When you’re selling products or services, you’re going to run across people who aren’t convinced right away that they need to open up the wallet and fork out the cash. Can you keep the contacts warm without turning into that annoying salesperson whose calls never get answered?
Take a look at the video below and find out what I think.
How Do You Chase a Potential Customer Without Nagging?
The transcript follows.
If you’ve ever been hounded by annoying salespeople, then you know you don’t want to be that person. You don’t want your e-mails marked as spam, or your telephone number reported to the FTC.
I use a rule of three contacts when it comes to maintaining contact with a potential customer. The first contact is the warmest – I’ll try to include some follow-up information and push toward a close. If I haven’t heard back from the lead in two weeks, I’ll follow up again as more of a check-in to see if things are still brewing. If I still hear no word, then I’ll send a final follow-up two more weeks later, saying that if I don’t hear back by a certain date (usually within a week), I’ll assume that the person or company is no longer interested and I won’t continue my efforts to reach them. While we’d all prefer to have the person on the other side of the communication be professional and let us know if there’s no chance of doing business, it doesn’t always happen that way. Maintain the high road and don’t be a pest.