You left the meeting and had a good feeling about this one. He said to follow up with him in the next few days and he’ll close the deal with you. You need the sale. You know the prospect is a busy man. You’ve already left a few messages and sent an email or two. 

How much follow up Is too much?

There’s a fine, really fine, line between follow up and annoyance. There’s also a weird part of the process where annoyances become follow up and the prospect respects your hustle. Oh and that part about them getting mad and telling you never to contact them again, happens too. 

The last thing any of us want to do is piss off a prospect by bugging them too much. The first thing any of us want to do is make a sale. Both are valid consequences of follow up. It’s your job as a salesman to know exactly how much follow up is the right amount. If you’re not sure, it’s cool, stick with me and I’ll teach you how I do it. 

If you’re gonna close sales you’ve got to relentlessly follow up with prospects.

Relentless follow up doesn’t have to be annoying. It doesn’t have to piss the prospect off. If you do it right, the prospect will love your follow up and close with you when the time is right. It’s all in the technique you use and perception of that technique by the prospect. 

I’ve sold cars, homes and everything in between at some point in my life. I’ve had several sales “jobs” that required me to do daily follow up with prospects that weren’t exactly happy to be bothered on a dally basis. I don’t do well with “NO” so I had to concoct some really creative ways to get myself back in front of the prospect every day to do my job and close the sale. 

The car business probably required the most follow up of any job I’ve ever had. Selling cars is a right now business. If you don’t close them right now, they most likely won’t be back. If a prospect leaves the dealership, you’ve got to be one BAMF on your follow up to get them back to the barn. 

People don’t really care too much for salesmen, let alone car salesmen. That being said, prospects don’t really appreciate a car salesman calling, emailing and texting them every day. When I had to do so in order to feed my family, I had to figure out a way to follow up, get them back to the dealership and close them without pissing them off to where they go buy from my competitor. 

If a prospect did walk on me, I had a surefire way to entice them to come back and finish the deal with me.

I do everything in my life with intent. I’m not fearful of consequences, good or bad. Most people don’t have intentions. If you have intentions, you have consequences. Most people run from consequences and avoid doing anything intentionally. Because of this, most people don’t expect you to have intent. People almost always assume other people think and act the same as they do. When you’re different you make the sale.

I believe it takes 12 touches to entice someone to buy. In my business the average prospect reads my shit and watches me for 8 months before they make a buying decision. It takes me getting in front of you a shit ton of times before you’ll actually buy from me. I’m ok with that. If you think about it, you reading this right now is me following up with you. Don’t really seem like it though, does it? Exactly!

Here’s how to creatively follow up with prospects in a way that makes them buy from you

Day 1: You just met the prospect. You had a good sales conversation and you need to follow up. As soon as you get off the phone or get back to your car, if it was in an in person meeting, send them an email. Not just any email, an email with something you mentioned in the meeting that you thought they would like. 

During the initial meeting (phone or person) I mention a third party service or review that will help them, not me. This shows them I care about them and that I have expert information for them. I make them want this during the meeting so that they look forward to getting the email from me with the information. 

Day 2: I call them up and double check to make sure they got my email yesterday. I also tell them I enjoyed meeting them yesterday. I never thank them for their time. My time is just as valuable as theirs in my mind. if I thank them that means they did me a favor. By telling them I enjoyed meeting them it puts me on their level subconsciously.

I also give them the heads up that I have some more cool stuff they will like, so I warn them to be on the lookout for my emails. I want them hanging and expecting my contacts so that when they happen they are expected. It’s almost like setting another meeting with them. 

Day 3: I send another email with more cool information that reinforces or adds to the info I sent them on day one. “Oh, hey by the way, I found this video that’s perfect for you.” I’m following up but with more stuff they want. I haven’t asked for the sale again yet. I’m simply doing what I call “stacking the good” I’m giving them a ton of value and demonstrating my use and expertise. 

The law of reciprocity is a real thing. If I do enough cool stuff for a prospect that brings value to their life, they will want to restore order and give value to my life. Most times this is in the form of a sale. They buy from me because they feel like they owe it to me.

Day 4: This is when I send a video that I’ve personally made for them. Really I made it for everyone but it seems as if it’s just for them. On this video I give value and show social proof of the results the prospect wants. In other words I might show them testimonials or examples of current and past clients that got the results the prospect wants.

At the end of this video I ask for their business. I make a clear, strong, and precise call to action. At this point they have a really good idea of if I’m their guy or not. The decision has to be made. My call to action gives them a time period to reply to me. They have to reach out with an answer of yes or no.

Day 5: I follow up and make sure they got the video from yesterday. If I have to leave a voicemail I do so as well as send the same message via text. I want them to feel like the video is super important and that they have a sense of urgency to watch it. It’s as if the video is expiring or going away soon.

I’m not asking for business on this call. If I do get them on the phone instead of going to voicemail, I hit them with a call to action just like the video. Not begging for the sale but insisting they need to make a decision of yes or no.

Day 6: They get another email from me. This email explains that I’ve been trying to catch them so we can close our business and get started moving forward. I highlight what was in the previous emails, how it benefits them and how what I sell can solve their problems. I also point out that a week has already passed by. I make them feel 6 days behind.

This email is full of scarcity, sales pitches and benefits of taking action. This is the first time I’ve aggressively asked for the business. This email needs to lay it all out to them. Be firm but empathetic. 

Days 7 – 10 I make them miss me. They got value, follow up and an aggressive sales pitch via email from me at this point. I’ll give them a break. Take the scarcity to a new level. Act as if I don’t need them. They think I’ve moved on, but again, I’m operating with intent. They have no clue. 

Day 11: I call them and make sure they are all good. Most times it’s a voicemail and text they get. Any time I call the phone and leave a VM, I send the same message via text. This is why it’s important to always get the mobile number, not the office number. I let them know I’m here for them and ready to make it happen when they are. Keep it short and simple.

This call is simply a check up call. I let them know I’ll be sending another important video tomorrow via email. This text and VM is 100% to set the hook for tomorrow’s follow up video.

Day 12: This will be the last “real” follow up they get from me. I send them the video I mentioned in yesterday’s text and voicemail. This video simply states that it’s been two weeks since we first got in contact. I show them results of other clients after two weeks with me. I make them feel the pain of what they are missing out on. Social proof all the way.

I also let them know I’m gonna let them off the hook. I’ll get off their ass for now. I reassure the excuses they are thinking, such as being busy, not ready etc… I’m empathetic but at the same time I show them what it’s costing not to get this done.

After the 12 days, I start following up via email once a week and phone call/text every two weeks. Any time I have something of value for them, I send it at those times and follow up. I keep them in long term, weekly follow up until they decide to reach back out to me. I don’t put much more time or focus on them.

You can easily implement this same intentional process into your follow up. More times than not, the prospect will buy from you at the 4th or 8th follow up. Rarely do I have to go the distance for 12 days. It’s all a matter of expert positioning on your end. Prospects buy from experts at 3X the rate they buy from salespeople.

If you’re ready to implement a sales system that allows you to have seemingly casual, yet powerful sales conversations that lead to closing 3 out of 5 inbound sales calls I got you. My program www.inboundleadcloser.com will give you the tools and sales system you need in order to assist you in closing more sales.

Lastly, if you’d like to know more about my programs and products, in order to purchase the right one for you, simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch. All I ask is that you come ready to invest and not waste our time. We have a lot of people to help and we want to help those who are ready, first.