How is your dating game?

and what has it got to do with business?

When you are dating, so much is reliant on the first date; not just how the first date goes but what happens after the first date. Can you remember waiting to either receive the call or the text or make the call or text after the date? The fear of them saying that they did not enjoy the date and would not want to see you again, or the excitement that they do want to see you again.

Sales is so similar to the dating game and the follow up after the date is usually a similar story. You worked so hard to get the date and then you don’t pursue after the date! Many people decide not to follow up out of fear or making their own assumptions as to how well the date went. It is natural to feel fear because there is a chance of rejection.

The number of salespeople that do not follow up, or only follow up once and then most of the time do not actually speak to the person or get a reply to an email, is astounding. The average salesperson only follows up three times and then stops, just think what would happen to your close rate if you started to follow up four times or more!

The sales process is really simple and has not changed through time, admittedly elements of presentation have, but the fundamentals have stayed the same for hundreds of years. Prospects either need your product such as machinery oil, or they need your service to solve a problem they have. You need to get to speak to the prospect then find out what they need, present what your product/service can do for them, answer any objections and ask for the sale!

A follow up can take many different formats today, it can be a call, an email or even a text message, but make sure you follow up in some form. The follow up is normally an opportunity to answer any objections, questions or to seal the deal and close the sale. You must never see the first follow up as the end even if the person says no. It simply means that you will follow up again with them in the future. Without following up fully you will not close the sale and you will not keep your pipeline fresh.

Within this article we are really looking at solution selling or services or capital items, transactional follow ups follows a different path because a prospect may well take a digital marketing pathway where they self-serve on the purchase, this will be covered in another article.

When you are following up always remember that your prospect might be busy. Keep in mind that your competitors may not be following up as well and as often as you do and most of all, be timely with your follow up and don’t be afraid to ask for the sale.

How to write a follow up email -

What is your objective?

It is important to include a strong CTA in your follow up email and in order to do so you need to be clear on your objective. Take some time before you start writing to decide what this is.

Give it some context

Many people receive a lot of emails a day, so it is important you include a personal connection that could help your prospect pick you out of the crowd.

Be straight forward about your purpose

To avoid sounding spammy be sure to clearly state the purpose of your emails. Be specific, and don’t waste their time.

Create a catchy subject line

Try writing your subject line after you’ve identified your purpose, context and objective. That way you can ensure it is an accurate representation of your email.

It is time to send it!

Now you have successfully written your follow up email, you just need to send it! When choosing when to sent it, bare in mind you want your email to stay relevant and for it to have the biggest chance of being opened.

"NOT FOLLOWING UP WITH YOUR PROSPECTS IS THE SAME AS FILLING UP YOUR BATHTUB WITHOUT PUTTING THE STOPPER IN THE DRAIN." - Michelle Moore

Our top tips for following up:

- Always follow up.

- Follow up within 5 days of your pitch or proposal and agree a time with the prospect when you will follow up.

- Try to follow up using a phone call in the first follow up.

- If you can’t get hold of the person then plan a follow up every 4/5 days.

- After 3 follow ups trying the phone then move to email follow ups for a response.

- After 6 follow ups move to a text message or WhatsApp message.

- After 7 follow ups (this might be after 6 weeks) then plan a follow up every 3 weeks via email.

- After 9 follow ups then close off the follow up process with a polite email.

- Add the prospect into a 3 monthly follow up if you still have not heard from them.

- Never stop following up. There may be a time when they are let down or the prospect changes jobs, so always keep in touch.