Effective Follow-Up: Part 3

Part three of the effective follow-up

Inspired Selling Gets Follow-Up Appointments.

Inspired selling starts with a positive attitude that is visible to the buyer from the first moment you meet and genuine concern for the buyer’s best interests. In a world where buyers have many options, inspired selling creates competitive advantage because it focuses on a critical differentiator that can’t be copied—YOU!

Inspired selling delivers a message customers want to hear. It’s aspirational as well as personal. It doesn’t just tell customers what you can do for them. It evokes emotions and is visionary, painting a clear and compelling picture of how life will improve by making the purchase.
Inspired selling will get you follow up appointments and will inspire buyers to buy.

How Often Should You Check In?

Greg Guess said, “A call every two or three months is sufficient.”

Relationships are built on communication. To maintain a relationship requires you to maintain communication.

Linda Lindsay, Principal of Little Brown Dog Marketing offered sound advice. She said, “I believe sales and marketing should work together on this... once a suspect is proven to be a prospect if sales is unable to engage, they should be turned back to marketing for nurturing. Selling is all about timing and being able to strike with then need is in the forefront of the buyer's mind.”

Most printers don’t have a marketing department or a plan for nurturing leads, so what should you do? The simplest answer is to dial the phone every other month and check in with the buyer. In between calls, send an email or mail a sample. It’s not fancy, but it helps you stay top of mind.

And maybe one day the buyer will need something and thinks of you. Maybe—or maybe not.

Before you invest the next year of your life in consistent follow-up, heed these words from supply chain expert Dave Taylor. “Look at how big the budget is,” he recommends. “Decide if the company buys enough to justify your time. If they don’t buy much or they buy infrequently, then the only way you’ll get an opportunity is if one of the current vendors falls out of favor.
Sure, that could happen but maybe there’s someone better out there for you to call on.”

A good prospect buys what you sell. A great prospect buys a lot of what you sell. A perfect prospect buys a lot of what you sell and is interested in buying it from you. Don’t spend valuable time chasing low-value prospects, especially if they ignore your calls and emails. Instead, find new prospects, focus efforts on them and follow-up.