After writing, my last article on follow up, I realized
that I had failed to give the sequence and timeline, so here it is. However,
before we start I just want to mention once again how important it is to
dedicate one day a week to refill your list of leads. Rule number 1 is all
about this; never come home without a sale. The reason I say that is, if you
are going to go out, you may as well make it worth your time, and, get as many
business cards, introductions, referrals as possible while you are out there.
This will refill your bucket of leads. So here it is (you may change the days
of the week, I just find these to work the best),
Next week, making use of today's technology to be better prepared and productive...
Monday
Make calls; call the prospects that you sent an email to
the previous week. Call the leads that you spoke to before about booking an
appointment. Call the prospects that you did not get to see. Call the ones that
you picked up their cards without them being there. Call the ones that were referred to you. Call
everybody that you need to call, because, today, that is what you do.
The price of gas today is outrageous, the time that it
takes to travel is consuming, and the telephone is your friend. Most places
that you go to still pick up the phone while you are standing there even though
you travelled to be there in person. So, do the same thing, get on the phone.
You can reach a lot more people, efficiently, and more cost effective with the
phone.
Tuesday
You should have at least one appointment to go see, and,
no matter what, talk to the people around there. First scenario, the person
whom you had an appointment with is not there. Talk to the people that work
there, ask them about neighboring businesses, who they are, who the managers or
owners are. Scenario two, the person you are waiting for still hasn’t arrived,
and hasn’t called. Tell the people that you are going to introduce yourself to
the businesses around and come back in an hour, and to please mention this to
the boss. Scenario three, the person is there, you present, try to close, and
ask for referrals. In all of these cases, you got something, either more leads,
referrals, or a sale.
Wednesday
Email day, send emails to the people you just met, the
ones from the week before and the ones you have in your groups. Let’s talk
about your groups. One day you realized that you had accumulated hundreds of
business cards from all the visits you made, and you wondered what to do with
them all, well here, it is. Take the pile of cards and group them by category,
i.e. service, products, or both. Next take a look at those piles and see if you
can further group them, i.e. computer sales, electronics, gadgets and so on can
be together, then plumbers, heating supply, cooling and so on. Once you have
these sorted out, create the groups you need, I use Outlook and make groups
that contain 20, I find that this number works best when sending out-group
mail. If you have more than 20, make a second group, i.e. plumbers 2 and so on.
Now, during the course of your day, you will most likely
come across some interesting articles. Always think about your groups and keep
these articles for your bi-monthly emails. You found a great article on this
new plumbing device that helps consumers unclog their drains. So, take the
article, send it to the plumbing group, tell them you would like their opinion,
mention your company blog, site, FB pages and whatever else you have in your
signature block. And of course add a line like, I will give you a call next
week to see if we can get together.
Thursday
Another appointment day, look at Tuesday and repeat.
Friday
Another appointment day, try and schedule something in
the morning, most owners or managers go home early Friday afternoons, and they
do not focus well on what you have to say.
Weekend
Read, clip, and prepare your group emails. If this is
your own company, or a career, you should always be thinking about these
things. It’s not a job when you like what you do. Next week, making use of today's technology to be better prepared and productive...