The Follow Up Gap

Today, guys, what I want to do is I want to talk with you about what I call the follow-up gap. And many of you guys know what I'm talking about because you'll go to make a sale, they seem very interested, you've done what we talked about in the other conversation about filling in the decision gap, but at the same time, they just don't buy. And a lot of times what we do is when we get to that point where somebody just doesn't buy, honestly, Our hope tank gets depleted, and we just give up, and we move on to the next prospect. And what I want to do today is I want to talk with you about why great prospects disappear even after great conversations, and how to reel them back in without having to chase them. There's an old saying that you're probably familiar with, and it says that there's fortune in the follow-up. And I do agree with the idea that there is fortune in the follow-up, but I think that. For many years we've probably taught this wrong because when most people hear follow-up, they immediately think about persistence. And they'll send another email or they'll make another call or they'll shoot them another text. And they keep checking in with them until hopefully they respond. Well, that's not necessarily good follow-up. It's follow-up, yes, but it's not necessarily good follow-up. And sometimes that's just professionally annoying if we're being honest with ourself. And I would change the saying that the fortune isn't in the follow-up, the fortune is in having a reason to follow up. I want you to write that down. The fortune isn't in the follow-up, the fortune is in having a reason to follow up or creating a reason to follow up. And that distinction matters. A few weeks ago, you had a conversation with someone who was really interested, right, in what you do? And they asked great questions, they wanted to know the price, maybe they even said something like, this is exactly what I need. When we were in San Francisco this past weekend, someone said these exact words. And you walk away believing that this person is buying, and then nothing. And so a few days later you send, hey, just checking in, nothing. 3 days later, hey, wanted to circle back and see if you had any questions, nothing. A week later, hey, just wanted to bump this to the top of your inbox, nothing. Eventually you decide that those people were never serious, and maybe that's true, I don't know. But I think there's probably another possibility, and it's what I call the follow-up gap. You lost them in the follow-up gap. So here's a couple things that you have to know, and we recently talked about something like this in the decision gap. And if you haven't watched the training on the decision gap, I'd really encourage you to get your hands on that because it's really good. Because the decision gap is the space between someone wanting something and being ready to make a decision about it. Okay, that's the decision gap. And there are 2 different things, okay, the follow-up gap and the decision gap are 2 different things. Because someone can genuinely want what you sell and still have unanswered questions, they can still have uncertainty, they can still have competing priorities, they can still have fear, they can still have financial concerns, they can still have timing issues, or maybe they just simply need more information before they're ready to move. And that means that a good sales conversation doesn't always end with yes, okay? Remember that. A good sales conversation does not always end with yes. Sometimes it ends with, I'm interested, but I'm not ready yet. And that creates this other gap that we're talking about. Follow-up gap is the period between the initial sales conversation and the prospect ultimately making a decision, okay? Okay, think through this. So the follow-up gap is the period of time between the initial sales conversation where we did the decision gap like we did last time and the prospect ultimately making a decision. There's a gap there. It's called the follow-up gap. And this is where a lot of business, maybe even your business, gets lost. Not because they ultimately said no, but because nobody professionally managed what happened next. And I want you to think through those prospects. Or that process, excuse me. There's a difference between following up and a professionally managed follow-up sequence, okay? So here's the 2 big mistakes, okay? When someone doesn't buy immediately, the 2 big mistakes most salespeople do is number one, they disappear. They don't want to be pushy, so they just tell this prospect, hey, think about it and let me know. And what they do is they put the ball back in their court because it sounds respectful. But really, if you think about it, what have you actually done? You've actually handed the responsibility for continuing the sales process to the person who has the least urgency to continue it. They get back to work, their kids need something, an employee calls, they go out of town, another problem shows up. 3 weeks later, they may still want you, they may still want what you sell. They just stopped thinking about it. The second mistake that a lot of salespeople make is they chase. These are the people who've been taught that yes, the fortune is in the follow-up, so they follow up relentlessly, checking in, circling back, touching base, bumping this, did you see the last message? And think about those messages from the prospect's perspective. None of them, none of them give the prospect a reason to respond. The salesperson wants something, so they send a message asking the prospect to reengage. That's not a follow-up strategy, that's chasing. So I believe that there's a third option. So it's don't disappear, don't chase, but manage. Okay, don't disappear, don't chase, but manage. And that's what I was talking about earlier. It's this professional management of the follow-up. Okay, so there's a few rules to this. Rule number 1, never leave the next step undefined. Okay, never leave the next step undefined. This is probably the easiest thing I can teach you today because You can immediately improve this in your sales process. Excuse me. If you never end a sales conversation without defining what's next, then you're gonna be a lot better, okay? And so I've always been taught that in any relationship, let's say it's dating, okay, that if you go on a date with somebody and it's really, really good, never end that date without creating the next date. Okay? And the same is true in a sales conversation. Never end a sales conversation without defining what's next. Okay? And so what you want to do is at the end of the sales conversation, if they don't buy, then you want to be able to define what the next step is with them on the call. Okay? Hey, I really like this, they may say. I just need a few days to think about it. You know, a lot of people would respond with, Sounds good. Take your time, let me know. No, don't do that, okay? Instead, what I want you to do is I want you to say something like, hey, I want you to take a few days. And why don't we reconnect Thursday? By then, you'll probably know whether this makes sense for you, and either answer is completely fine, okay? So now they know that you're connecting back on Thursday. And I want you to notice what happened. You didn't pressure them, you didn't manufacture scarcity, you didn't force a decision, but you also didn't abandon the sales process. Right. And Thursday, when you call them, now you're not chasing them. Now you're keeping your word. Now you're showing integrity. Now you're showing that you care. And you're continuing a conversation that they've already agreed to have. And that's a huge difference, okay? Because if they need to talk with their spouse, partner, boss, team, board, whoever, then fine. Just establish the next step with them. Great. When are you talking with them? Tuesday? Perfect. Why don't we reconnect Wednesday afternoon? Okay, and professional salespeople don't leave the next steps to chance. So rule number one is never leave the next step defined. Okay, so what happens if there isn't a defined next step? Okay, and so this is where we actually get into the actual follow-up framework. Okay, maybe the conversation already happened. Maybe you said let me know. Maybe someone downloaded something, attended your event, they requested information, they expressed interest, but never scheduled another conversation. So now what? Well, you're gonna need a reason to re-enter the conversation. So I want to give you 5. The first one is resolve. Your first reason to follow up is to resolve something that was left unanswered. So I want you to go back to the original conversation and, you know, what did they ask? What were they concerned about? What information were, you know, were they missing or were you missing? What did you promise to send them? Okay, maybe they asked, hey, how much time does this require every week? Or maybe, you you know, they just wanted to know something and you gave them a flippant answer or whatever. So instead of like, hey Sarah, just checking in to see if you made a decision, try something like, Sarah, I was thinking about your question regarding the weekly time commitment and I realized I probably didn't give you a very clear answer when we talked. Most clients spend about 2 hours a week implementing this and I wanted to make sure you had that before you made a decision. So now there is a reason for this particular message. You're not asking Sarah anything, you're simply resolving something for Sarah, and that's pretty good follow-up. The second one is what we call reframe. Okay, reframe. Sometimes a prospect doesn't need more information. What they need to do is they need to think differently about the information that they already have, okay? Maybe someone tells you, hey, I just don't know if I have time for this right now. Well, a poor salesperson argues, but that's exactly why you need this. Excuse me. Okay? Don't do that, okay? And I apologize for the sneeze. Instead, your follow-up may— I have another one. Excuse me. Okay? So a poor salesperson would argue that that's exactly why you need this. Okay? And I don't want you to do that. Instead, your follow-up might say something like, hey, I've been thinking about what you said about not having enough time. One thing I've noticed is that people often assume they need to find extra time before they can fix the thing that's consuming their time. Okay? And that may or may not apply to you, but I thought it was worth considering. And so what you're doing is you're not arguing with them with the objection. And a lot of times we argue with the people we're trying to sell. What you're doing is you're giving them a new lens in which to evaluate or reframe The objection, okay? And what the refrain does is it doesn't tell the prospect what to think; it just gives them something new to think about. The third one that we do is we add value, okay? We add value. So when you're trying to follow up, you need a reason to follow up. So now let's add value, okay? This is probably the easiest reason to follow up: send them something genuinely useful. Now, not not something disguised as useful. Something actually useful. Okay, maybe you talked about their difficulty generating leads, okay? 2 days later you find an article, a tool, a podcast, checklist, something that directly relates to their problem. I want you to send it, you know, hey Sarah, I came across this and immediately thought about our conversation the other day regarding your lead flow. There's a section about referral partnerships that I think you would find useful. No need to respond, I just thought you'd appreciate it, okay? Now notice those 4 words: no need to respond. Now why is that powerful? The reason why that's powerful is because you're demonstrating that I'm not contacting you because I need something from you. I'm contacting you because I remembered something you needed. Now that's how trust gets built. And when it comes time to make the decision, who are, who are they thinking about? The person who kept asking, have you decided yet? Or the person who continued helping them solve the problem? Well, obviously the latter is the correct answer. And so you want to add value. One of the things, a little pro tip I'd give you here, is don't give one of your resources when it comes time for adding more help. Okay? Don't give one of your resources. Find another resource. The reason is, is because if you find another resource, it truly means that they were top of mind. Okay? And sometimes when you send them one of your resources, It just sort of sounds like another sales ploy. The fourth one is what we call create relevance. Okay, create relevance. Maybe something happened since your last conversation that makes your offer more relevant. So like maybe a new regulation went into place, or the market changed, or deadline came, whatever. I want you to think about like You know, did something happen that made your offer more relevant? And if so, then you have a legitimate reason to reopen the conversation. Hey Sarah, something happened this week that reminded me of our conversation. Now see, that's a different, a differently, a different completely, let me, how can I say that? A completely different, that's what I'm trying to say. That's a completely different message than, hey Sarah, just wanted to follow up again. You can then explain what changed and why you thought it might matter to them. Okay? Because relevance creates a natural reentry point, and that's what you're trying to do. You're not manufacturing any type of urgency, you're just simply identifying something that changed. And the 5th one is we invite a decision. We invite a decision, okay? Eventually, you're gonna have to stop nurturing them and you're gonna have to ask them for a decision, okay? And this is where some people get a little uncomfortable. Sometimes they'll follow up forever because they don't want to hear no, but your job isn't to keep every prospect alive indefinitely. Your job is to help people make a decision. And so eventually you need to say, hey Sarah, listen, we've talked about this a few times and I don't want to become the person who keeps popping into your inbox. It sounds like this is either not the right time or not the right fit, which is completely okay. Before I close the loop though, I wanted to give you the opportunity to tell me otherwise. Okay, and I like that approach because it's not aggressive, it's very professional, and you'd be surprised how often someone responds, no, I'm still interested, things have just been a little crazy. So I like to go in with the negative, okay? I like to go in with the negative, like, you know, hey Sarah, you know, obviously you're not interested, or, you know, it's been some time now, I don't want to be the person always pestering, always showing up in your inbox. You know, so maybe something came up or, you know, whatever. Maybe it's not the right time or the right fit, which is completely okay. But before I close your case or before I close this loop, I just wanted to give you an opportunity to tell me otherwise. So see, that's really powerful. And if they say something like, no, no, no, I'm still interested. Things have just been a little crazy. Great. Okay. Now what you can do is you can establish a next step. And sometimes they'll say, you're right. I'm just not ready. Okay? And sometimes that's a good answer, because now at least, as a salesperson, you have clarity. And a clear no is better than an endless maybe, okay? And so you want to stop following, you want to stop measuring follow-up by attempts, okay? This is another place I think traditional sales advice gets it wrong, okay? Because, you know, they say fortune is in the follow-up. And a lot of times we learn in sales school that it takes 7 touches or 8 or 12 or whatever number somebody's CRM study says, okay? And maybe that's true. But I don't want you obsessing over the number of touches. I want you obsessing over the quality of the reason for the touch. Because 7 useless emails don't become valuable just because You know, there are 7 of them, okay? Imagine receiving something like, you know, checking in or following up or circling back, want to see where you're at, bumping this. Oh my God, it just gets exhausting, okay? Compare that with, hey, I've been thinking about the question you asked, or I found something that might help, or I realized I didn't explain something clearly, or something changed that I think you should know about, or I had another client in almost the exact situation you described, or here's another way to think about the concern you raised, or let's decide whether this makes sense to continue pursuing. Now you aren't simply touching the prospect through follow-up. Now what you're beginning to do is you're beginning to advance the conversation. Okay, so here's the, the follow-up test I want you to give. Okay, so before you send your next follow-up, ask yourself this: if I were the prospect, why would I care about this message? Okay, if I were the prospect, Why would I care about this message? And if the answer is something like, you know, because I want to know whether they're buying or not, then don't send it. That's your reason, not theirs. And ask instead, what can I resolve? What can I reframe? What value can I add? What's become newly relevant? And is it time to invite a decision? And if you say yes to any of those, now you're good. Okay, so what I want you to do is I want you to build a follow-up system, not a follow-up habit. Okay? Do you see the difference? Okay, one is a follow-up system and one is managed professionally. Okay? Part of the professional management of follow-up is not relying on your memory. Okay, if you sell professionally, let's say you're a coach or consultant or whatever and you're consistently in the sales mode, every meaningful conversation should have 3 things attached to it. I want you to write this down, okay? Every meaningful conversation should have 3 things attached to it. And I believe that you can still see my screen, so I'm gonna share this with you, okay? The first one is, I'm just gonna make this A, it's a next step, okay? The next step. The second one is, A next date. And the third one is a next reason. So a step, a date, and a reason are the 3 things that you're looking for. Not, hey, follow up with Bob. Okay, you don't want to put that in your notes. That's almost useless. Put Thursday, send Bob the case study about the client who had the same staffing issue, ask whether it changes his thinking about implementation. Okay? So now when Thursday arrives, you know exactly why you're contacting Bob. You're not sitting there trying to invent another clever way to say, hey Bob, just checking in. Okay? And so what I want you to do is I want you to think through step, date, reason as your follow-up. And when you put these things together, now what happens, you realize is that the fortune ultimately is in the follow-up, but only when the follow-up deserves their attention. The fortune isn't just in the follow-up. The fortune is in having a reason to follow up. And when you can create a reason for the follow-up, now what's happened is the likelihood of— the likelihood of— why is this not— there we go. The likelihood of them saying yes is a lot more likely. And so think through that. So last time we talked through the decision gap. Today we talked through the follow-up gap. Be just as mindful and just as professional in managing the follow-up as you do the initial conversation, and I promise you that you will be a lot more successful. So I'm gonna— I want you to think through these 3 gaps, okay? So the first one is the lead gap, okay? Many of you do not have a way to gather consistent leads, so obviously you need to do that, okay? Second thing is the decision gap. So as you're on conversations with people, you got to be able to move them to a decision. And if they don't have one, then you have to professionally manage the follow-up gap. And those are the 3 gaps that we've been talking about: the lead gap, the decision gap, and the follow-up gap. That if you can get really good at those 3 gaps, then you can make a lot of a lot of impact and a lot of influence and a lot of income based upon your ability. to coach or to consult people to get the result that they want. But sometimes we just don't do a very good job of being intentional about this. So hopefully this helps, and I want you guys to go back and evaluate your own process and see what your own gaps look like. All right guys, hopefully this was helpful for you guys today. We'll see you next Monday on the Monday Morning Mentor.