How many times should you follow up with a prospect?  Some say you have to contact a prospect 7 times.  So if you aren’t contacting your sales prospects at least 7 times does that mean you are a…

QUITTER

Sometimes as Vera Raposo talks about you just get burned out.   Perhaps your self-esteem goes south.  Maybe you get side tracked and just forget about a sales prospect here and there.

Do you give up too easily when it comes to following up with a sales prospect?  I say yes and no.

Here’s Why I Say, “YES”

Sometimes you try something once.  It doesn’t work so you decided it won’t ever work and quit without giving it a fair trial.  When something doesn’t work figure out why it didn’t work.  Then figure out how to adapt what isn’t working so it will work.

I understand exactly how hard this can be because in most instances you can’t see what you are doing wrong.  It’s the little subtle things that make things work or fail.  Speaking of failing…

Cold Calling Doesn’t Work?

Some people say cold calling doesn’t work.  The people who say that are right because it doesn’t work the way they are doing it.  However, when you know how to do it cold calling works better now than it ever has.

The funny thing is cold calling is a catch 22 challenge.  Typically people cold call because they don’t have a clue how to market what they have to sell.  Because they don’t know how to market what they sell their cold calling efforts are a disaster.

Once you understand how to market what you sell you never have to cold call again because you get business coming to you.  Plus you can get that business coming to you on autopilot so cold calling becomes a very time inefficient method for getting clients.

Here’s Why I Say, “NO”

I say you don’t give up too easily when it comes to following up with sales prospects because it doesn’t do you or your sales prospects any good to annoy them.  If you don’t get the desired result there IS a problem.  You must identify and correct that problem or… you can expect repeated failures.

Here’s what you should evaluate:

• Make sure you only personally following up with the people who are most likely to buy your stuff
• Make sure you have something valuable to say when you follow up.  Never just touch base
• Make sure you ask for the right things at the right time

Then test and track to determine the best combination of people, message, and offer that produce the desired results.

I talked about this in The Blueprint for Increased Sales if you’d like more information on this.

Coach Cheryl

Do it Yourself

Do it with a Little Help

Do it with Guidance

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