The Simple Solution to Closing More Sales in Your Business

Doing follow-up effectively to close more sales has been the theme in my business this fall. I was pleased to have my blog article on the topic published at SalesPOP!, an online sales magazine. “The Most Important Statistic Sales Professionals Need to Know to Grow Their Sales” reveals just how many sales are left on the table for others to snap up, simply because no one followed up sufficiently with the prospect.

Follow-up in sales is a paradoxical beast. It’s where the most potential for sales lies, and yet, it’s also the area of sales most vulnerable to procrastination by sales professionals. I attribute this to many factors including fear of rejection, being disorganized, lacking a follow-up system, feeling too busy to get around to it, or simply not seeing any value in it.

Being effective in follow-up isn’t just about quantity. You can follow-up 20 times with the same prospect but if you’re not delivering value to build trust in the process, those 20 follow-up actions will likely not lead to a closed sale.

Dave Robertson, a multi-award winning Sales Representative with Century 21 United Realty Inc. Brokerage, has achieved the rank of Top Producing Realtor many times in his career. He attributes much of his success to his consistent follow-up with prospects and clients.

“Follow up is not only the pillar of the activities sales people need to have in their skill set, but for some, it has become an art form,” says Dave. “I have seen the difference in my own business over 10 years as a realtor and the net result of applying and developing follow-up protocol, systems and eventually, a habit, have more than doubled my conversion ratio of prospects to clients. It should be considered a high priority activity for those looking to succeed in sales of any kind.”

Follow-up is one of the most crucial activities for any sales professional. While it takes some time to develop a system, once it’s in place, you will see a dramatic improvement in your sales closing rate.

I stress the importance of developing a follow-up system and putting it on auto-pilot in your business. A good system utilizes a range of different follow-up activities on a schedule. In the process, the prospect grows to know, like and trust you. Then you stand the greatest chance of closing a sale because you have stayed top-of-mind with the prospect.

I was recently interviewed on the Salesman Podcast on the same topic and will share that video when it’s published later this month. An iTunes award winning B2B sales podcast, the show is hosted by the dynamic Will Barron, a great interviewer and successful entrepreneur. Be sure to check out the incredible line-up of sales podcasts at Salesman Podcast. (It’s worth registering for his newsletter too – I get great sales insights into my inbox each week).

To help you develop a simple but highly effective system, grab my free training: The Ultimate Follow-Up System for Increased Sales