How to get the most when following up with leads
There is no denying the fact that mastering the art of following up with leads plays a pivotal role in making tremendous business deals. It helps you to focus your time on qualified prospects, guide product development to suit the needs of your target customers, and align all work across your organization - from marketing to sales and service. Real Estate Investors, Ligon Brothers provide some tips one following up with clients.
Number One:
Always remain cool and collected. Sometimes when you are following up with potential leads or clients you may receive a little push back. If this is your eleventeenth time contacting a lead, there may be some tension. Try and ease the tension by cracking a joke or even bring up the fact that you’re fully aware of the amount of time that you’ve contacted them. “Wow, I call you more than my own mom”. Sometimes stating the obvious can ease the tone of the call.
Number Two:
Always stay on topic. You need to find the fine line between building rapport and wasting time. It’s important to let your lead feel comfortable speaking with you off topic, but it’s your job to not lose track of your main goal. Whenever the conversation sways off course, gently bring it back on track.
Number Three:
Know when to follow-up. The best follow-up times are different in every industry. If you want to get the best out of your time and effort, you need to identify the best times to follow up with your leads. It may be as simple as a typical 9-5 day, but in some industries it may not. Let’s say for instance you are following up on a product or service specifically for Teachers. You probably wouldn’t want to contact them during the hours of 8am and 4pm because they are busy teaching. For a better conversion rate, you’d want to follow-up after 4 and increase your chances of contacting them.
Number Four:
Keep it short and sweet. Your number one goal is to build trust and rapport; however that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have two hour long conversations. Keep your follow up short and to the point. If your lead strays off topic, indulge them with a quick acknowledgment of their story and bring the topic back to the table. If you know that you’re not going to convert the deal on that particular call, then close it up and move on.
Number Five:
Be ready. When following up with leads, some people get caught up with the task and forget the goal. When this happens, you can get blindsided by a potential conversion. Be prepared to answer technical questions on the spot. The goal is to convert the follow up into a transaction, so when you get a good contact you must be ready to work the lead.
To sum up, it is paramount to your success that you mater the art of following up with potential leads. Always remember that most transactions take place after the lead has engaged with you or your firm several times; not just in real estate investing, in all business. Trust and rapport are the only things stopping you from closing with any closable lead, and both of those things take time and effort.