July 21, 2009
How many times should you follow up with your prospects?
One and done. Nope.
27 calls until they give in and beg you to join you? No…not that either. I've tried. Don't work.
Yes…very good question, especially when people toss out stuff that others than takes as the Golden Rule.
Kinda like this….
You may have heard that it takes an average of seven times to close a sale. Well…maybe that statistic rings true in “traditional selling”, but I'm pretty sure no one has conducted a research study on that subject when it comes to network marketing. But, you DO have to follow up. And, very seldom do you enroll someone at your first appointment, or even second appointment.
Two Things about Follow up and Getting more Business that you can Rely on and Accept as Fact:
#1: You absolutely need to follow up if you want your business to grow! It is a necessity.
Waiting around for something to happen is not at all a good strategy for success. Getting more business means you need to go get the business.
Don't confuse “attraction marketing” with it meaning you never go after your business. You can draw people to you, but you've got to follow up to finish much of it.
#2 Most of your business will come as a result of your follow up.
In other words, almost all of the business you generate does not come from a single call or meeting and will require some follow up in order to secure it. Make sense? A BULK, the largest percentage of your business that you personally generate will come AFTER the first call or meeting.
So, if a majority of your business comes from you getting back to people, you can revert back to point number one. Simple. It's kinda like a little circle of success, points one and two there.
Good question. I look at it two ways…
How to Deal with Prospects that are No Shows at your Scheduled Meetings
No shows. We all get them. No matter how good you are, how highly skilled, professional and on your game you are…it happens.
Here's how I deal with people who don't show up on scheduled appointments. I play baseball.
Three Strikes and you are OUT!
Let me paint the scenario. If my prospect isn't there on my scheduled follow up call or appointment (see what I say in the video), I will leave them a message. We were scheduled to talk. I showed up when we agreed. I'm leaving a message. And…I'm nice.
A couple days later I will call them back second time. I'll leave another message. I'm nice. I'm professional.
If I don't hear from you…AGAIN, I will call you back a few days after that and leave you a THIRD and FINAL message. That's a total of THREE times.
If you've called a prospect to “follow up” with them THREE TIMES with no response from them, they are showing through their actions what their decision is. Be cool with it. Fine. No biggie. Move on. Three strikes…you're out.
It's an easy rule to follow for people who simply fail to respond.
How to Deal with People Who Stay Engaged with You
People who are there on my follow up, or at the very least…get back to me to reschedule are showing through their actions that they are interested.
So…when there is a constant back and forth (again…watch the video above), I will follow up with them indefinitely. Those individuals who stay engaged with me are people who I will continue engage with over time.
It makes it pretty simple. And…anyone can hone in their follow up game by operating in this simple manner. It's plain and obvious. Two kinds of people we deal with on follow up…
Those that show.
Those that don't.
That's how you do it. Simple.
