How to Follow the Lead

Don't let the lead fall through the cracks

So you had a great conversation with a wonderful potential customer - she's the right person, you have the right product or service, but she claims that she has to run it by her boss.  What do you do?

Here are some suggestions to help keep the process moving along and increase the chances of closing the sale.

• Ask when it's a good time to contact her again, then mark your calendar.
• Use a tool that allows you to track your interactions with prospects and reminds you to take action.
• The tool can be as simple as a spreadsheet, Outlook or specialized contact management software such as Goldmine or Act.
• At time intervals that work for you and especially for the prospect, stay in touch, however try to avoid reaching out with: "Have you decided yet...?"
• Instead, use a multi-touch strategy where you stay connected and not necessarily to talk about the deal.  Consider:
• A birthday card
• A relevant article on her industry
• An announcement about your business
• An invitation to coffee
• A referral

Stay in touch in valuable ways.  This will help grow the relationship, increase comfort with each other and move the process along.  Remember, in many cases, people buy from people they like...make yourself likeable!  Of course, when appropriate, it's reasonable to ask where she stands on moving ahead with the deal.

If you sense that the interactions with the prospect are not moving forward, then it's acceptable to ask if there still is interest in pursuing the deal further and not wasting each other's time.

Make sure to track all activities in your system; if you don't, you'll forget and end up either communicating in a haphazard way or possibly letting the prospect fall through the cracks.

A Valuable and FREE Webinar

Register now for How to Grow Your Business With Email Marketing, a webinar I will be giving on July 13 at 12:00 pm ET.

This webinar will share best practices and winning strategies in this comprehensive look at what email can do and how it can help you:

• Acquire and retain customers
• Increase delivery and open rates
• Write good headlines and content
• Save time
• Inspire readers to take action
• Incorporate social networking

You'll discover that even in this era of social media, your old friend -- email -- is an affordable, practical way to connect with your customers, convert leads into customers, strengthen your relationships with them and grow your business.

Register today for

this free and valuable seminar

 This was one of the better informational meetings I have attended. I found it to be thought provoking and am eager to put a plan of action in place and see results."
 Robin Klein, Byram Self Storage

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Solutions for Growth is a marketing consulting firm that helps small businesses grow by increasing their sales through practical and achievable marketing tools.

Services include marketing advice and strategy, online and offline customer acquisition and retention tools (new and revised websites, email marketing, social media and printed material), sales development, retail layout and signage.