Prospect Service

When you have a hot lead on the phone, they're evaluating everything you do and say to determine whether or not they're going to do business with you. Think about it for a minute. The example you set in your follow-up process is exactly what they'll expect if they do business with you -- or so the buyer's psychology goes. They're constantly receiving subliminal and direct messages from the behavior of everyone they come in contact with in your firm.

Here's a typical scenario. One of your staff promises to call the customer back with some information they need to dig out. They tell the customer they'll be back to them on Tuesday. Tuesday comes and Tuesday goes. Thursday or Friday your staff person finally makes the call. Outwardly the prospect says something like, "gee thanks, I really appreciate your follow-up." Inwardly, they're probably asking themselves, "is this the speed at which I'll be serviced if I buy from this company? I can't afford to be kept waiting for so long."

The only thing a prospect has as a promise of post-purchase service is his or her experience in the pre-purchase process. If you or your staff miss commitments, send sloppy materials or are difficult to communicate with, your prospect is likely to believe that that's how he or she will always be treated.

Now, consider the fact that most people like to develop loyalties with key vendors so they can make future purchase decisions faster and better. That means that on both initial contact with new prospects, and the ongoing follow-up is really leading to a potential relationship that could generate thousands of dollars in profits over a number of years. Think of this as a courtship -- if you don't like each other you won't get married!

One bad move can kill the whole thing.

Because follow-up is at the very root of marketing efficiency (or inefficiency), do the planning necessary beforehand, to make your system work well for your organization.

In other words, think through your normal sales cycle, determine the appropriate action taken at each step, and have all of the sales tools necessary to get through each step. Do your research, then build your system around the information you gather to increase the effectiveness of your inquiry management process. Most contact management software already has built-in fields for capturing much of the data needed. You can customize the remaining fields of an off-the-shelf program to capture the additional data you require.

Invest the time now, so you can truly shorten the sales cycles and close more sales for your organization in the future.

Once you have completed your assessment, build your follow-up program to optimize your sales performance potential.

After you’ve determined your strategy, written follow-up letters, and assembled any necessary accompanying materials, appoint someone—perhaps a marketing support secretary— to process inquiries: respond to requests for information, update the database, and pass on leads to the appropriate salesperson or manager, all within 24 hours of the initial inquiry.

How many times have you requested more information about a product or service from a magazine ad or direct mailer? How many times have you received the information you requested? Probably not very many.

But "there’s gold in them there inquiries," and organizations who view them as such will reap the benefits.

"Caller ID," an automated call-tracing technology, captures caller phone numbers, matches them to a nationwide directory, then displays the caller’s name on the Customer Service Representative’s computer screen. When the systems were first installed, calls were answered "Good Morning/Afternoon Mrs. Smith." Callers became so intimidated that the practice of addressing the caller by name was stopped, but sophisticated organizations still rely on the system to record the information, so they can use it for follow-up.

The implications of such a system are scary, but the reasons for implementing one are logical. Somewhere, somehow, the caller has been exposed to a business’ marketing message, such as an educational feature story or advertisement. Probably several times. Once a contact has been established, the prospect is much more likely to buy and keep on buying. The savvy marketer recognizes exactly how much it took to get the prospect that far and won’t let the opportunity to develop that prospect into a long-term customer, slip away.

But are most marketers that adept? Not according to a study conducted by the Center for Marketing Communications (CMC, now part of the Advertising Research Foundation). They found that:

• 18 percent of inquirers never got information they requested

• 43 percent got information too late to be useful

• 72 percent were never contacted by a representative

And yet they know from their analysis of various lead generation program that:

• People in all major job functions respond to advertising through response cards.

• Nearly two-thirds of all inquiries come from organizations employing 100 or more.

• Up to 26 percent come from organizations employing over a 1,000 people.

• 26.6 percent of all inquiries resulted in purchases, with one-third of them occurring within three months of inquiring. All were consummated within one year.

• 21.6 percent were likely to purchase in the future.

Not following up on leads is such a waste! It’s like ignoring your gold mine so you can beg on the street!

Obviously lack of follow-up doesn’t mean that your advertising program will not produce an increase in business. To keep your cost of sale as low as possible, however, you need to have a system in place to promptly follow up all inquiries.

Inquiry Fulfillment

Based on what we know about how most organizations don’t follow through, you have an opportunity to create a unique position in your market by the way in which you fulfill requests for information and service.

Remember that how and when you react to an inquiry will likely be the first impression the prospect gets of your company. You’ll create both conscious and subconscious messages about your professionalism and the quality of your products or services. In other words, this is not an area to be neglected or taken lightly.

You need a plan. To begin with, you need to determine what most inquirers really need. Are they calling for general information? Should you set an appointment with them? Can you invite them to your business? Regardless of your answer, it’s clear that you must be prepared.

Typically, fulfillment packages are comprised of items such as product spec sheets, references, or a well written follow-up letter. Remembering that it takes an average of seven follow-up contacts to close a sale, you should have a whole series of fulfillment packages ready each one designed to target the stage in the buying cycle the prospect is in. Each time there is contact, by phone or in person, it should be followed up with the appropriate fulfillment package.

Fulfillment packages can be made up of low cost items, yet the increased sales they produce can mean a substantial return on the investment. In fact, it almost doesn’t matter what you follow up with, because it’s the "process" that creates the result, the tools you use are secondary.

If you have defined your position in the marketplace and know how it relates to your sales process, then you’ve probably identified the various stages of selling you must go through.

This type of direct mail and inquiry management planning allows you to develop your entire creative and follow-up process concurrently with the development of the promotion.

When you include prospects in other regular mailings from your organization, you’ll frequently shorten your sales cycle. For instance, if you produce a newsletter, send a copy to prospects.

They may benefit from the information it contains, and take this into account in their evaluation process.

Keep track of the additional information you need by enlisting the aid of both receptionists and sales reports. Have receptionists ask all callers if they’ve ever done business with your organization before. If it’s a new inquirer, instruct your receptionist to get the caller’s name, and always ask how he or she learned about your organization or its services.

Getting each caller’s name and address is so important that you may want to consider using Caller ID to generate accurate information on every call.

Although Caller ID is beyond the needs of many organizations, it certainly underscores the value of an inquiry. If you think about it, your organization has already made a significant commitment of marketing dollars to generate the inquiry in the first place. Unless that inquiry is handled properly, the return on your investment can be diminished significantly.

Once basic data is captured from the inquiry card or call, use sales reports to complete the information you need.

Build Relationships

The relationship between seller and buyer starts with the initial inquiry the buyer makes to your company. It seldom ends when the sale is made. In fact, building a solid, mutually beneficial relationship should be considered a lifelong task.

Many products and services require an ongoing relationship that serves the needs of a buyer for the period that they use a product. As the complexity of any product increases, so does the need for the purchaser to establish a long-term relationship with the seller.

For instance, the purchase of data processing equipment is just the beginning of a long-term relationship. Purchasers enhance their systems as their needs change. They must rely on the equipment manufacturer, systems house, and other parties involved in the original sale for additional equipment, systems design services, maintenance, and other ongoing activities to support the original sale.

This kind of relationship is mutually beneficial as the purchaser is likely to purchase additional products and services if the account is serviced properly from the beginning. Consequently, both buyer and seller win in the end.

When considering strategic relationships, the economic theory of "supply and demand" can frequently be discounted. Very often a contract is awarded on the basis of stability of the service from the seller and not on specific product features, price, or other common buying criteria.

The ultimate purchase made by your customers is one that satisfies a bundle of values, not just a physical product that meets certain specifications. The "bundle" in the customer’s mind, includes the "value added" enhancements to the physical product, such as service. Here is where the customer sets up expectations that must be satisfied through proper long-term management.

So, whether you build chairs or write specifications for the Space Shuttle, you’ll generate optimal sales results if you build a relationship with your customers. Try doing a little bit more, develop better rapport, mail a birthday or anniversary card on the appropriate day, call your customer to tell him/her of a special sale, or simply smooth out billing problems or red tape.

Such "customer service" benefits will help you achieve the optimal lifetime sales value from each customer. Building these relationships often starts the moment the prospect first comes in contact with you. Developing internal procedures to help support relationship-building with customers is vital to your long-term success.

For instance, let’s say that your average sale is $100 and has a profit of $50. You know that loyal customers will purchase from you twice a month and usually buy from you for three years. That makes the lifetime value of an average customer $3600, nothing to sneeze at!

So, what do you lose if you don’t build the relationship early on? And what more do you stand to gain if you enhance your current customer service and follow-up activities to cause them to buy three times per month for the next five years? A little arithmetic will show you that those numbers add up fast!

The bottom line for follow-up -- doing it makes you thousands of dollars a year, not doing it costs you thousands. Which do you prefer?

Table of Contents l Next - Chapter 5: Sale Strategies that Work - Phase 4 of the Sales Cycle