“Why the money’s in your follow up – How can we get new leads in?”

I don’t know about you – but as business owners, it’s SO easy to spend our time & effort focusing on this question. All the different strategies & tactics we could try to get those new enquiries in.

But most of us fall pretty short when it comes to following up those leads.

Being honest – are you really doing everything you can, to win that business? Really?

It used to be 7 touches before someone buys. Last I heard it was more like 27. I have no idea what the actual number is these days (if anyone knows). But what I DO know is that sadly, it’s very rarely 1.

So I thought I’d share with you today 4 follow up techniques that we use here at Answer My Phone – and that actually WORK – in case it’s helpful for you too!

FOLLOW UP #1 – The 3-Line Email.

I bet we’ve all got leads in our database (even from 6 months ago) that you could use this technique for.

I first heard the concept of a 3-line email back at the Entrepreneur’s Circle. We’ve been using it for years & it works brilliantly.

Here’s how it works:

Subject Line: Quick question {FirstName}!

Hi {FirstName},

Are you still interested in taking a 2-week free trial of our telephone answering service? {Insert your product / service instead here}

Many thanks

{YourName}

The trick here is to not overthink it – just put it out there, super quick.

Generally, one of three things happens:

• Your prospects don’t respond at all (very rarely the case);

• They reply “thanks very much but I’m not ready at the moment / have bought elsewhere / no thanks” (which is great, because you can then take them off your follow up list or move them into a long-term nurture sequence accordingly)

• Or “yes, thanks for getting in touch – it’s still on my radar, can you give me a call to set it up”.

And this final ‘yes please’ reply happens WAY more often that you might think!

Maybe when they first enquired, the time wasn’t right and they weren’t ready to buy – but they ARE now. And when your 3-line email lands at the right time for them, you get the sale & another happy customer.

FOLLOW UP #2 – Send them a testimonial or case study.

This option is great when you’ve had a conversation with a prospect, but not quite got them over the line & converted them into a customer.

I follow up with a personal email saying great to talk; I think this may of interest to you; and then linking to a case study, Google review or other testimonial from our clients.

This works best when you send a testimonial that’s super relevant. Either specifically addressing the objection you need to overcome (time / price / trust etc) and / or that’s from their sector.

If my potential client was a garage, for example, I wouldn’t send them a testimonial from finance or IT company.

If their biggest concern is that their clients are used to speaking to them & a call answering service just won’t work, I send a case study from a client who thought this too – but has grown their business dramatically since letting us manage their calls.

The more relevant to them & their particular situation, the better.

But it’s simple & does really work very well.

FOLLOW UP #3 – Send them something personal in the post.

When was the last time you got something properly personal in the post? Hand-written? With a stamp?

Which is great, because it gives you a real chance of getting your message seen.

We use postcards here at Answer My Phone. But you could send a card & write a little note in it – how lovely it was to speak to you, and how you’d love the opportunity to meet.

Brightly coloured envelopes with a hand-written address (and a stamp – NOT franked!) really stand out.

It looks personal. They get opened and they get read. No danger of being a bill or letter from HMRC!

FOLLOW UP #4 – Send them a BombBomb.

I LOVE BombBomb! It’s an online platform where you can record personalised video emails, to send to your prospects.

It’s perfect for following up once you’ve sent out a quote or had a conversation that’s gone quiet.

You just log in, hit record & email them directly. Plus it looks like it’s auto-playing in their inbox (which really helps open rates!).

If your video message is 25 seconds long, it says “Watch the 25 second video”. Which all helps when your prospects are busy people.

You can just say in the video what you would have written in your email. But it’s a great way to stand out, build your relationship & the know / like / trust factor in your prospect’s mind.

You can take a free trial with BombBomb to test it out or there are other free platforms out there too (like Bonjoro), which are more limited in their functionality but great for getting started.

And that’s it! It really is that simple, especially the 3-line email.

The truth is that if we’re NOT following up properly, we’re leaving money on the table. Which none of us can really afford to do.

If you give any of these a try, do let me know how you get on!

Until next time,

Delyth