Reman U

• Author: Noah Rikun, aka Captain Reman
• Subject Matter: Closing sales
• Issue: Following up

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aka How to Follow Up Without Being Annoying

Most salespeople do not follow up. Most salespeople have lousy closing ratios. Don’t be like most salespeople.

The key to becoming a huge success in sales is persistence and follow up. Just think about your kids. What’s their commitment to persistence when they want something from you? (Think candy bar at the grocery store, or new video game, or dessert tonight.) What’s your kids’ closing ratio? I’ll bet their closing ratio is higher than yours!

For years, I couldn’t understand why salespeople didn’t follow up on leads and opportunities. And, if they did, they did with a complete lack of enthusiasm and a lack of faith that it was a worthwhile activity.

Sales managers everywhere run around yelling, “Hey! Call that prospect back! Follow up! Have you talked to so-and-so lately?” And most salespeople hide. Or they say things like, “Well, I emailed them, but I haven’t heard back.”

I didn’t get it. I would ask salespeople how important they felt follow up was to their success and they’d say, “Extremely!” Then I’d ask how consistent they were with their follow up and they’d say, “Not very!”

Why the disconnect?

I’ve realized that it comes down to salespeople not having a good reason for following up, other than the self-serving, “If I call them, maybe I’ll make some commission.” It’s an issue of salespeople not having been trained to always have something of value to offer when making that follow up call. So you feel like you’re bothering the customer when calling, because you don’t have anything to say other than “I’m just calling to follow up …”

Here’s the training you’ve been missing.

First, a few rules about following up

1. A lead is never as hot as the minute you get it.
2. The longer you wait to follow up, the less likely you are to make the sale.
3. If you say “following up” on the phone, you lose.
4. You’ll only be perceived as annoying if you’re calling because you just want to know if they’re ready to buy yet.
5. You will be perceived as persistent and thoughtful and helpful if you’re calling for a good reason.

Successful follow-up starts with believing that you have a good reason for calling or emailing the prospect or customer.

Here are a few good reasons to follow up

1. You have new information that the prospect perceives as valuable.
2. You have new information that the prospect can use to make a decision.
3. You have an answer to a question the prospect asked but you couldn’t answer earlier.
4. You can now meet a need or a want better than you could when the prospect was in the store (faster delivery, better product availability, new product launch).
5. You have an article that speaks to something you discussed with the customer during their visit, and you’re going to email it to your prospect for their review.

Here are a few bad reasons

1. “I’m just following up to see if you have any questions.”
2. “Thank you for coming in today, if you have any questions, please let me know!”
3. “Just checking in to see how you’re doing and if you’re any closer to making a decision.”
4. “We’re coming up on the end of the month, and I could really use the sale, so if you come in I’ll give you a discount!”

Don’t give up

The ultimate measure of your success is a grateful prospect who says something to the effect of, “I’m so happy you called. Thank you for sharing this with me…” and, ideally, “OK, I’ll take it! When can you deliver?”

I’ll leave you with a lesson I learned from Babe Ruth. Well, not directly from Babe Ruth, of course, but from his legacy.

Babe Ruth struck out more times than anyone. He also hit more home runs than anyone else. When once asked how he could get back up to the plate after striking out three times in a game, Babe explained that he just relied on the “Law of Averages.” He knew that 70% of the time, he would strike out. Even if he struck out seven times in a row, the next three times would be hits. So every strikeout got him one step closer to a home run.

“It’s hard to beat somebody who never gives up,” he would say.

Keep swinging. Don’t quit too soon. Hang in there until you’ve got the order.

And don’t fear the follow-up. Embrace the strikeouts. There’s a home run just around the corner.