Leads are the life-blood of your business. Without them you can’t close sales. However, no amount of leads will do you any good if you don’t follow up on those leads; all the leads. Leads are opportunities, but unless you act on the opportunities they’re of no value.
What’s the biggest reason for people not getting leads in face to face marketing (canvassing & events)? Not approaching people.
Interestingly while at a client’s office doing training before writing this article, my client had a sales trainer speaking to the group and his topic was on prospecting. We all know prospecting is vitally important to the direct sales person. Prospecting is lead generating, canvassing is lead generating. The trainer had a very profound statement I wrote down. It was, “You’re going to miss more sales by missing out on prospects than you will in missing out on sales closes.” That’s exactly the point of this article; not following up on leads is the same as not having any leads at all.
You get leads by getting in front of people, but that’s only half the job. The second half is staying in front of those leads.
This article will be about managing your follow up. “Successful people are really good at forming the habits that failures refuse to do.” Following up on leads, like my canvassing process, is a system. It’s repeatable and the outcome can be replicated. 40% of the things that you do in your day are habitual. Developing a sound follow up process really is about finding a system and practicing it over and over until it becomes habit; something you’re able to do without thinking.
Before we go any further it’s important to understand that I can change your thinking about following up, but I cannot motivate you to change your habits. The ambition to change your habits regarding this subject will only happen from within you. So it’s my objective to give you the knowledge and strategies here to develop a follow up habit.
For example canvass leads you capture and set appointments with at the door, the typical average of those appointments resulting into a presentation without a phone confirmation, may result into a presentation rate at 20-30%….at best. The other leads are going to drop off for whatever reason and won’t make it to the presentation. So at worst you have 80% of your leads dropping out. Without following up on those leads you’re missing out on a large percentage of your leads that you missed on the first appointment for the chance to reschedule with. Why hunt for new appointments when you have the opportunity for appointments right at your fingertips. It’s a vicious cycle. Can you see the hole in the bucket?
I’ve said it many times before and it applies here:
• You need the skill set
• The mindset
• But then you have to get off your ASS-ETTS
So, how long should you follow up on a lead? UNTIL THEY SET AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOU! My philosophy is either they buy or they die (or tell you to stop contacting them).
The average canvassed lead averages 2 ½ resets appointments before it actually results into a presentation. Meaning you will set 2 ½ appointments with a prospect before it’ll result into a presentation. And, in order to get those 2 ½ appointment sets you’ll have to follow up on them by phone between each scheduled appointment 5, 6, 7, 8 or more times before they answer the phone. It can result in 15, 20, 25 calls to finally get them to an appointment they actually keep.
Most People don’t realize how much you have to follow up on a lead to actually get them to buy. “Successful people are really good at forming the habits that failures refuse to do.” Success requires a lot of dials, a lot of follow up and a lot of work.
How can you follow up and nurture you leads?
• Telephone
• Direct mail
• Email
If you follow my canvassing system you know my lead capture process allows you to capture all the information to allow you to use all these mediums. It’s imperative in my system that you capture this information before you start pitching for or closing for an appointment; because if you don’t get this information first you’ll never have the opportunity to follow up.
You must use all of these mediums when following up. It takes 2 ½ appointments before you’ll actually get a prospect to a sales presentation. Maybe 20-25 phone calls to get them to those 2 ½ appointments. It takes many attempts before you get their attention. If you use only telephone follow up you run the risk of getting that lead to yell STOP. But when you incorporate multiple media you’re reaching the prospect on many fronts at different times. The key is being and staying on top of their mind. They gave you their contact information which gives you the permission to follow up with them. They had an interest or they wouldn’t have given you their information.
With telephone follow up you need a script, direct mail and email you need a response oriented sales copy. With phone scripts, mail and email there are specific components that bring people to take action.
As with my canvassing, every step has to have a direction and task to do next. For example, if I’m at a front door and I get the lead and appointment for the prospect to meet with us on Saturday at noon, that’s direction and task. The next step would be to confirm the lead or send information to them; direction and task. If the prospect doesn’t know their schedule and can’t commit to an appointment at the door, the next step is to make a call-to-set time; direction and task.
The same applies for following up on leads. A lead that is captured on a Monday that doesn’t get an appointment set gets put into a system for following up. It could be an electronic C.R.M. (customer relationship management) system or an old fashioned folder filing system. Set up a system for how and when those leads will be followed up. That includes phone, mail and email steps in the follow up process.
“Success is a process of systems” Dan Kennedy.
Take one thing away from this article and get started in building your follow up system. If it’s nothing more than creating a filing system that your leads get put into and someone is assigned and trained to follow up on those leads you begin to fill your pipeline.
If you have any questions regarding this or would like help in getting a follow up system set up, contact me at cthompson@canvassking.com or call my office at (216) 588-1337. As a Gold or Platinum coaching member you have direct access to this assistance as part of your membership. If you are a Silver member and you would like help then the Jump Start Program may be of help, or, increasing your membership level to gain more direct coaching with me.
Otherwise, direct general questions to www.AskTheCanvassKing.com