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The story I am about to share applies not only to those in direct sales, but anyone who is in business.
When we built our home 20 years ago, we had a choice of one garage door or two. For some insane reason, we chose two and I have hated it ever since!
Neither door was wide enough I kept hitting the mirrors while pulling into the garage! After constant complaining and the cost of repairing no less than five side view mirrors on numerous vehicles, my husband decided that it was time to replace those doors with what I wanted all along- one large garage door!
My husband contacted XYZ Company who sent out an incompetent person to measure, gave us a quote of a very low price and told us that they could do it in one day.
So my husband began to remove the previous doors and knock out the center post to prepare for the new door. He then called them and said that we were ready.
He called again, and again. When they finally called us back 4 days later, they said that the size was not a standard size and we would have to wait 6 weeks for them to order a new one and the price would be significantly more. That was unacceptable!
We then started calling every garage door company that we could find locally since our garage now looked like a barn and it was winter. I lost track of how many different companies never even returned our call. Isn’t everyone saying that there is a recession? Don’t these small businesses need the job?
Finally my husband found a company in the next county who was willing to come out the next day and install it at the price that he quoted. Not only that, we had some difficulty with the electric door, so he made another trip later to make sure that it was working properly.
What is the number one mistake that is very obvious in this story? (besides the importance of integrity and honoring a price quote whenever possible) I believe one of the biggest mistakes that business owners make is lack of FOLLOW UP!
Why do people fail to follow up? I believe that fear must have a part in it. What could you possibly be afraid of? If you already don’t have the job, the booking, the business, how much worse can it be by following up? I can’t even begin to speculate why all the other companies never even returned our phone calls, but I hold that as a high standard that I believe anyone in business should strive to do- return all calls promptly!
Frequently I don’t get a “yes” or a “no” on the first call to a prospective client. I get a reason (or objection) why now is not a good time. This is where follow up comes into play. I ask them when would be a good time to check back with them. (tomorrow, next week, next month, whatever) Then I do it! Sometimes I will get a series of excuses each time. At that point I will make it easy for them, if I perceive the person as being weak and unable to tell me no. I say “Suzie, are we having a hard time connecting, or are you just not interested?” Most of the time, they will say, “yes, I am still interested”.
But many consultants prejudge that the potential client is not interested and just stop calling. The difference between followup and forgetting about them is SUCCESS vs. FAILURE. It’s okay to fail, but in this case, it’s avoidable.
Are you losing business for lack of followup? Or do you just lose business for lack of organization? Either way, if you find a way to reconnect with those potential clients, I can promise you an increase in sales and recruiting! Try it! Let me hear your success stories!
