Stand Up – and Stand Out: Get Your Prospects to Call You Back
By Colleen Francis, President & Founder, Engage Selling SolutionsNo matter how persuasive, compelling or brilliant you may be, it's difficult to build a relationship with a prospect if you can't get them to call you back.
Most sales people use boring, outdated voice and email methods, which leave them sounding just like every other sales person in the world. If you want to get more return calls from your clients, then you have to do something different from everyone else out there - you have to stand out, be likeable, and actively deserve a return call.
Here are 12 of the best ideas we've found to help you stand up, stand out and make your clients want to return your calls:
The Fine Line Between Persistence and Stalking
I rarely ever give up. That being said, I don't call my prospects twice a day, either.
The trick is to call consistently, and if you leave a message, tell the customer precisely when you will call them back - and then stick to it. I usually say something like: "If I don't hear from you by March 15th, I'll call you back on the 16th." I get return calls more often, because my prospects know that I will be calling them if they don't get in touch with me.
Most experts agree that it takes at least 4 attempts to reach your prospect. Realistically, I find that number can be closer to 8. But some of my best customers today are those who I was initially the most patient with, and to whom I made multiple calls over a period of weeks, or even months.
Let Them Off the Hook
In a voice or email, it's a great idea to tell a prospect that's its OK for them to say no.
Say something like: "If you've chosen to go with a different product, that's okay. Just let me know so I don't become a follow-up pest." The vast majority of the time, one of two things will happen - they'll either call you back and say, yes, we've chosen someone else, or they'll say no, we haven't made a decision yet, and apologize for not getting back to you sooner.
Either way, you're ahead of the game because now you know the truth about what's going on.
Send a Handwritten Note
Sending a handwritten note after your first sales call or presentation will dramatically increase your chances of getting a return call. Why? Because a handwritten note increases your likeability, helps make the prospect feel good about you and encourages them to take your calls.
I never cease to be amazed at the number of emails I receive from clients and prospects thanking me for my handwritten notes. Obviously, they have an effect on people that yet another voice or email doesn't.
Put Them on Auto-drip
If you've tried everything you can think of and still can't seem to get through, but you aren't quite ready to give up entirely, put the prospect on auto-drip, and send them something interesting and of value (not simply advertisements) every month or quarter. This will help to keep you top of mind for when the time is right for them to make a decision, or go looking for a supplier. For more tips on how to stay in touch without straying into stalking territory, check out this article, The Fine Line Between Persistence - and Stalking!
Ask If They're Okay
This is an excellent idea from one of our clients Michael Freer, who uses it in both voice and email to drum up a response from clients who have unexpectedly gone silent:
Dear Bob,
On the XXth of June, I sent you an email asking for… and as I haven't heard from you, I can only assume one of the following:
1) You're now not interested and I'm reduced to the status of an annoying piece of spam clogging up your email; or
2) You desperately want to contact me, but you're trapped under a fallen filing cabinet and can't reach your phone or PC.
Your guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Michael Freer
P.S. If it is #2, please let me know and I'll send someone round to help you out.
This very simple approach works because it's different and fun. We tried it, and received almost immediate responses from previously silent contacts, many of whom started off by apologizing, saying that they've been buried in work and then going into great detail about why they were still interested. The ones who don't respond are either on a really long vacation, or really aren't interested, so it isn't worth wasting any more time on them anyway.
On a happy note, we never did get any responses from prospects who were indeed trapped under their filing cabinets, saving us the difficulty and expense of organizing a costly rescue mission!
