Tuesday, May 11, 2021
My son recently taught me a lesson on how to close more sales with follow-up.
He began asking a couple of weeks ago for my wife and me to buy him MLB21 for his PlayStation.
After a couple of weeks of his asking, my wife finally gave in and purchased the game the other evening.
Why?
Because my son followed up.
There were a few things he did that ultimately helped him to get the game.
Each time he made a request to buy the game, he changed his reasoning. A few times he mentioned the differences between MLB19 and 21. Then he referenced the great price for purchasing the game online. Finally, he offered to pay for a portion of the price himself.
He also spent time discussing it with me, then with my wife, alternating back and forth.
What he doesn’t realize is that he was applying one of the most proven strategies for how to close more sales: using follow-up… and he’s only 11!
If he had given up early on, would he have gotten the new game? Likely not.
Just as important as the follow-up were the frequency and approach he took—sharing different arguments for why we should buy the game, investing his time in the weakest among us (my wife always caves first). ??
There is a lesson here when it comes to sales.
Whether you sell your products or services, or you have a team that sells for you, effective follow-up is the fastest way to close more sales.
You’ve heard me talk a lot about prospecting as being the lifeblood of any business.
Well, follow-up is the heart. Following up consistently and in a variety of ways will ensure you create more predictability and consistency in closing sales.
Consider just for a moment how many open conversations, quotes, proposals, email inquiries are sitting out there right now that you (or someone in your company) haven’t followed up on.
It’s fair to say there are likely several thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales just sitting there.
Prospects aren’t moving forward because, like my wife and me, they’re distracted and busy with other things.
Effective follow-up makes your product or service, and the help you’re willing to provide, a priority.
As a next step, use the exercise below to get clear on exactly how to close more sales with follow-up in your company.
This Week’s Exercise
- What are the most successful follow-ups that convert customers or clients?
- How are you incorporating those into every sales discussion?
- What tools are you using to support consistent follow-up?
If you’d like a copy of my Follow-Ups That Convert resource, hit reply and I’ll send it right over. I’ve had clients use this repeatedly to boost their closing rates with effective follow-up.
© Shawn Casemore 2021. All Rights Reserved.