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You’ve probably been told many times by sales gurus that you need a follow-up process: Drip-feed your prospect with education about your solution, and eventually you’ll convince them to hire you. But the problem with this approach is that it focuses your effort and energy at the wrong place.
The sale is lost at the beginning of your process, not the end. If your prospect drops off after your initial sales meeting and you think you can get them back by following up, you have the wrong mindset.
The truth is, if you’re having to follow up with your prospect, you’ve already lost them. The sale was over at “hello.”
Understand that following up does not create the “sales momentum” you expect it to. Rather, it creates sales resistance.
That’s because you’re the expert, but you’re the one doing the chasing. Your prospect knows that it should be the other way around. They want to hire someone they feel is in control and at the top of their game. In many ways, they want to hire someone they feel is at a “higher level” than they are.
When you’re the one doing the pursuing, they feel you need them more than they need you. Following up is chasing, and that paints you as someone hungry for the sale rather than as a trusted authority. This encourages your prospect to shop around, comparing you to others.
Granted, following up with valuable information used to be a valid way to build trust with your prospect. But now that everyone and everything is connected online, information is everywhere and no longer has that trust-building power.
As a result, once your prospect drops off your radar and “goes dark,” you can’t bring them back. There is no more “following up.” What you need to do instead is build trust in your first sales meeting or conversation.
Today’s business environment has become so saturated that the last thing your prospect needs is more emails to read, meetings to attend, and more information to process (least of all from somebody they don’t know at a deep-trust level).
They don’t want to know how you can solve their problem. They want to know if you’re the one they can trust to solve it. And they typically decide that in the first meeting. You only get one chance.
Change your follow-up process to a problem-clarifying process
A follow-up process is a general, low-effort way of trying to keep your prospect interested. As a sales approach, it doesn’t inspire confidence because you don’t know if your prospect appreciates it or when it will produce a hiring decision. You just hope it does.
However, a problem-clarifying process works like a doctor’s diagnosis. It makes your “patient” feel like they’re in the hands of someone who understands their situation and knows what to do about it. It helps you get down to the specifics of why they’re looking for an advisor in the first place, unpacking their situation for them in a way they couldn’t do for themselves.
This paints you as an authentic and empathetic expert. You become an authority on their issue, not just an advisor trying to sell them advice. It allows them to decide you’re the one they can trust.
Here are four key points to remember the next time you’re tempted to follow up with a prospect:
- Following up creates sales resistance, not trust.
- Solutions have been commoditized and have lost their trust-building power.
- Your prospect doesn’t want more emails or information to read.
- Your window of opportunity to hold your prospect’s attention is very narrow, and unless they trust you immediately in that first sales meeting, they’ll probably never hire you.
End your follow-up process, where you focus on trying to bring your prospect back after they go dark. Instead, install a problem-clarifying process that will build trust and allow you to onboard them as a client in one decisive meeting. There is no follow-up – just a simple problem-centric diagnostic process that helps your prospect understand their issue and see that they need your help to solve it.
To learn how to build trust and get hired in one single meeting, order your complimentary books and consultation below.
Ari Galper is the world’s No. 1 authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after high net worth/lead generation expert for financial advisors. His newest book, “Trust In A Split Second” has become an instant best-seller among financial advisors worldwide – you can get a Free copy of Ari’s book here and, when you click the “YES” button in the order form, you’ll also receive a complimentary “plug up the holes” lead generation consultation. Ari has been featured in CEO Magazine, Forbes, INC Magazine and the Financial Review. He is considered a contrarian in the financial services industry and in his book, everything you learned about selling will be turned upside down. No more chasing, no pressure, no closing.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
