Are you finding it difficult to follow up with the leads you’re getting in your business and not book as many appointments as you need?
If so, keep reading – this post is for you. I’m going to share a follow-up formula that has helped me increase my appointment booking rate by 300% (no fluff). But first, let’s take a look at why following up is so important.
According to statistics, only 2% of sales are made on the first contact. However, 82% of sales are made after the seventh contact. So what’s the holdup? Why do so many people fail to follow up with potential leads? Well, there are several reasons: lack of time, lack of knowledge, and fear of rejection top the list. But whatever the reason may be, it’s costing you real money.
There’s no denying that following up takes effort, but it’s an effort that pays off in the long run. And if you’re looking for a foolproof follow-up formula that works, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading for more tips!
Follow-Up – Strategy Calls – Grow your Business
If you want to make sure you are filling up your calendar with great strategy calls, it’s going to take a lot more than just good lead generation marketing. As it happens, you have to follow up with the leads you get.
There are many ways to give your clients the peace of mind they deserve. One way is by following up with them and making sure their needs have been met after a consultation, which will lead you down an effective path for future business referrals. The problem I see over and over again, when I talk to potential clients, and even existing clients, is that their staff or themselves just don’t have the time or the structure to follow up on the leads they’re getting effectively and consistently.
The key here is consistency. If you’re not consistently doing this, then the number of consultations will go up and down in big swings. Additionally, you’re not going to have a consistent number of consultations week after week.
See this point of view:
You get an email inquiry from a potential customer. They’re interested in learning more about your products or services, and they’d like to book a consultation. You reply and thank them for their interest, and let them know you’ll be in touch soon.
But then comes the fun part – the potential customer says they’re sorry, this just doesn’t work now. They explain that when they went to your website and typed in their information, they were ready to take action right away THEN. But since nobody contacted them, they’ve decided to look elsewhere.
This is because when a lead goes to a website and types in their information, they’re ready to take action and take action RIGHT NOW.
If you’re not taking advantage of this mindset, chances are you’re not going to be making the sale.
A Two-Step Formula
Make sure you’re optimizing the number of leads you’re getting into your business with these easy-to-follow steps.
Respond to leads within 20 minutes
20 minutes. No more. If you can get the lead right away, when it pops into your email or your CRM system, you can work on it right away. You’ll be much more successful getting the person on the phone and booking an appointment.
A friend of mine sent me a study done by a franchisor of a fitness franchise.
This franchisor did some secret shopping for the franchisees: the ones that own the brick-and-mortar business. They found that 72% of the calls made were never responded to. Potential leads went onto the web and put in their information, which was then sent to the location. However, the location did nothing with it 72% of the time. ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL!
I also did a secret shopping study and found that businesses only respond to 25% of inquiries. What’s even more surprising to me: only half of those businesses responded the same day. The inquiries were not even within 20 minutes or an hour. The responses came in sometime within the day. The remaining half responded the next day or the day after.
Thing is, if you’re not responding to leads immediately, they get really cold and they won’t even remember they asked you for information in the first place. Worse yet, they’ll probably give their business to the next listing on Google.
The best way to respond to these people is with a voice call. Text and email are all fine, but a warm voice call is the best way to get a response. This way, you will get to understand who the prospect is, and then you can schedule them for the consultation if it makes sense to do so.
It will be like hitting two birds with a stone because at the same you are on this step, you’re also qualifying those leads: something you can’t do through email and text. Truth be told, a lot of times emails and texts get ignored. At times, maybe the messages didn’t go to the right number, all sorts of different technical issues. With a phone call, on the other hand, you know exactly if you’re talking to the right person.
There has to be a process in place
The last thing you want is to be staring at a blank screen wondering what next steps should take place. Make sure your process and ideas are organized before starting. This way, it’s easier for you. Have a script ready. When you’re not ready with a system, it will be up and down. You won’t have the consistency needed for success
I’ve put together a three-day follow-up campaign and I’d love for you to have it. You can download the free guide here so you have a full calendar of appointments on Monday morning.
When you have a process laid out of how you’re going to respond to your leads over the next 10 – 30 days, then you are going to be a lot more successful in making sure you are following up on the leads you’re getting into your business. When you’re following up with those leads, you will be booking appointments. When you’re booking appointments, you’ll be making more sales.
Bonus Tip
Make sure you are consistent.
Make sure you set aside time each day to follow up on leads, no matter where they are in the process. If you don’t have time to do it, then you better hire somebody to do it. Because ultimately, it’s about helping more people, growing your business, and making more profits!
So there you have it, our follow-up formula that gets more strategy calls. It’s easy to implement, and most importantly it’s effective. We hope you found this post helpful and are now ready to put these tips into practice. Remember, the key is responding quickly and being consistent with your follow-up messages. Are you ready to see an increase in qualified leads? If so, contact us today to schedule an impact call. Thanks for reading!
If you’re looking to improve your business and increase your sales by 31% and would like help turning potential leads into paying clients, we’d be happy to schedule an impact call with you. During this call, we can discuss your goals in more detail and come up with a plan tailored specifically for you.
