So far, in recent posts, we’ve learned to be a Marketing Hero means keeping your promises to your clients. Which is the antidote to the general hatred of marketing. And we discovered follow up is the cure to the overwhelming disdain for sales.
The only question now: How do you follow up EFFECTIVELY?
To unravel this confounding mystery, here are seven strategies to MASTER your follow up game…

1. Get Permission

When you make contact with your prospect and they’re not ready to buy, qualify their future plans…
Is it a hard “NO?” If so, don’t persist. You’ll just end up annoying the prospect. And that sends you treading into Hard Sell territory, which EVERYONE HATES!

2. Name Your Frequency

With an “on the fence prospect,” just throw out a follow-up date: “Hey, how about I get back to you in two months? Let’s call it July 15th!”
Simple as that :—)

3. Calendar Your Appointment

Whether you’re on Outlook (my weapons of choice), iCal, or some other fancy-schmancy calendar app I’m not cool enough to know about — schedule your follow contact. Don’t wanna forget, right? NOPE!

4. Drop Important Deets Into Your Calendar Appointment Notes

Obviously, you should include the name, number + email of whomever you’re contacting.
But don’t stop there. Add a brief narrative about the prospects circumstances — the problems your services solve.
That way you have all of their relevant info in front of your face when you reach out in follow up.

5. Script Your Follow Up

Not word for word (you definitely don’t want to SOUND like you’re reading off a script). Just a brief outlined.
And REMEMBER: Keep if client-focused. Deliver a quick recap of their “problem” and highlight your “solution.”
Can’t stress enough — this isn’t a HARD SELL. It’s a considerate + concerned follow-up.

6. Rinse + Repeat

As we learned in Follow Up Failure, completing a successful sale requires an average seven follow interactions.
And that’s “interactions.” Not unreturned voicemails or unanswered emails. But seven actual conversations.
And once again, this is NOT about the HARD SELL. It’s considerate + concerned follow. In other words, stay your course until you receive a hard “NO.”

7, BONUS TIP: Take Notes

In your initial interaction, take notes on the prospect’s situation. What are their needs? What problem are they trying to solve?
Drop the answers to these vital questions into the notes section of the prospects contact entry in your contact management app. And include these notes in your follow up calendar entry, too.
What’s Your Follow Up Game Look Like These Days?
Are you killin’ it? Or falling short? What are some of your successes? And where have you failed? Swing by my Google+ page and share!