Follow up: Why it’s more crucial than ever to create a strategy to engage with prospective leads

I love the saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and I believe most sales, especially service-based ones don’t happen quickly either.

I have always drummed into my clients the importance of forming a relationship with their clients before they try to sell them anything. When you have formed this relationship, you then have the prospect’s permission to follow up with them and stay in constant contact even if they haven’t yet made a buying decision to engage your product or services.

What’s the rush?

Many business owners are in a hurry these days and engage ‘push selling’ as their sales method of choice. This is something I am strongly against personally and instead like to take the time to nurture the potential relationship.

Don’t rush things and don’t be pushy. Eighty percent of sales are made on the 5th to 10th touch point or contact between a prospect and the business. Making sure you give your prospect time to think about your offer is a good thing but it’s equally important to be persistent and follow up.

Unless there’s a hard deadline on their end due to a date commitment, prospects generally don’t feel urgency in getting back to you as we all know, it is easy to get distracted by more pressing issues and life that just got in the way. That’s why it’s your job to stay at the top of their mind and have a foolproof follow-up process in place to stay connected and continue to nurture your relationships.

Chances are that prospects in need of a service are going to have options. Your job is to find out what your competitors are offering and identify your unique selling proposition. What is it that distinguishes your service from those of other businesses? What makes your business the best choice? Knowing what your competitors have to offer enables you to speak intelligently about your unique selling proposition.

I believe that we are never in competition with anyone as no one else can provide the same <insert your name here> experience yet you still need to know what others in your niche are offering.

Less is more

Now comes the key point. The less you say, the more effective you are as a salesperson and the more leads you will be able to convert into clients. Often, when you ask a question, staying silent for a bit longer than usual—three to four seconds is known as the “golden silence” in sales and it forces the other person to open up about their needs and motivations for connecting with you to hopefully solve their problem.

Once you’ve established rapport and trust, the prospect is more likely to offer the real information on the real challenges and problem that they need solved. Listen to what your prospects have to say and adjust your sales technique and positioning accordingly, focusing on their pain points and what is important to them, not what is important to you.

I like to constantly engage with anyone that has enquired through any of my website, on social media, on any webinar or live event that I have hosted by adding value with some special bonus information or resources, which I have proven keeps me top of mind and always visible.

I see many business owners have a great initial lead generation, solid sales pitch but then fall over at the last hurdle with a poor follow up system, or in fact, no system at all.

As mentioned earlier, most sales, especially high-end programs or products don’t sell first time around. I have had someone who first enquired about one of my signature programs 12 months earlier finally come to me and say, “Nat, I am now ready and thanks for always motivating me with your newsletters and constant updates online.”

I have a system that works. I am consistent and always add value. How you choose to sell as a business owner comes down to your style, personality and beliefs. Just make sure that your follow-up system is in place to stay top of mind rather than be easily overlooked and forgotten.

Natasa Denman is a business coach and mentor, author and founder of The Ultimate 48 Hour Author.