Typically most potential clients are not yet ready to buy the first time that they talk with you; although, very rarely, this does actually happen.
You know and I know, that when you sell a high-priced or complex service, clients do need time to make their mind up to sign on the dotted line.
But silence from a potential client can mean two things either they need longer to make their mind up, or they are not interested. Which means you need to follow up with a client, but in a way that helps them get closer to buying from you or enables them to tell you that they are not going to buy from you.
Here are some ideas to help you to do just that:
1) When you are speaking with your potential client, do ask them when, and how, would be appropriate for you to contact them if you have not heard anything back from them. This means that you are not being pushy as they have given you permission to follow up.
2) If your potential client is active on social media, make sure you have a dialogue on social media with them. I?m not talking about directly asking them about the potential work just retweeting their content, ?liking” their updates, commenting on their discussions or answering their questions.
3) If you’ve not heard anything for a week, then send your potential client a quick e-mail asking them if they have made any decisions yet, or whether there is anything you can help them with to help them get to a decision.
What are your tricks for following up?
Heather Townsend, Britain’s queen of networking,”helps professionals achieve business and career success using social media and networking. Follow her?Joined Up Networking?blog“for more useful tips and tricks. She is the author of the current best-selling book on networking?The Financial Times Guide To Business Networking?which has 68 five-star reviews on Amazon.
Picture source
