Pest or Persistent

How frequently do you follow up? What do you say every time you follow up? What's the rule of thumb for sellers? When does follow up become spam? How long do you keep the engagement going if the prospect goes cold on you?

As a seller if these are questions you have always struggled to find answers for, welcome to the club !

The best and the worst thing about being in sales is no Formulas work !! Everytime you think you found the answer the situation changes.

Here is something I learnt from my mentor - be persistent but don't be a pest ! To understand this first you have to move from the mindset of "I want to make a sale" to "I want to help you buy cause am confident my product, service and/or solution will bring value to you".

So while one can't really determine if you should follow up every two days or two weeks what is important is that your follow up is a reason to create engagement.

To avoid being a pest, stop sending messages like "Have you made a decision yet?" ,"Do you have an update?", "our offer will expire".

Instead in every occasion to follow up, use it to build engagement (read mind share). Firstly use the omnichannel approach - engage through emails, calls, Messages, Social platforms. Secondly, in each interaction share something that is relevant to the buyer - could be an article you read, a blog you wrote or information that you found.

Ask yourself what will this prospect not know or not have access to if I didn't send them this message.

I know this is not easy, but then who said life is easy or selling is easy !