

OK, I'll concede that there are some exceptions here. We just talked about how to purge those prospects not worth pursuing. But what about those who are just too qualified . . . those who could do business with you, but choose not to right now? These are your "projects," your dream prospects, the ones that could really make your year--or your career. Everyone needs a few of these to stalk. Pick out several choice ones.

While we're at it, let's put another group in the category you won't completely write off. The ones who are not great prospects for you today (too small, not qualified) but could very well be in the future. (Microsoft and Dell were small companies at one time.) And although you likely won't have them in your regular rotation of calls, you want to be sure they think of you if and when situations change at their company.

Let's review; following this process, you would now have in your longer-term follow-up files:

3. Prospects (or low-volume customers) you're nurturing along, ready to be there for them when breakout occurs.

As a wise manager of your personal time, you know you can't have these prospects/customers in your regular cycle of calls, nor should you. But you DO want to make sure that you are keeping your name and capabilities in front of them.

We all love getting the incoming call from the prospect we thought we'd never hear from, only to hear them say, "We're ready now." To proactively make this happen more often, you should have a personal marketing strategy for staying in contact with the groups of prospects we've identified. And we need to use methods that don't require much of our time, or phone calls.

The return on this type of marketing communication could be huge. And here's the simple reasoning:

things change, and,
out of sight, out of mind.

Situations in companies change every day. (Just think about the changes at your company in just the past three months!) If changes involved new needs and requirements, they'll likely turn to what is familiar. And when you're in touch with them, you could be at the forefront of their mind when a new need develops. Plus, through repetitiveness, you build credibility in their mind. The more they see your name, the more familiar and credible it becomes. Especially when they associate you with problems you can solve and value you can deliver.

Therefore I suggest that you have a planned marketing program to complement your phone calls as a way to stay in touch with these groups of prospects (By the way, you could and should include your regular customers in this plan). Here's a specific plan and process for your own personal marketing strategy.

How to Implement Your Personal Marketing "Stay In Touch" Program to Complement Your Calls

1. Define Your Categories. Determine who you will discard, and who you'll place into your system. For example, anyone now spending over a certain dollar level with a competitor could be a category. Or people with a project planned over two years in the future.

2. Automate Your Follow-Up. Contact management programs make this a snap for you. Otherwise, it could be a nightmare, and would take away from your selling time. With the investment in high-powered computers, peripherals, and contact management software so relatively low compared to the return, it's just plain negligent to not be computerized if you're at all serious about selling. (A great resource that evaluates virtually every contact management software package available is Rich Bohn's Sales Automation Success at www.sellmorenow.com. Also, a past sponsor/partner of ours that has a great product is Tigerpaw Software.)

3. Plan and Execute Your Communications. Decide how you'll communicate with your prospects, and how often. Certainly your company's catalog and sale brochures are possibilities-- but that's the norm. Boring. It's better than nothing, but it lumps you in with every other vendor. You want to be perceived as someone special ... someone who adds value. You want them to think of you first. To do that you need to reach them at a personal level. Here are some ideas:

newsletters, special reports, or other information that provide useful content, with a subtle underlying sell message. Consider putting together a brief newsletter that provides valuable information they can use, not just puffery about your company and products. For example, include tips and tidbits that can help them in their jobs. Of course the suggestions should include the use of your product or service, but that's not the main reason for the communication. For example, a supplier of packaging products could send out a piece on "Ten Ways to Reduce Your Shipping Expenses." You're perceived less as a me-too vendor, and more as someone who solves the problems they deal with. By the way, you could send these via mail, fax, or email.
post cards. We all trash unopened direct mail. When was the last time, though, you didn't at least skim the message on a postcard? At an investment of less than 50 cents each including postage, postcards printed with your message are an inexpensive way to get in front of customers and prospects.
articles you clip that would be of interest. Everything you read should flow through your "Who else would be interested in this?" -filter.
free samples of your product. We all love getting packages, don't we?
fax broadcasts (relatively easy out of most contact management computer programs). Again, make sure it presents value, and not just a blatant advertising message.
handwritten notes. Takes more time, but if you commit to just a few of these per week to your very best prospects, the rewards could be well worth it. I'm often asked about using stationery with reps' photos. Personally, I like them. It's easier to connect with a person when you know what she looks like. You don't photograph well, you say? I've seen reps who have caricatures drawn and printed on their personalized note cards. It's different and fun.
birthday cards.
other holiday cards, or even cards for no particular reason. Speaker and trainer, Andrea Nierenberg, suggests dropping a personalized postcard in the mail. While your company's stationery is adequate for regular thank you notes, a hand-picked postcard with a design or topic of interest to the customer speaks volumes. When you're traveling for pleasure or business, scan the touristy post card racks with specific prospects and customers in mind.
special items for very select prospects. I've sent books to prospects on topics unrelated to what I sell, but what I knew they were interested in. Find out what your prospects' and customers' passions are, and believe me, that transcends business. I'm a golf fanatic, and I've even listened to bad salespeople who sent me golf-related stuff.

Sales reps who open calls with these inane phrases are lazy, or simply don't know what to say. The first I can't help with; the latter ... well, let's get to it.

Make a personal commitment to have a value-added reason for calling, every time you phone. Value-added means that the person can say they gained something by taking your call. And don't even think about whining that you can't come up with something new every time you call. Reps who cop-out like that remind me of my daughter when she was younger, claiming, "I can't clean my room--it's too hard." No, you just haven't tried hard enough yet.

Brainstorm with other reps for value-added reasons for calling. Think of industry or product news they might find interesting. Let them know of sales or promotions that apply specifically to them, based on what you know about them. If you've had policy changes at your company that would make doing business with you more attractive, call for that reason. Have a meeting with all of your fellow reps and have a team competition, with prizes, for the most value-added reasons for calling. They must fit into this opening statement: "Mr. Prospect, the reason for the call is that I have some information I felt you'd be interested in. It's (value-added reason)."

"I saw some interesting news the other day and thought you'd like to hear about it . . ." "I was thinking about you . . ." "When I saw the new service we just introduced, you were the first person that came to mind as someone who really could save some money with it . . ." "Wanted to be sure you're familiar with some new developments in the industry that might have an effect on you . . ."

Bottom line, when your call comes in, you want them to think, "Oh, that's Pat with ABC Company. Every time he calls he has some good information for me," as opposed to, "Oh, it's that salesperson again. Tell him I'm busy."

Be selective about who you follow up with, have something valuable to say every time you call, and have a planned system for staying in contact with them complements your calls, and you'll find more of your longer-term follow-ups buying in the short term.

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"How to Sell More, In Less Time, With No Rejection, Using Common Sense Telephone Techniques, Volumes 1 & 2"

You'll get great how-to info not only on the follow-up, but on all parts of the call. In these two books you'll get over 540 pages of rock-solid info, just like you read in my Telephone Selling Report sales tips newsletter ever other month, and in my e-mail newsletter each week. Click Here to see just a sampling of the sections in the book, and what you'll get: