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Session 4 / Follow-Up-To-Close



Go to Session 5 or go back to Session 3

How many MILLIONS of dollars in production is lost every year due to poor follow-up? Here’s what I know about business follow-ups. An object at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force. In sales YOU ARE that force.

In our system, there are two main types of follow-ups during the sales cycle. There are help list follow-ups which are new leads, and there are fight club follow-ups which are people we have already met with and we WANT to do business with.

  1. Help List Follow-Up = GET their attention (typically warm leads)
  2. Fight Club Follow-Up = KEEP their attention (fit our filter)

For purposes of today, let’s focus on the fight club follow-up-to-close business.

Fight Club Mindset After the first meeting with new leads we pick and choose who makes it into our fight club after sharing our beliefs (opportunity filter). The reason this is so important is because once somebody is in our fight club we are aggressive, even relentless.

Here’s the mindset I operate from every day with my follow-ups:

  • Do they fit my filter of someone I WANT to do business with?
  • Are they going to use someone within the next 90-days?
  • Do I believe I’m just as good, or better, than anyone else in my industry?

If the answer is yes to all the above, then it’s my DUTY as a sales PROFESSIONAL to fight to earn their business.

Amateur Follow-Up Most people in sales go two or three weak follow-up attempts before giving up.

They say things like:

  • I was just checking in
  • Can I answer any more questions?
  • You were on my list of people to call today…
  • I woke up today thinking about you…

I believe the reason most people are so poor at follow-up is they either didn’t follow-through on an initial promise during the follow-up process or they don’t have anything of value to say and therefore “don’t want to be a nuisance.”

The reality is in today’s ADHD world it can be incredibly difficult to keep people’s attention. The term we use to describe this is object impermanence. We can have a great meeting in the morning and already be forgotten by the afternoon. I’m amazed at how many agents miss out on deals to their own friends and family simply because that person didn’t think about them as an agent. By now you’ve heard us mention that money follows attention, activity, circulation, purpose, and movement. Buying into these mindsets help us not only stay top-of-mind, but give us ammunition during the follow-up process.

Follow-Up Definition A “touch with value” that articulates how you solve their problems better than anyone else based on your unique past (experiences, knowledge, education, struggles, successes, mentors).

Statistics tell us it takes 7-15 touches to close a deal 80% of the time. Stop losing out on business due to a lack of a follow-up system or not having something to say.

10-Touch Follow-Up

Touch #1 - Email

  • Send meeting summary to assure you are on the same page
  • Highlight 2-3 areas (buzzwords) you KNOW you can help them in (problems/needs/wants)

Touch #2 - Content Specific Touch

  • Send them a value-add based on content for their situational problems/needs/wants that you have helped others with
  • Show that you are the expert and constantly studying your field

Touch #3 – Trigger Method

  • Personal Trigger: Some kind of activity that makes you think about them (interests)
  • Business Trigger: Something going on in the market that relates to them.

Touch #4 - Proof of Concept

  • Help others just like them every day… Insert specific example of current clients
  • Testimonials (video or written) to set the next face-to-face.

Touch #5 - Formal Meeting

  • Get back face-to-face to rekindle first meeting flame
  • Share beliefs again and ASK for the business

Touch #6 - Social Consensus

  • Have an advocate/promoter/new client speak to them on your behalf
  • Sometimes an outsider perspective and conversation can put their mind at ease

Touch #7 - Challenger Sale (The Ask)

  • Time to CLOSE the business
  • Ask has anyone else worked this hard and get to the REAL objective/excuse

Touch #8

  • Assess if they still fit your filter of someone you WANT to do business with
  • If no, then move on. If yes, then revisit the follow-up system best practices

Touch #9-10

  • Repeat from the above based on what received the best response previously

Touches 10-15

  • Along the way, there were probably other touches in the follow-up system that may have been repeated such as triggers (texts, voice messages, social media, networking events)

Exercise: From the different types of follow-ups listed above which tools are you currently using that work? Which could you implement to help increase the probability of sale?

For additional workbook PDFs, videos, and information on the above click HERE. Go to Session 5 or go back to Session 3.

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About Bruce: Founder and director, Dr. Bruce Lund, prides the 90-Day Sales Manager program on being a truly educational experience for participants to be the best at they are best at. For individuals to differentiate in the commoditized and saturated world. Bruce has over 10-years experience coaching people from all walks of life. Get coached through new-age training for next-generation producers. Learn more about the 90 Day Sale Manager program here HERE.

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