Fortune is in the Follow Through!

Have you ever heard the line the fortune is in the follow up? It has been used by many throughout business and especially sales by many different experts. Well, I like to say it is in the follow through. So many times, I attend events and never get a follow up email, call, or anything else from anyone I met. According to the National Sales Executive Association;

• 48% of all sales people NEVER follow up with a prospect.
• 25% make a second contact and stop.
• 90% stop after only 3 contacts.
• 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact.

So why do the majority of sales people stop following up? Because it is scary… isn’t it? So, what does that tell you if it takes 5 – 12 touches for anyone to want to do business with you? You are leaving money on the table simply by not following up and following through. It doesn’t take much time, or money to follow through. But not doing so can be quite costly.

Are you interested yet? Let this post be an AH HA moment for you and your business. Having a clear follow through plan is not something that you can wait until you have time to put in place. It is a key to our success and your future. This is also one of the things people struggle with the most. Setting up a system for follow through is often a daunting task. Most people don’t know where to start. But I’m going to show you it is easy than you think. By taking a few steps to ensure that you have a simple system that is easy for you to execute you can change the course of your business.

First, ask yourself the following questions;

• What are you doing to stay in touch with your current clients and customers?
• Are you following up on a regular basis?
• What are you doing to follow up with new contacts you have met?

If you answered nothing or not much to any of these questions they this is the perfect blog post for you. Because it is time to sit down and get started. But first lest talk about some basics that you need to know to ensure you create a successful system.

Know Like Trust Factor

Networking and referral expert Bob Burg is famous for his quote, from Endless Referrals, “All things being equal, people do business with, and refer business to people they know, like and trust.” This is referred to as the Know Like Trust (KLT) Factor. And creating that KLT factor is not always easy to do, especially if you have competition.

For example, how many realtors do you know? Yeah usually everyone knows about 5 realtors, however when they are forced to use one of them to sell their house they are still skeptical and want to ask for referrals from others. So even if they know you, they may still not be willing to do business with you. However, if you build a relationship with these people so that they like and trust you, you will get the business every time.

Over the last 12 years, I have been using a step by step formula for strategic follow up that works. It is a formula that to this day brings people to my company because I have cultivated my own KLT factor.

Here are a few simple things you can start trying today to build your KLT factor.

• Use the FORM approach when networking. I discussed this in my post Networking On Purpose. If you haven’t read that one yet hop over and take a look.
• Send engaging emails about once a week or every other week to stay top of mind.
• Blog. Weekly posts will also keep you top of mind for your customers and potential customers.
• Engage with people on social media. By commenting on their posts, liking pictures, introducing them to others and showing a little more of yourself you can get to know them and they can get to know you. And you start to build the like factor.
• Monthly newsletters are a great way to provide people with more content and gain their trust in your expertise.
• Send A physical card. This is one of my favorites. I recommend sending around 7 cards a year to your close-knit customers or clients. You can use a service for this or do it on your own. Sending cards creates a huge LIKE factor.

By doing these simple things you may not see the outcome immediately but over time you will build your KLT factor. After all, you never know when they will need or want your services. Or when they will come across someone else who does. But when they do you will know that they will think of you first.

The things you do need to be personal, engaging and out of the box. Do what nobody else is doing and you will get what no one else is getting, customers! Like I said before 48% of ALL sales people NEVER follow up. So, just by following up at least once you will be doing what half of the people are not doing. You will be setting yourself apart. Creating that top of mind awareness is key to having a successful follow through process.

Now, Are you ready to get started with your follow up? Are you ready to stop just collecting those business cards and not doing anything with them? Next week I will provide you with tips for building your easy to follow system for following through.