Why All Follow Up is Not Equal

Yes that’s right, all follow up is not equal. Research states that 48% of Sales People or people that are selling their skills for a job, project or opportunity never follow up. Out of those that happen to follow up only 12% consistently follow up past three contacts. It’s interesting that 80% of the buy-in’s, sales or won opportunities are made between the 5th and 12th contact.

Our research shows that the above numbers are accurate however a High Impact Follow Up System can reduce the number of contacts made in order to build trust which will result in a buy-in or a closed sale in a much faster time frame.

The average follow up path just focuses on consistency however a High Impact Follow Up System consist of three critical points.

1. Automation: Everyone knows that follow up is the key to networking and building relationships however time is the excuse that many people give. Ironincally the same amount of hours an effective Networker has per day is the exact same time an average Networker has also. The High Impact Networker uses automated systems to deliver follow up so that they can get back to doing what they do best 80% percent of the time.

2. Connection: High Impact Follow Up must connect with the target. In order to connect you must pull on the heart strings of the emotion. People are emotional buyers so don’t follow up with logical information. Once the target has an idea of what you do for a living then begin to let your target know why you are doing it through your follow up. We like to use SendOutCards because it allows us to use pictures of our target in a greeting card that has the feel of being handwritten and its mailed to their actual physical mailbox or we can send a thank you card with a box of brownies to thank someone for a referral. A personal feel such as that will have a higher impact on the emotion than a regular follow up piece. Besides we don’t think anyone would throw a picture of themselves, inside a greeting card, in the garbage therefore the follow up pieces last longer and with the brownies they taste better. To build trust you have to expose you into your follow up. That is the only way to connect.

3. Consistent: Believe it or not once you make the sale or get the buy-in the follow up process is not over. Your goal at this point is to build your relationship to the point that your target is willing to introduce you to their friends, family, love ones and strangers. Networking is the ability to add so much value to the point that people want to share their experience with you to others. Consistent follow up makes this happen. It keeps you at the forefront in the mind of people not so they can do business with you but so they can feel good about who you are and doing business with you is their way of saying thank you for making them feel so good.