The meeting I had with this prospect has been awesome. During 65 minutes, we had a nice chat about our collaboration and, even though we realized he wasn’t just yet ready to start the cooperation, the tactics discussed did clearly trigger his interest: very shortly he’ll be on the go. This happened 2 weeks ago and he hasn't yet heard from me. Why? Because I forgot to put him in my CRM, pretty dumb of me!
Most people you meet aren’t ready to buy at that precise moment and, as a research puts it, it takes in average 6 interactions with a prospect to close a deal. That’s a lot of work you are probably not doing because… well… because you have a company to run, because you’ll never be able to find the time to do all the necessary follow-up, etc. Does that ring a bell? Carry on reading because I’ll show you how to tackle the question.
If you want to grow your business as much as I want to grow mine, you know that feeling… I’m remembering I did let a qualified prospect go “loose” without any follow-up! I have at least 3 good excuses for that, but the failure still feels terrible. So let me share with you the “how it should have been” process, if only I’d put my prospect into the right one!
Having a process is key
During the first interactions with a prospect, you have 3, and only 3, goals to achieve. (Tweet this!) You have to make him say he has a problem, you have to make him say he wants to solve it and you have to make him say he wants you to solve it. Of course, this only works if you can solve his problem. If not, recommend him someone who can.
Fine, he now wants you to fix his problem but the work isn’t done yet. You have to decide if he’s a good fit for you! I’ll write a post on that soon. So, for now, let’s pursue by assuming he is a good fit for your business.
It’s now time to start following up to maximize the chances to close him as a client. Here’s what the process should look like:
- You send him an email thanking him for the meeting you’ve had and explaining what the next step will be. If you need to draft a proposal, remember him that it he will receive it in a few days.
- Two days later, you send him some general information about the way you work. Show him how professional you are.
- A further 2 days later, you send him a link to a video (or any other type of content) that will help him understand what you do and how you do it.
- On day 6, you send him your proposal or, if this is not the case, you offer him something. This could lead to book your next meeting, get him subscribe to one of your lists or generally speaking, be a help for his business.
- On day 9, you really don’t want to send him the boring “have you seen my proposal?” You’d rather send him some additional content pointing out the benefits of working with someone like you.
- 12 days after the first meeting, no more email, it’s time to call and offer him your help to decipher the proposal he received. That phone call will be the one to decide on the next steps.
See where I’m getting to? It takes a hell of time to do this properly and having the best process isn’t enough. You need the tool that will help you to achieve it.
Having the good tool is the engine
The focus of any effective sale process is a centralized tool, the kind of tool that computers and the Internet are known to be that powerful to help you grow your business. This tool is a CRM, or Customer Relationship Manager. Whatever the size of your company, a good process is only as good as the tool that enables you to run it. (Tweet this!)
To help you better understand what a CRM can do for your business, I’ve gathered all my thought into a free ebook. There are just too many aspects to cover for a blog post. If you want to grow your business, this is clearly the way to go, so download this ebook now, reserve 30 minutes in your agenda and get to it. Let’s grow your business!
