BRX Pro Tip: Master the Art of the Follow Up
Stone Payton : Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, today’s topic is follow-up.
Lee Kantor: Yeah, this is something I think it’s a lost art in sales. And I think especially the younger generation is not comfortable in doing this in a way that’s elegant and useful. I think that most sales are lost because of follow-up. And I think it’s because of lack of follow-up. I have not heard of many situations where a sale was lost because there was too much follow-up.
Lee Kantor: If somebody is interested, nothing happens, six months later, they’re working with somebody else, what probably happened was they weren’t interested in that moment and they got distracted. They lost interest in that moment. But the problem didn’t go away. And if you just follow up one time and you just try that one moment in time and it isn’t a fit and you just move on to somebody else, you’re missing an opportunity because that person, if they thought enough to have a conversation with you about this challenge, then they probably want to solve that challenge at some point. It’s just that point may not be today.
Lee Kantor: So, the key is to follow up in a way that’s not annoying, that’s valuable. And that every time you reach out, you’re adding something to the conversation, whether it’s an idea, a resource. You’re not hammering them for a decision necessarily. You’re just kind of staying present and relevant in their life. And you’re creating a method for them to get back in touch with you when they’re ready to pull the trigger.
Lee Kantor: So, you have to have some sort of a follow-up sequence for prospects that shows up automatically, ideally, whether it’s a weekly email, a monthly call, a quarterly meeting in person. Make it a system, not something that you have to remember to do. And ultimately, the person who stays in touch better and more often is going to be the person who wins more business. And it’s not about being pushy, it’s not about being salesy, it’s just about being persistent and being valuable.
Lee Kantor: So, the action step this week is identify a couple hot prospects that you’re working on right now and figure out a follow-up cadence with each one of them. Because if you’re not interacting with them at least monthly, you’re ultimately leaving money on the table because eventually they’re going to hire somebody to do the thing they ask you about. And why not make it you?
