Hello,
For starters, I would like to put into perspective the words ‘’initial contact’’ and ‘’follow up’’ for easy understanding.
‘’Initial contact’’ – is the first contact or first time of meeting with the prospect in an effort to either sell an idea or a business.
‘’Follow up’’ – is the act or an instance of following up, as to further an end or increase effectiveness.
The follow-up is often as important as the initial contact in gaining new clients.
Most often, the first contact does not lead to a sale, but a series of follow up is needed after the initial contact is made to seal the sale. We all know that first impressions matters. If our initial contact does not land us a sale, then a series of follow up is need. More than 50 percent of the time people do not follow up even after making a successful initial contact. So why don’t people follow-up? I think there are several reasons.
1.They don’t want to appear pushy. It may be true that following up too frequently will
come across as being pushy. However, very few people ever come close to crossing this
line. We become pushy most times because of our tone rather than the fact that we did
a follow up. As SFI affiliates in particular or a business owner in general, I believe
it is our responsibility to keep following up with our prospects until we know for
certain if they want to do business with us. . A weekly call is more than enough to
keep in touch providing you make sure your call is short and to the point. Don’t waste
your prospect’s time by droning on and on.
2.They forget. We tend to forget follow up because of our busy schedule. We may have
every intention of calling our prospect but we get caught up in our business.
Unexpected problems crop up and because we didn’t schedule the follow-up, it doesn’t
get done. This is a common dilemma but one that can be avoided by considering the
follow-up like a scheduled appointment.
3.Making of false assumptions - When someone doesn’t immediately return our phone call
or email message, we usually assume the worst – even if this assumption is not
verified.
4.Lack of experience: Some many people lack the ability to follow up because they have
never been taught or have not done it before.
Here’s the bottom line. You can easily differentiate yourself from your competition by making the effort to follow-up with your prospects and customers. Don’t take it for granted that they will call you. Be proactive and contact them.
For sake of emphasis, I would like to say again that the initial contact is as important as the follow up… something like a ‘’50-50’’ thing.
Hope my answer was helpful?
less
Hello,
For starters, I would like to put into perspective the words ‘’initial contact’’ and ‘’follow up’’ for easy understanding.
‘’Initial contact’’ – is the first contact or first time of meeting with the prospect in an effort to either sell an idea or a business.
‘’Follow up’’ – is the act or an instance of following up, as to further an end or increase effectiveness.
The follow-up is often as important as the initial
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10/25/2014 11:01 am