adminShelter Chieza Change Management
Do you then sit back and wait for your phone to ring and expect your inbox to be jammed with emails expressing how excited they were to meet you. A week down the line, nothing happens and you are now getting worried whether you gave them your business cards or made an error and handed in the other business colleagues’ number. Of course, very few will call you, you are lucky to even get one phone call. It’s not easy for anyone in Zimbabwe to line up and say they want to do business with you like that. It’s that follow up meeting or phone call or email that has the potential of being converted into a sale.
I can cite a few examples to both my business and social life of people that did not bother to follow up. In all these instances, I was very interested in the product and was willing to engage them and pay whatever it took. One company that was interested in doing landscaping for our house showed me pictures of the most creative artistic features I had ever seen.
The other one was one of my daughters swimming teacher that had offered to take swimming lessons “outside of the swimming pool” and engage them in real life situations. Then one graphic designer who initially presented an electronic brochure that was so eye catching and enhanced images had extraordinary expression of precision and attention to detail. All those never made follow ups contacts and till this day cannot even trace their whereabouts.
What following up does is that it makes the other person know that you are serious of this relationship and you are a proactive person who is willing to invest their time and effort. Just like communication, following up is an art, it needs to be mastered and there is no one best way to do it.
The methods you can use differ with situations and your product or service. It is essential to sort your business cards by priority, the most important must be contacted immediately, the next priority group within a week and the last one within 2 weeks. Sometimes getting a face to face meeting may be more appropriate. Some topics of discussion should never be made inside the office; requesting a lunch or coffee would be more appropriate. Sometimes an email could be effective wherein you must draft a clear note with attention to the subject line. Always plan your messages, if its voice, rehearse it before, if its email, take your time to draft so it leaves a positive impression.
If you are one person that struggles with coining a conversation, try keep your telephone requests to a few lines.
Mention a major point that could have been raised in your initial meeting . . . for instance if they were worried about increasing their revenue per room, you could mention that in your request for a meeting.
Also garnish it by mentioning that you worked with a company that needed this and they scored major achievements. Think of ways to add value to them rather than let them think of how relevant you are to them. I always tell my people never to say “I am just getting in touch”. It is such an empty clichéd phrase.
Avoid being avoided . . . It’s good to be persistent and determined but should you continue on that path it can quickly become annoyance.
You can destroy your chances or getting into a profitable relationship by pestering. Learn to read peoples responses, some people’s non-response are an equivalent to a No. While some will out rightly say No, take it with grace and pursue other avenues of getting business. You could try again some other time to contact them but not immediately.
I once submitted a proposal to a company and told them I would follow-up on a certain day and time. Unfortunately, I could not go to work that time as I was stuck in hospital, when I returned I simply apologised to them and it was easy to rectify that process and move the sales process forward. Some people simply don’t have the decency to follow up after they receive a product. Some busy executives simply don’t return calls because they receive hundreds of calls each day and the less important your product or service may be to them, the more they will not return your call.
I believe more than 60 percent of your appointments will come from efficient lead follow up. If you’re not following up effectively, you’re losing a lot of potential income. You can easily differentiate yourself from your competition by making the effort to follow-up with your prospects and customers. Don’t take it for granted that they will call you. Be proactive and contact them. Till next week, may God richly bless you.
Shelter Chieza is an Advisor in management issues. She can be contacted at [email protected]
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