Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Following Up

You can't always expect your cold call and emails to be immediately successful.  If you've been in the business for a while now, you probably know that it usually turns out to be the opposite case.  Because you are rarely successful your first time, you will most likely need to follow up a 2nd and maybe 3rd time with potential leads.  Here's a quick list of some advice to take into account when going through this process.

First Attempt Should Be Quality

Before you follow up, you will make your initial call or email.  Make sure it is really high quality.  Otherwise, you are probably not going to get the sale.  Fine-tune your approach and tailor your pitch to the specific client you are going to talk to.  Do as much research as you possibly can before you ever make your pitch.  If it's evident you know nothing about your client, your client will turn you away very quickly.  It's a lot more difficult for someone to deny someone's pitch when it is evident that the salesperson put in a lot of effort to try to get to know the potential client.

Be Patient

People are naturally very hesitant to accept anyone who is giving them a cold call or cold email.  Therefore your response rate initially should be very low.  Be patient, however.  If you do follow up a 2nd and/or 3rd time, you will probably get a decent number of responses.  For one, it's annoying for the potential client to have to read a 2nd and 3rd emails from someone.  They will probably feel just want to respond on that fact alone.  They will also feel obligated to respond to you because it is clear that you have put a lot of effort into the process and you really want to get their business.

Don't Get Mad

Never take anything personally.  If someone responds to you, it's really no big deal.  Treat it as such and try to figure out a way to get better for next time.  Each time you make a pitch or try to reach out to someone is a learning opportunity.  Maybe your email needs tweaking or maybe you need to do a little bit more research on your client ahead of making your pitch.  Either way, try to learn from each new experience and don't get mad.  You will be better off if you don't get mad at any point in time.

Keep Track of Everything

Whether you are using Salesforce or keeping Excel spreadsheets, keep good track of all the calls and emails you have made.  It's embarrassing when you send out the same email to someone twice by mistake.  The best way to prevent situations like that from happening is to keep good track of everything.  Make sure you do.