Utilizing My Rusty But Serviceable Follow-Up Skills
In the last few years as my focus, by necessity has had to shift a bit to include sales, I’ve learned some valuable lessons. Putting those lessons into practice, however, has been hit or miss at best. As I work on defining and refining both my ICA and USP, I realize I need to polish the skills I’m aware I need, but have, to this point, used too sparingly.
One of those skills, or maybe I should call it an art, is follow-up. Too many times, I’ve felt like someone was stringing me along so I gave up and walked away. Or I didn’t want to be a pest. Or I didn’t want to come off as a pushy saleswoman. I could come up with a million and three excuses, but it all comes down to fear of putting myself out there.
How Many Times Should We Reach Out and Touch People?
Case in point. A couple of years ago, I inadvertently sent an email to the wrong Paleo company about writing for their website. I meant to contact the son-in-law of a friend, but as his website name was similar to someone else’s, I got his competitor instead. As it turned out, they guy said he was looking at hiring a writer, and asked me to contact him in about a month as they were revamping the website.
I put a note on my calendar, and a month later, contacted him again, only to be put off for another month. the last time I contacted him, he asked me to wait 3 months. At that point, I felt like I was being blown off, and decided to quit while I was ahead. I never contacted him again.
The sales types I’ve met lately talk about the number of times it’s necessary to “touch” a potential client before a connection is truly made. Let’s just say I fell far short of that number. On the other hand, as I get more involved with the #Gorillas and Getting Sales without being Sales-y, I feel like my following my gut on that one was the right thing to do.
Being Selective About Who We Touch and Why
Instead, I’m using my marketing time to “touch” people differently these days. I’m making an effort to
get to know them, and to learn more about what it is they do, rather than what I can do for them. Sure, it’s more time consuming in the short run, but something else I’ve learned lately is the distinction between a customer and a client. The first is typically a one-off deal with a sale and a purchase, and no relationship needed. The second is a relationship in which both sides grow and thrive from the connection with each other. It’s a long-term give and take. That’s the kind of clients I not only want, but need for the service I’m still defining.
I recently had the opportunity to chat with a friend and service provider with whom I’ve had a relationship for over a decade. She recently took a year off to re-evaluate what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go. We talked about re-working her website to better reflect not only her personality and her passion. A month or so went by, and I realized we’d essentially let the matter of helping each other drop.
Instead of assuming she’d lost interest, I did something I don’t do as a general rule, but should. I reached out, following up on our conversation to ask if she’d like to continue the discussion. Surprisingly, it didn’t feel pushy or icky. Just a friend understanding we all get busy and organize our priorities in different ways. In all fairness, she may have decided to go a different route, but without asking the question, I would have let an opportunity for mutual benefit to die for lack of attention.
Keeping the Lines of Communication Open
The practice of following up isn’t limited to potential clients either. I find if I haven’t received an answer from a current client, I follow up with them as well. Sometimes, an email got lost, others, other tasks pushed my request for feedback to a back burner, and it’s up to me to bring it back into view.
My point is, we all get busy, and some things get pushed back, as we deal with what’s most important to us. It doesn’t mean the things we set aside are not important or that we’re ignoring them. There are simply so many hours in a day, and especially for entrepreneurs and small business owners, those hours fill up too quickly as we try to build our business and still maintain a semblance of work-life balance.
I appreciate a gentle reminder from people to whom I’ve expressed an interest. I rarely tell someone I’d consider working with them in the immediate future if I was in a position to want and need their services as well as paying for them one way or another. I’m also very up front if a service or product interests me, but the price tag is out of my range at the moment. In most of those cases, I’ll stay in touch (or will unless they inundate me with emails) so I know where to find them when my circumstances change.
A Word, a Touch, Or a Pain in the Neck?
Which brings up another subject. How many emails are enough? Too much? I guess it depends on the person. For me, if I connect with someone and they send me an email a day, it won’t be long before I opt out of their service, especially if every email is a sales pitch. I’m slightly less likely to opt out if their emails are informational and useful to me, but in most cases, more than an email a week is too much in my opinion.
I know others must like getting the daily emails as I’ve mentioned my aversion and have been told what I consider email bombardment is effective sales-wise. I’m not convinced, but perhaps those who believe it works are the same ones who believe sales is a numbers game: 100 emails equals 10 sales, or some such thing. If you have to send out that many emails, I believe you’re looking for customers rather than clients.
People Aren’t Commodities to be Used Up and Tossed Away
Don’t get me wrong. If you are happy with having a lot of one-off customers, or if your business is best 
suited to that type of sales, then email bombarding may be the right option. In my case, it’s a great lesson in how I don’t want to market. Definitely a case of one man’s junk is another’s treasure.
If there’s not a formula for the process, I think there should be. It would go something like this:
Engagement + Connection = Relationship
Relationship + Follow-Up = Client
And of course, a client can become a long-term, synergistic relationship. In my humble and somewhat idealistic opinion, that’s a perfect world. I aspire to a full plate of relationships, not only with clients, but with people in general. How else can I do my part to make the world a better place?
You want your business to grow and thrive. What have you learned that makes your task easier, and even free flowing?
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a writer, blogger, Virtual Assistant and advocate for cats. Sheri believes in the Laws 
of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. She specializes in creating content that helps entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook at Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming release of “Life Torn Asunder: Rebuilding After Suicide”.
