In last week’s blog Are You Chasing Away Clients, I talked about the rule I learned in telemarketing training back in my college days, “three no’s and you go”. I discussed how in your third attempt to get in contact with a non-responsive client that you should define that you will not be following up with them again but that they can contact you.
But what if you are actually speaking to the client over and over again and you are not getting a “yes”? On our recent teleclass Relationship Marketing with Donna Smallin she shared with us that she called someone 7 times over two years before they agreed to have a meeting with her and then they hired her for a two year time period. Wow! The key to her success was persistence and permission. Each time she called this person she asked him “would it be okay if I check back with you in a couple of months?” Each time the prospect said “yes”. When you get permission to call someone back you don’t feel bad about calling them because they told you it was okay. In last weeks article Are You Chasing Away Clients, that situation pertains to a non-responsive client, or someone who you keep trying to contact and never can get through to them via phone or e-mail. In Donna’s example the situation pertains to a client you are actually speaking to who is telling you that they are not ready to use your services right now. These are two very different situations.
To sum it up, if you have a non-responsive client use the “three no’s and you go” rule of thumb or if you have a client who is not ready to commit you can use the “would it be okay if I check back with you in a couple of months?” technique.
Don’t forget, we’ll be learning more on How to Sell Without Being Salesy from Helen Graves on our August 3rd teleclass.
Do you have a favorite tip? We love to learn and share.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Audio recordings, Christa Wagner, Continuing Education of Professional Organizers, Donna Smallin, Helen Graves, Marketing, Professional Organizer Business, Red Bench Program, Sales, Teleclasses
Love the articles! Good advise, I especially like the idea of getting permission. I will be doing this more.
Thanks again,
Michelle
I totally agree with your post. I always try to reach a prospect a few times, and in my last attempt, I let them know that unless I hear back from them, I will be taking them off of my contact list as I do not want to beome a \pest.\ Some prospects then immediately reach out for fear of being taken off of the contact list. Others I never hear back from, and assume they’re not interested. And that may well be the case. But every once in awhile, I do get contacted by a previous prospect that admits they are so disorganized that they could not find my number or email address, and then finally looked me up and called me! So I guess we need to realize that many prospects are indeed, disorganized, and may need polite prompting like Donna Smallin suggested, in order to follow-up and give them the help they need!
[...] in November 2008 as the economic crisis loomed. We both love to eat great food and drink good wine,No Permission Equals Lost Clients | A Red BenchIn last week's blog Are You Chasing Away Clients, I talked about the rule I learned in telemarketing [...]