Follow up, sometimes called a lead management system, is the best system to make money yet there are common follow up mistakes that I see business owners making.
It’s so easy to let our follow up of potential clients slide, which means we miss out on the chance to work with some great people and to grow a sustainable business.
Everyone buys in a different way, from early adopters, to researchers, to last minute buyers. We need to make sure the way we’re following up reflects the many ways people buy as not everyone will buy our services the first time we talk to them, so we want to make sure they don’t disappear off our radar.
Common follow up mistakes
Have you done any of these mistakes? I know I’ve made my fair share over the years.
1. Talking yourself out of following up
Following up can cause mind set wobbles. You know the kind – “No-one wants to buy from me”, “I sent an email two weeks ago, it’s too late to follow up now”, “I’m being pushy or salesy”.
Letting those wobbles win is definitely a mistake. Remember it’s about them – the problem your potential client needs help solving, it’s not about you. Keeping that front of mind can help manage your mindset because your focus is on getting the best outcome for your potential client and not on any nerves you might be having.
When I help my clients set up a follow up system, we always talk about their mindset when it comes to following up. By looking at what barriers they might put in their own way, we can ensure they’ll actually use the system we create.
2. “If they want to work with me, they’ll contact me”
More than one client has said to me, “If they want to work with me, they’ll contact me”. In theory that right BUT your potential clients have lots on their minds. Their business, their family, their friends, remembering to take the dog to get his teeth cleaned…
We need to give them the support they need to make the right decision for them. And that means following up to answer questions or to simply remind them that this service is one that they really need.
I’ve lost track of the number of people who’ve thanked me for following up with them as they’d been distracted by life stuff. By reaching out they felt supported and that someone had their back.
3. Forgetting to follow up
Do you do a flurry of follow up every 6 months then nothing? Forgetting to follow up is another common mistake I see.
Connection and conversation with our potential clients is really important to build up trust. If you say you’re going to email someone in two weeks, then you don’t do it, they’re going to wonder what working with you would actually be like.
4. No way to keep track of who you’re talking to
As the number of people you’re talking to grows you’ll need an easy way to keep track of who you’ve spoken to, what you talked about and what you agreed the next step was. You might think you’ll remember everything but as your numbers grow you won’t be able to remember all of the important details (and you could use that mental space for other parts of your business!).
If you have notes in different places; emails, messager, notebooks, sticky notes, it will all feel too messy and you can easily slip into the other three mistakes.
When you set up solid systems in your business you’ll be able to easily avoid these follow up mistakes.
Having a follow up system in place will help with any mindset wobbles too as you’ve already made decisions about when to follow up, with whom and what you’ll be saying. You’ll have a dedicated time to follow up, a list of people to contact and templates to support you. You make those decisions once, then use them over and over.
If you feel like you’re making more than one of these follow up mistakes then book in a free call with me. I’m a total systems geek and I’d love to have a chat with you about getting your follow up, and your business, systemised.
