Sales System

Follow Up Sales

I would have to say this is the subject most neglected in the entire industry of sales and marketing.

We get the sale and off we go proud of our accomplishment and the customer, the one that had enough confidence in us to buy, is out there on his/her own to learn about what they just paid you for.

This is happening in every industry out there time and time again.

We think that we have all the support team in place to handle all the problems and complaints, while we enjoy our money from working hard to get the sale.

Follow up sales is not one phone call or e-mail to say thank you. The first call or e-mail is a, THANK YOU, plain and simple. The follow-up education comes when you start asking them questions and see if they are understanding the product and have a desire to really make sure they are happy and enjoying the experience with the product. You keep in contact with them and develop that relationship that you started when you first started the sale.

This could be done on any level for any product and it will work for you as well as the customers. Salespeople are probably the laziest people in the world when it comes to consistently contacting customers. If I had a call or an e-mail from a salesperson who I bought something from I would probably be the most loyal customer they ever had.

Most of us are thinking, why I would call someone when all they purchased from me was a $50.00 dollar grill. Well when they buy the $2000.00 dollar refrigerator and someone else makes the $150.00 dollar commission and hits the bonus money and you could have been the one, ask yourself why you should make the call or e-mail then. If you made $100,000.00 dollars this year, if you had a follow-up system, do you think it may have been $150,000.00 dollars? We lose a lot of money by not calling or e-mailing that customer.

When will we understand the value of follow-up contact? I was 12 years into a career and realized that I was just a hit and miss type of salesman and I started looking at ways to convert more customers into sales. I thought I was just an average type salesman and would never be able to be one of the top in my company. I then looked around me and thought, all these top salespeople are just like me, but they are doing something different, I was determined to find out what it was.

I was in a very competitive market and no one wants to give any of their secrets away and I could hardly blame them. They were getting all the bonus money and making a lot more money than the rest of the average salespeople. If they shared their secrets they might have to work as hard as we were.

I purchased a few books on sales, by the way I do not like to read, and I started reading, all the material was great and I did start to create a few more sales, but I was still far behind some of the top around the company. I went to seminars and learned and developed many new ideas and trying to get where I wanted to be. I was working hard and still looking up at the top. I was about to accept that I was an average salesman and just keep on with what I had learned so far.

I had signed up for a seminar, and even tried to get my money back, it was too late so I decided I would attend. That was the day I will remember for the rest of my life. The speaker was a man named Jackie Cooper, he was a very average looking man and not a man who talked down or at you, but one who talked with you and had felt your same feelings you had and almost accepted that he would never be as good as the top was around him. That day I realized I could and would do my best to get where I wanted to be. I started taking notes and listened to every word and realized what I needed to do.

I started by implementing a system to keep me focused and make sure I was doing all the things I had learned. You have probably always heard that, if you want to become successful you need a system that can be duplicated. I wrote down a list of things I wanted to do and one by one my system was a reality. Now I had to modify it several different times and it did take some time, but I managed to do the things that started my real success.

When I speak of real success, I started setting goals, and trying to be salesman of the month and working towards bonus money all the things I dreamed about. It took me about five months to reach one goal, but I made it and then the other goals I set were not far behind. Once that started happening, all the managers and other salespeople started asking me what I did to achieve my success. I was proud of what I had accomplished and wanted to do more.

One of the most important things I did when my success begin to show itself was to, become a real customer salesman. Now what is that you say? That is what I call success. I started trying to assist a customer to make good decisions on their purchase and not to think of how much profit I could make.

The money would come if I helped them make a good decision. Trying to pressure someone into your decision will only hurt you chance of success, helping them to make a good decision will enhance your chance of success. I know a lot of people that say,” I hate sales people “and the reason is they have bad experiences with some sales person trying to pressure them into a decision they are not comfortable with. I know that most of you can relate to all that information about sales people, but I can assure you there are some that are great people as well as great sales people.

What have you did that has set you apart from the other sales and marketing companies that are your competition? That is what I asked myself when I made the decision to be one of the best. What is it about the big deal makers and entrepreneurs that make them so successful and can I be one of them. The answer to that question is absolutely YES!!!!! They have a system and they follow it on a daily basis and they always give that little extra to have a successful day.

Yes it is that simple and with a little time and effort you can be one of those success stories you have read about. Nothing just happens, there is always time and effort included in any success story. You have to make the decision that you really want it and are willing to go and get it.

Now that is not meant to sound so harsh as to be one of those pushy sales people, that you love to hate. When I show you this system you will understand what going and getting it means. This is not a quick system to implement, but it is very simple and each step has a meaningful end. What I mean by quick is, results take a little time, but will come with consistent effort.

There is no successful person or company that does not have a system and I mean nobody. It will help your efforts be completely and thoroughly followed from start to finish. This will make you consistently produce more sales with positive results, thus less problems or complaints. Follow up sales systems work and create those super salespeople and giant companies.