Did you know that only about three percent of prospects purchase on their first contact with you? And that most people don’t follow up? If you’re one who doesn’t follow up regularly with clients who didn’t say yes (but didn’t say no either), you are losing 97 percent of your business’s sales opportunities. And that’s not good business.
Here are my tips to maximize sales and take the pain out of following up:
Understand the difference between a real prospect and a new contact.
You will make several new contacts, but many of them will never buy from you. Both are valuable: a new contact can refer you business, while a prospect may become a client. But you need to know the difference so you don’t turn them off when you send follow-up messages.
To a prospect, you would ask them about their problem that your service or product will solve. To a contact, you will ask them who their ideal client is so that you can be a good referral source for them.
Create a follow-up system.
Accountants are super-organized, so you are really going to rock this part. Start with your CRM (customer relationship management system) or a spreadsheet. Would you believe I started with Ziploc bags (to put the business cards in) and I dated them by event!? It doesn’t matter what it looks like; you just want to know when to follow up. I recommend sending the first follow-up email right after the first meeting. Then plan to send a second one 1-2 weeks later. Plan up to 6-30 touches, as marketers call them. Most people stop after two or three, so you’ll be way ahead if you do more.
If you begin to interact with a prospect for business, always ask when you should follow up before you wrap up the present conversation.
That way, you’re not worrying about whether it’s too soon or too late or too pushy, etc. Just ask. For example, when someone expresses interest, ask when they have time to have a more detailed conversation. Then, before you hang up from that one (if you haven’t gotten the business yet), agree on when you should follow-up and how (email, phone call). And so forth. This idea takes the guesswork (and especially the angst!) out of the process.
Following up can actually be fun. It’s all about getting to know people, building respect and trust, and working together for mutual benefit.
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Sandi Leyva
Author Bio: Sandi Leyva, CPA, CMA, MBA, and founder of Accountant’s Accelerator, has helped thousands of tax and accounting professionals earn more, work less, and serve their clients better through her innovative marketing, training, and coaching services. Author of 30 books and hundreds of CPE courses, Sandi has won 12 awards for her thought leadership. Visit her at accountantsaccelerator.com and acceleratorwebsites.com.