Thank you for this well thought out and very important question. Both are very important, though I tend to place a higher degree of importance on following up. In my experience, I have found that many people feel that the initial contact is not only the most important part of any presentation, but also is the hardest.
While I do agree that making that initial contact is an important part of presenting a business opportunity, I do not feel that it is the most important part nor do I feel it to be very difficult either. Of course, it is important to the extent that if you blow your first impression, then you do not need to worry about following up.
Now, with that said, I think it has become rather transparent that I place a much higher degree of importance on following up with your prospects. I have noticed that many of the provided answers thus far have been focusing on affiliates when speaking about following up, but I feel that your question is geared rather to working with prospects before they sign up.
It is very rare anymore that people make decisions on impulse. Whether that decision is about buying a new car, going on a vacation, or finding a way to supplement or replace their current income, people like to have as much information as they can and tend to take their time before reaching that decision.
Let us take buying a new car as an example. You see an ad in your local paper “Used car for sale. Runs great. No rust. $500 or best offer.” After seeing such an ad, are you likely to pick up your phone, call the seller, and buy the car, sight unseen? No, of course not. You are going to want to see the car for yourself, listen to the engine, take it for a test drive, and ask questions to gather other bits of information you feel is important to help you make a decision.
Deciding to go in to business for yourself is a big step for most people. It is even rarer for people to enroll in an online business after just the initial contact. Not only that, but if you try telling your prospect everything about SFI in your initial contact, you are likely going to leave them feeling overwhelmed.
That is why it is important to present enough facts about SFI in that initial contact to capture your prospects interest. Then, though your follow-ups with that prospect you are able to offer additional pieces of information as well as answer any questions that your prospect might have. For some people, it will take between 7 to 10 follow-ups before they make the decision to join your team.
One last thing to consider. When you actively engage your prospects with well-written follow-up letters, when they do make that decision to enroll as a member of your SFI team, they are that much more likely to be a “worker” than a fence sitter. They already did the fence sitting through the follow-up process.
I hope this helps.
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Thank you for this well thought out and very important question. Both are very important, though I tend to place a higher degree of importance on following up. In my experience, I have found that many people feel that the initial contact is not only the most important part of any presentation, but also is the hardest.
While I do agree that making that initial contact is an important part of presenting a business opportunity, I do not feel that it is the most important part nor do I feel
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