Most salespeople have been taught to send thank you notes or emails to prospects after a meeting. For the majority, this simple act never gets done, because they can’t seem to fit it into their busy schedules. And it may be good that they don’t. Thank you notes can actually damage your budding relationship.
While thank you cards show the prospect that you’re interested and that you care; they also send a subtle message that the prospect is to be bowed down to. It sets up an uneven buyer-to-seller relationship; where the power lies with the buyer.
Instead, keep your relationship on a level playing field at a peer-to-peer level. You can still send a note or follow-up with an email or a phone call; you just get rid of the words “thank you” or “thanks.” Instead, write or say something like, “I’m glad we could spend some time together to discuss…” It relays the same caring message without the unnecessary deference to the prospect. Remember, your time is just as valuable as theirs so don’t act as if it’s not.
Continue your note with ideas that will help the prospect. To do that, simply spend a few minutes thinking about your conversation and how you can help the prospect. It may or may not be related to your product or service. If you’re successful, you’ll quickly move to a trusted advisor role which is much more important to your prospect than dealing with just another salesperson.
Replace Your Thank You Cards - To learn more about this author, visit Will Turner's Website.
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Will Turner
(Visit Will's Website)
As President of Dancing Elephants
Achievement Group, Will feels he has the
best job in the galaxy. He loves working
with salespeople and entrepreneurs to
"unblock" themselves and "unlock"
their potential. Will is the first to
admit that he was a reluctant salesperson
for many years. He thought most
salespeople had to be pushy, and he just
wasn't comfortable in that role. He later
discovered that you don't have to act
like a typical salesperson to be a great
salesperson so he created a company to
teach others what he had learned.
Will transitioned a twenty year career in
sales and sales management into his
current position as President of Dancing
Elephants. In addition to facilitating and
presenting, Will is the author of Impact!,
the company's monthly e-newsletter on
sales performance. He is also the
co-creator of the Sales Magnetism program
and the co-author of Six Secrets of Sales
Magnets.
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