Life’s Too Short For Follow-Up Calls

Your endless, hapless, pointless begging, ahhh, “follow-up” calls are killing you, your company, and your profits while also doing a disservice to your prospects, who need what you have to offer, but can’t tell you apart from your worthless competitors.

“But Wes, every great sales trainer from Zig Ziglar to Tom Hopkins has told us we have to get five ‘Nos’ before we get a ‘Yes,’ and that the average prospect requires 7-12 touches before they’ll buy. You clearly aren’t worth a bag of beans. You should be called The Worthless Whisperer?!”

Daaaaannnngggg!! Easy there, Trigger. You might wanna consider switching to decaf…and getting a new pillow or sleeping on the other side of the bed. But I digress.

You’re kinda right.

Most prospects do need to be contacted several times over the span of many weeks or even months before they buy.

“SEE! I FRIGGIN’ TOLD YOU, YOU WORTHLESS WHISPERER!”

Dude, take a chill pill. (People are always so froggy online, yet always so nice when they come to train Jiu-Jitsu with me. I wonder why that is? But I digress…)

Staying in touch with someone on a mutually agreed upon interval differs from randomly, desperately following up, touching base, or circling back.

For example, tell me how many times this has happened to you in the last few months:

—You meet with a prospect.

—Things go “well” (in your estimation).

—The prospect agrees that you have a compelling story.

—The prospect appears genuinely interested…but is not yet ready to commit.

—The meeting ends with everyone thanking everyone for their time.

—All of you agree to stay in touch.

—You go home/end the call by patting yourself on the back for “a great presentation.”

—You send an email to the prospect thanking them for their time and reminding them, in your ever-so-helpful—and demeaning, subservient way—to “feel free to reach out with any questions at any time. I’m here for you and look forward to working with you.”

—The prospect doesn’t even reply.

—A week goes by, so you send another email, “Just touching base…”

—Another week goes by, so you call and leave a voicemail, “Just following up…”

—Another week goes by, and the end of the month/quarter is fast approaching, so you send an “End-of-month promotion” email.

—Another month goes by, so you send out one more “Hope all is well” email.

—Another month goes by, and you finally mark the “awesome opportunity” as “Closed/Lost.”

Sound familiar?

Want to avoid that? (Go back and read my posts on “The Sales Agenda” and “Close first, then present.” Then read on…)

Here’s how:

—You meet with a prospect.

—Things go “well” (in your estimation).

—The prospect agrees that you have a compelling story.

—The prospect appears genuinely interested…but is not yet ready to commit.

—You ask the prospect, “What are the next steps?”

—Prospect: “Well, we’re not really sure, but we like what you’ve shown us.”

—You: “Excellent. What parts are you unsure about?” (You need to stand your ground and get a real answer from the prospect.)

—Prospect: “Well, I’m not sure we have time to get into everything, but we do like what you’ve shown us.”

—You: “I have another meeting as well, so what are the next steps?” (Repeat yourself if you have to. You need and deserve an answer.)

—Prospect: “Well, if you could send us the answers to the issues we’ve brought up, we’ll be in touch.”

—You: “I’m happy to do that and will have that for you by tomorrow afternoon. What happens after that?”

—Prospect: “Well, we’ll have to review everything with our team.”

—You: “Understood. When will you be able to do that? By the end of the week? Early next week?”

—Prospect: “Probably not this week, but certainly by early next week.”

—You: “Great. So as to not chase our tails and waste a bunch of time playing phone tag, what do you say we set a time for Tuesday afternoon to have a quick call, and you let me know what your team has decided? Is 3 or 4 pm better for you?”

See what I did here?

You’re not jettisoned into the amorphous blob of interstellar space.

You’re not set in a corner to suck your thumb until your great overlords call upon you.

No. You now have an appointment at 3 pm on Tuesday to meet with the prospect and get an answer.

“Oh Wes, you Worthless Whisperer, that’s just semantics.”

No. It. Is. Not. And the fact that you believe that is why you are, and forever shall remain, a part of the Mediocre Majority.

Get your act together.

Grow a spine.

Stand tall.

Look your prospects in the eye.

Demand a straight answer.

Set firm appointments because to make any sale, you must make every sale.

Market like you mean it.

Now go sell something.