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Follow Up Fatal Flaws: Why Self-Employed Fail at this Most Basic Sales Skill
| Guest post by: Merra Lee Moffitt |
Article Overview: Okay, I admit it. I don’t always follow up promptly every time. And when I don’t, it ruins my whole week; I feel like a complete fool. I resolve to get better, put in a place a fail-proof, simpler follow up system and get on with my life. So here are my pitiful, real life reasons for not following up and what I am doing about them.
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Free Download - 23 Tiny, Easy Tips to Use at Networking Events By Merra Lee Moffitt |
Follow Up Fatal Flaws: Why Self-Employed Fail at this Most Basic Sales Skill
Okay, I admit it. I don’t always follow up promptly every
time. And when I don’t, it ruins
my whole week; I feel like a complete fool. I resolve to get better, put in a
place a fail-proof, simpler follow up system and get on with my life. So here are my pitiful, real life
reasons for not following up and what I am doing about them.
“I lost your card.” Maybe men don’t have this problem, but I sometime
have no pockets, my purse is not nearby, or my day timer has a loose sleeve and
the cards fall out. Maybe it’s
just that I have too many places to put the business cards I receive.
So I bought a business card
holder. In fact, I bought 2, one
for my purse for casual meetings and one for my carry-all, a bag that holds a
laptop, notebooks, or folders, for business meetings. If I receive a card, it goes into the business card
holder, right after I write what the person was interested in and what
networking event I met them at. The
card doesn’t come out until it’s ready to be put it into my sales management
system.
“I forgot to call you.” We are
all busy especially if we’re successful.
Yellow sticky notes no longer count as a reminder system. And your memory is what you forget with.
Let’s stop feeling bad about this and put in a system.
I started using Google
Tasks . It is always on, sits next to my
calendar, and takes only seconds to add an entry. My iPhone can get to it and
so can my assistant. So I can enter
tasks from anywhere as well as delegate simple tasks like sending information
(if that’s what I promised you) or having her call to set an appointment for
me, which I tell people if I promised to set up a meeting.
When I schedule my
meetings, there’s typically a little time between them, so I can review my task
list and make a quick call if that’s what I promised.
“It’s been too many days
and now I’m too embarrassed to call.” My life is about paperwork, calling
people back, and meeting with them face-to-face. Sometimes with too many meetings stacked back-to-back, my
task list gets too long to get everything done quickly enough to suit me.
First of all, get over
it. Many people don’t call you
back for a week, and you forgive them, so forgive yourself. Just be honest and apologize
genuinely.
Now fix your system. Set a
personal commitment that your follow up calls/emails/mailings will occur within
48 hours. Then put it on your
dashboard and measure yourself.
It’s amazing how focusing on and measuring a result will produce
dramatic improvement. Even if you
don’t reach 100%, your success rate at prompt follow up will skyrocket.
Do I feel like a failure
for exposing myself this way? No.
I work with self employed people everyday; they share their own
foibles. I’m not alone and neither
are you. My clients and I work on easy, simple, no cost ways to measure and
improve profits. Follow up is free
and profitable, so every self employed person should build their skill.
What have you done lately
to improve your follow up?
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About the Author: Merra Lee Moffitt RSS for Merra Lee's articles - Visit Merra Lee's website Click here to visit Merra Lee's website   A Business Dashboard is as Essential as a Car Dashboard 7 Ways to Follow Up Persistence without Being a Pest Easing out of Recession not so Easy for Small Service Companies Better Cash Flow 11 Ways Small Businesses Conserve Cash 2009 Tax Changes Every Business Owner and Employee MUST Know |
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Successes This week
- Hey Andy - That is great!
I just finished the second to last chapter in my new book, The 5 Fatal Flaws - things women do that make them bad at business. I'm working on getting it finished and available for purchase on my website before the end of March.
Yippie!!
J
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
- Hi Evan,
I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
- [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan,
I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz]
I second the request...
Re: 10 Reasons Who Startups Fail & Book Recommendations
- Great post,but please edit the headline. I presume it is "10 Reasons Why Startups Fail & Book Recommendation
Re: 21 Ways To Get New Customers In A Slow Economy
- Thanks Evan,
Your ideas are full of wisdom required for a time like this.
I`ll like to add another idea to your list : Update your Knowledge and Sharpen your Skill on a daily basis.
The economy may be considered slow,but customer awareness is on the increase,therefore,if the pocket (disposable income) of the proposed new customer is of any interest to you,then you must stay ahead by at least one step in your skill and knowledge.
The 21 ways as listed by Evan is a sure way to increase in knowledge and sharpen you skill.
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