Live Blissed Out
Live Blissed Out
163 - Follow Up Strategies That Will Get More Clients & Close More Sales
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Wanda Allen is an International speaker, coach and corporate trainer. She's the author of Follow Up Savvy and Follow Up Sales Strategies. Wanda had a 25 year corporate career where she held the position of Senior Vice President for 15 years. She has a strong skill set for developing systems and applied this skill to the follow up process. What she teaches is tried, tested and proven. After leaving the corporate world to pursue her own business ventures, Wanda founded her business, Follow Up Sales Strategies. She's an expert in helping entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals increase pipelines, improve sales performance and strengthen relationships by developing strong follow up skills.
To learn more, visit www.followupsalesstrategies.com
Check out her free downloadable guide book 7 Follow Up Strategies to Close More Sales
https://www.followupsalesstrategies.com/books
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Did You Know 0:00
Did you know that 80% of sales are made between the fifth and 12th contact but only 10% of people make three or more?
Intro 0:08
Hello, action taker. Welcome to Live Blissed out, a podcast where I have inspirational and informational conversations with business owners and subject matter experts to help you get the scoop on a variety of topics. Tired of hesitating or making decisions without having the big picture. Want to be in the know, then this is the place to go. I'm your host, Marisa Huston, helping you achieve bliss through awareness and action. So let's get to it. Wanda Allen is an international speaker, coach and corporate trainer. She's the author of follow up savvy and follow up sales strategies. Wanda had a 25 year corporate career where she held the position of Senior Vice President for 15 years. She has a strong skill set for developing systems, and applied this skill to the follow up process. What she teaches is tried, tested and proven after leaving the corporate world to pursue her own business ventures, Wanda founded her business follow up sales strategies. She's an expert in helping entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals, increase pipelines, improve sales performance and strengthen relationships by developing strong follow up skills to learn more visit follow up, sales strategies.com.
Disclaimer 1:22
The information, opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only, and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. This podcast should not be considered professional advice.
Marisa Huston 1:35
Wanda, welcome to the podcast. I'm so happy you're here.
Wanda Allen 1:38
Well, thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Marisa Huston 1:41
Yeah, so let's jump right in and talk about what the conversation is going to be about and how it's going to benefit our listeners.
Wanda Allen 1:49
Well, we are going to talk all things follow up. It's an area that in general, people really struggle with. So if you're struggling and getting your follow up work done consistently, and that's the key word, you're in the right place, because I'm going to give you some tips, ideas and suggestions on ways to really get better in this area that is so crucial to bringing in more sales.
Wanda Allen 2:12
Well, I would agree with that, and I do feel like you are onto something, because I know from my personal experience so many people, they're great at getting to know you, meeting you for the first time, or working with a client for the first time, but then after that, it fizzles, and it's on to the next thing. And it's really that follow up where the magic happens. So where do we start with that? For our listeners that are listening to this conversation, they're going, okay, great. I need to follow up more, but I have no idea what that means.
Wanda Allen 2:40
Yes, people spend so much time, energy, effort and a lot of times money getting leads, and they fall so short with the follow up piece of that that they are never going to experience the fruit of all that labor they're putting out there getting those leads. And what happens is most people will follow up once, maybe twice. Research tells us 90% of people quit after two times. And they make these assumptions. Well, they must not be interested. They must have changed their mind. They must have went with somebody else when, really you have no idea. Okay, 80% of sales are made between the fifth and 12th contact. Don't quit after two stay in the game, as I call it, because the one who's willing and able to stay in the game is the one who gets the business.
Marisa Huston 3:24
Well, I completely agree, but I think that what I hear from people a lot is, but I don't want to sound pesky, at what point do I kind of say to myself, they're not interested or they don't want to be bothered, you know? And when you say follow up, I think that a lot of times in our minds, we're thinking, I've got to call them. And then, if you're calling them 12 times and they haven't responded, then you start to feel like you're bugging them in some way, right? So how does that process work? Or what does that look like, so that we can still do the follow up, but not sound like we're trying to just, you know, do a hard sell on them.
Wanda Allen 3:56
Yeah? Well, the number one fear is fear of being pushy. And you said it, but you're not if a prospect has expressed an interest in your product or service, it is your job to follow up, because if you don't follow up, you are not giving that prospect an opportunity to do business with you. So you're cheating not only yourself, but you're cheating the prospect from working with you, because you know your product or service will make a difference in their life or business. Okay, that's one number two mindset. Well, you know they're gonna think I'm gonna be bothering them, and you know, if you're following up every day, yeah, of course you're gonna be bothering them, but you just remain respectful and professional and just recognize that prospects ignore often. And when you stay in the game and follow up and they finally respond, which happens on the regular, two things are going to happen. They're going to apologize to you for not getting back to you, and then they are going to thank you for continuing to follow up. So to answer your question, what I say is, don't even think about quitting until you've made five follow ups. Like you can't even think about it, because it takes that endurance, if you will, you know, to just stay in there, because what you're looking for is a yes or a no. You know, people think that the pain is in the No, and that's not true. The pain is in the ignore. I'll take a no over and ignore any day of the week, because when a prospect tells me No, it's an update, it keeps my train moving, and sales is about movement. But when a prospect ignores me, that car on my train is an idol, and it's going to slow my train down. So when you're following up, don't be afraid of no. No is the second best answer you can get, and that's what you're looking for. You're looking for a yes or a no. So you're doing your job, because if your job is to bring in business and your job is to follow up, you're doing your job. You're expressing an interest in working with that prospect, and you're looking for a yes or a no, and that will help keep the emotions out of it. It's very easy to get emotional when it comes to follow up. You know, you're afraid of not knowing what to say, afraid of what they're gonna say, afraid of being pushy, afraid of them thinking negatively about us. And all that chatter goes on, and if that chatter goes on too much or too loud or too often, it will prevent no follow up action being taken. So just stick to the facts. The facts are, your job is to bring in business. This prospect expressed an interest, and I must follow up, because I got to see, are they interested or aren't they?
Marisa Huston 6:33
Yeah, that's a really valid point. And so then I think that it might help our listeners, if we give them an example, perhaps, that they can relate to, so that they understand. What does that look like? Because I think that when we say follow up, people could interpret in so many different ways that follow up could be, Hey, did you make a decision? What did you decide, versus maybe asking things like, did you have a question? Was there something that was unclear for you that I could elaborate. That makes a huge difference. So give us an idea of how that works.
Wanda Allen 7:05
Well, both of those examples are required follow up. So it depends on what the last conversation was. If the prospect said, Okay, well, thanks for the information. I need to think about it, and then I shouldn't be able to make my decision here in the next week or so. Well, when you follow up, that's exactly what you're following up for, is to see if they've made their decision yet. So just be very clear, like, don't try to sugarcoat it or dance around. You know why you're calling. I call it, say what you mean and ask for what you want. And it doesn't mean you're unprofessional abrasive. It just means you're not wasting time on fluff, because if you start wasting time on fluff, that's where you're going to get tongue tied and twisted. So it's very important to be very clear about why you're following up. Is it to see if they've made their decision? Is it to see if they're ready to book that appointment with you? Is it to see if they've gone over the information that you gave them, like, why are you following up? You have to be clear on that. That will lead you in what to say when you're following up.
Marisa Huston 8:10
That makes total sense. So it's really about being cognizant of the conversation and then basing the follow up on that. So if, for example, they said to your point. You know, I need a week to think about it. Then when you reach out to them, you say, hey, that last conversation we had, you said you needed a week to think about it. Were there any questions I can answer for you about X, Y, Z, I'm here. How can I help? Please let me know that sort of thing, right? And so I guess the verbiage will depend on what you agreed upon in the original conversation.
Wanda Allen 8:39
Well, what I would say is I would shorten it, because the prospect said they need a week, they'll make their decision in a week. So when you're following up, I would just leave it, you know, I know we spoke last week and you mentioned that you would make your decision in a week, so I'm following up to see if you've made your decision. Now, this is just me. I wouldn't go into Do you need more information, because it can get them away from why I'm really calling and what I'm really looking for, and so it's very pointed. Then if they say, you know, I'm still thinking about it, then you could say, Do you need more information? Is there any more questions? But I would not lead with that. I would lead with the purpose of the follow up, which is to see if they've made their decision.
Marisa Huston 9:24
Okay, so that helps, and that's kind of why we're having these conversations, because I think that our perspectives are very different. And you are the expert in this area, and I love what you're saying, because I love simplicity myself. And so it's nice not to have to sugarcoat it and just go straight into You said you needed a week. It's been a week. What have you decided? As simple as that. We don't want them to feel like we're trying to sell them, that we're only interested because we want to make a sale, and there has to be that element of compassion or understanding or just a little bit of that personality. Sometimes just being that direct can feel off putting for some of us, right?
Wanda Allen 10:01
It can, but you're kind, you're professional, it's all good. You're going to leave a really good impression. So the idea of, well, I don't want to come across as making the sale. Well, let's be real. That is why you're following up. But what you can do to help switch that is, rather than come from the place of making, I gotta follow up because I want to make this sell. Don't do that. Shift your mindset to I want to follow up because I want to be of service through my product or service that I'm selling. So you know that your product or service is going to serve that prospect. And so when you come from a place of service, it's about them. When you come from a place of making the sale, it's about you, and that's where you can get uncomfortable. So shifting the focus from you to them can make it easier. And when that's authentic and genuine, they're going to feel it. You know, your excitement for them to use your product or service. You know they're going to feel that as well.
Marisa Huston 11:00
Yeah, if they're interested in your product or service, chances are they're gonna need it at some point. And if you're not the one that helps them, somebody else likely will. And then they might be in a less desirable situation, I guess. Because, you know, I'd like to think that you are the right person for them. You are probably the best person to be able to offer that service, and so you're short changing them if they don't choose you. So you know, you want to make sure you understand their needs, you provide responses or solutions to the problems that they have, and then again, setting your mindset to, look if I don't help them, they're going to be left out. They're not going to get the best service. I know I'm the person to help with that, and I'd rather they give me the opportunity then they go elsewhere.
Wanda Allen 11:41
Yeah. And if you've been talking to the prospect and you gave them all the information they need, and let's say you followed up once, and they didn't respond, and you start getting nervous, like, oh my gosh, I don't want to follow up again, because I don't want you know them to think I'm pushy, or so you don't follow up, what happens is the salesperson is saying, well, I'll just wait for them to get back to me, which is a very dangerous track. So let's say three months goes by, and now they're ready to move forward, but they can't remember your name. Was it Mary? Was it Mandy? Was it Marisa? They can't find your information. And the next person that they meet that does what you do is going to get the business,
Marisa Huston 12:15
Yeah, 100%. When we talk about following up with people, what do you feel are the best ways to do that? Meaning, is it just a phone call? Do we ask them what their preference is? So some people, for example, are really responsive when it comes to email or text, but some people really like that phone call. Or do we perhaps, ask them if they'd like to be on an email list or newsletter update so that they can get information ongoing. How does that work? And what do you think are the challenges that people seem to have in that space?
Wanda Allen 12:46
Well, the most efficient tool we have to follow up, and the one that is used the least is the phone, and I call it for its originally intended purpose, which is verbal communication. It is so effective because I can cover with you in a five minute conversation, what could take three emails and three texts in two days, and you're going to tell me things on the phone that you will not tell me in an email or a text, and there's so much fear around the phone today because that beautiful skill and art of communication is lost. And it's not just the younger generation, it's all generations at this point, and so people are just don't use the phone. And I really want to encourage your community to please use the phone and you give yourself a chance to experience how efficient it is. It will always be your go to and because there's so much fear around the phone, there's these lies that people tell themselves that justify not using the phone. Nobody answers. I'm going to be bothering them. Why would I leave a voicemail? No one listens to it. And, you know, I just say nobody on planet Earth answers their phone. I mean, that's just not true. You do get voicemail a lot, but people answer their phone. So my suggestion is that's always your number one go to and because there's so many inherent fears with following up, people hide behind the electronic tools of communication. So they'll just email, I'm not going to call them. I'll just email them or text them, or send them a direct message and and really, what they're doing is hiding behind that. You can use that as backup, but not your primary, like if you're in the zone of I'm trying to make this sell. I'm trying to get them to the place where they're comfortable moving forward with my product or service, however you frame it. That is not about putting them on their newsletter list, because you have to have communication with them. It's about, are you ready yet? Have you made a decision? Did you talk to your partner? You were shopping around? You can't do that over a staying in touch tool, you know, to keep you top of mind, you can, but it's not effective. So you want to have that direct communication when you're in that prospecting stage, newsletters and all of that is good, once you're past the stage of trying to close that business. They don't know what's the best way to follow up. And like I say, it's the phone I had a client. Tell me, oh, Wanda, don't ever call me. Just text me. And I text her most the time, but I do want to throw on a call every now and again, because, just to humanize the relationships, you know, now, I have a good relationship with her, but when you're in that prospecting stage, you don't want to only be a text or an email or a DM, they need to hear the sincerity and interest in your voice, and they're not going to get that over electronic tools. And it's about building relationship with that prospect. That's how you get them to start trusting you when you're following up when you're supposed to, and that's where the relationship starts to develop, because when you don't follow up, it appears that you don't want their business, you don't need their business. You're not interested in their business. And I know that's not the truth, but the prospect may not know that, and so I flip it around and say, What if you were the prospect and the salesperson didn't follow back up with you and you did want to do business. Are you going to trust them? What kind of professional impression did that leave with you? Are you going to be confident that they're going to be able to handle your business? So when you flip that script, it helps solidify the fact that, yeah, I really do need to follow up, because I do want to leave a good professional impression, and I want to increase my chances of getting the business, and I want to stand out above anybody else who might also be talking to the prospect.
Marisa Huston 16:27
Yeah, I think what you're saying is absolutely true. People just need to get over that mindset of I'm bugging somebody, or I don't want to sound pushy, and all the things that stop us from doing follow up. However, I will also say that it is very respectful to ask the person what their preference is. I'm gonna confess to you that I never, and I mean, never have my phone volume on, under any circumstances. I just don't. It is always off. And the reason being is because majority of the calls that come through are either solicitation or spam or something, and it completely throws me off, because I'm a very productive person, and I have a schedule to keep, and I want to stay focused, and the phone can be the biggest distraction. Dings all the time, rings all the time. I mean, it's too much. So what I do is I turn it off, and anybody who knows me, and anybody who does business with me or gets referred to me, they know that not only will I follow up, but I follow up a lot faster via email. And then I ask them, I'll say, you know, What's your preferred way of communication? And they'll say, I like when you call because I want to talk to you. I have some questions, or whatever, great. I'll call you right now. Or some of them, like me, email is the best way to reach me, and I'm very responsive. And so for me, I think it really does depend on the type of business that you have. Like in my situation, my business has a lot to do with graphics and images and making decisions about products, and in that case, everything has to be seen on email. It's very hard to have that kind of conversation over the phone, but the phone is perfect to your point. Wanda, building those relationships, learning about your client, understanding what their needs are. No email is going to do that. So you really need to talk to them and say, you know, why'd you call me? You know, what is your pain point, and what are you trying to accomplish? And all those things that build that connection and trust. But then, to a certain extent, you're gonna have to move to something else. So to me, it's not a one size fits all. It's really about what works for your particular situation, but also what works best for your client, like us, right? We schedule a phone call, then, yes, I will talk to you for as long as you need me to. I'm very generous with my time. I will answer any questions. I'll do anything you want. However, if you're just like calling, calling, calling, I'm never picking up the phone because I don't have the ringer on, and it's very distracting. So I like it when it's scheduled. I guess that's the thing. It needs to be scheduled.
Wanda Allen 18:52
Yeah, scheduled calls are the best because then you know, but you still have to have that communication to get the call scheduled. You still have to follow up to get the call scheduled.
Marisa Huston 19:00
Yes, and I'm glad we're having this conversation, Wanda, because I think that our listeners are going to really get a lot of that, because it's the scheduling. And I think that's the reason why people shy away from the phone, is because the phone is never a time thing. It's like, let's say you're sitting there right now and you want to reach out to a customer, right? You just pick up the phone and call. Well, they could be at lunch, they could be in a meeting, they could be in a different phone call, they could be doing a project. It's so difficult to know when it's convenient for them and if their mindset is not there, you know, you become an annoyance because you caught them at a bad time, right? But if you schedule and you say, hey, you know, I said I was going to follow up with you in a week, and I'd really like to touch base, what's a convenient time for me to call now, it's really on them to say, Oh, well, I'm available right now, or I can call you in an hour, or you can call me in an hour, whatever that is, you can still use the phone. But I think the barrier in our minds Wanda is that we think that it has to be this random. We just call them at any time and we get their voicemail, and then we get frustrated and play phone tag.
Wanda Allen 20:00
Yeah, and that happens. It's part of the process. But like I say, people do answer their phones, and you can use your email or text as a backup. It's just an efficient tool. So however you get them on the phone, that's all that matters is that you get them on the phone, or, you know, if they return your email. But sometimes they'll ignore both. They don't respond, and that's very common. It doesn't mean they're not interested, though, it just means they're not responding. So you always end up coming back into the follow up loop.
Marisa Huston 20:32
Yeah, that's a really good point, and I think your message is really powerful, because I think we're also hard on ourselves a lot of times, right Wanda? We say, well, I've called three times and I'm not getting any response, so I'm done. But to your point, it takes a lot more than that, and we always think, Oh, that's not true. It doesn't apply to me. Maybe they just don't like me. But the reality is, it really is difficult. There are just so many longer steps. It's not a quick, done process like we expect it to be or hope for it to be. Sometimes it is, but oftentimes it's not. And I think we have it in our heads that, oh my goodness, it's just me, and, you know, they obviously don't want to talk to me anymore, so I'm going to stop. But we really need to understand that the cycle is longer than we think.
Wanda Allen 21:17
Yes, it is. And, you know, so I call just stay out of the head, you know, because there's we can talk ourselves into anything or out of anything, and not doing your follow up work is very easy to not do it. You know, what I say is just focus on the action that you need to take that's going to support your business and let the chips fall where they may, because that's what happens. You start projecting, predicting, well, they're going to do this. They're going to think that when How do we know that is so true? And really it's as simple as that, right? You know, I call that operating from your ego. We all have an ego. The ego doesn't know it all, and it thinks it knows, and it doesn't know. It has no clue what the prospect is thinking are going to do? The only way to find out is to follow something, you know, have the conversation. So, yeah, it all starts in between the ears, and that's why you gotta clear it out. It doesn't mean you don't have fear. We're all human, right, but you just can't let the fear be in the driver's seat, because that means it will be the deciding factor as to if you take the action that you need to take, or not.
Marisa Huston 22:23
That word action. And I feel like in this conversation that we just had today, there's two key things, and correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I got out of it. It's that you must communicate clearly, because a lot of times when we're saying something, we're assuming the other person gets what we're saying, but they don't. So you want to make sure that their expectations are in line with yours, and have that very clear communication. So set the stage right, essentially. But then a lot of times, that's where we stop. Even if we get to that point we stop, but what we need to do is take action. We need to follow up and keep doing what we say we're going to do to build that trust, to build the relationship that combination is like magic. That's when everything starts to fall into place.
Wanda Allen 23:06
Yes, another thing is, if those fears start creeping, man, you can replace those with is this action that I should take? Need to take? Is going to support my business? If I don't follow up? Is that going to support my business? It's all how we play with our mind and look at it from the most serving perspective.
Marisa Huston 23:27
Yeah, and it's even more than how does it support my business? Am I going to be able to help this person if I don't do this? And that's key, because, again, they're missing out, because they're probably going to need your service if they showed interest. So it's either they're gonna go elsewhere or they're not gonna do it, and then it could be a disadvantage for them in some way. You're there to help solve a problem, which is why they have interest in your service to begin with. So that's where you have to lead. That's where your mind needs to take you. And so clearly communicating, setting those expectations and understanding what your client is looking for, and then following up like you say you will. I think just doing those two things will make a huge difference.
Wanda Allen 24:08
I agree.
Marisa Huston 24:10
Wanda, how do people learn more about you and the services that you offer to help them with this?
Wanda Allen 24:16
They can go to my website, follow up sales strategies.com and I have a free guidebook that they can get, and I also offer a free 30 minute assessment call that they can get as well on the website.
Marisa Huston 24:29
Wonderful. So I'll make sure I put all that information in the show notes so they have access to the link. And I just want to say I was excited to talk to you, because I felt this conversation was important, because I do feel that there is a need for people to understand what follow up means and how to apply it in their business. And I just see it happen time and time again. I'm sure you've experienced it yourself, and that's how you determine that there is a need. Because I know it happens all the time to me. I get people I talk to, and they'll say they're going to follow up, or they are going to provide me with certain information and I don't hear back, and then that perception is, wait a minute, if I haven't even done business with this person and they're not following up, what can I expect going forward? So that building of trust is super important.
Wanda Allen 25:12
Yeah, 100%
Marisa Huston 25:14
Thank you, Wanda. I'm so happy that you came on the show, and I appreciate you sharing your insights with us.
Wanda Allen 25:20
You're most welcome. Thank you for having me.
Marisa Huston 25:22
That's a wrap for this episode of live Blissed out. Thanks to Wanda Allen for joining us and thanks for listening. If you have a question or comment for a future episode, all you have to do is go to speakpipe.com/lLBOVM or click the link in the show notes to leave a brief audio message. If you find value in our show, please visit www.liveblissedout.com to reach out, subscribe and share on social media. This show is made possible through listeners like you. Thank you. So long for now and remember to keep moving forward!