What happens in that moment when someone decides to buy (or not buy) your product or service?
The truth is that it could be a lot of things. Sometimes it’s because your value proposition [link to key terms page] is strong, sometimes they’ve done their homework and you fit exactly what they need, and sometimes it’s simply timing (they want or need to try something new right now).
Most of those things, you can’t control. But if you’re responsible for connecting to and staying in contact with potential customers, there is one thing you can control: consistency.
Your workflow may vary, there’s no magic bullet. But if you can consistently stay in touch with leads, you’ll have a much higher chance of closing new sales.
Here are a few things you can do to maintain that consistency:
- Figure out how you like to sort your leads, and use it to send emails & make calls. In ONE UP, you can do this by closing date, by the total $ amount of an opportunity, or by how likely you think it is to close
- Set a task with a due date and stick to it – when you’ve got more work than time to do it (and most small businesses are in that situation) if something isn’t set as a task and added to your calendar, it doesn’t exist
- Setup email templates that you can easily edit and send, and that can also serve as a talking points for a call or meeting
To get you started, here’s a great email template you can reuse over time
We call this the “Join the club + provide resources” email…
What it is: this email uses social proof (“join these smart people already using our product / service”) and provides resources that can help your potential customer with their business. It can be used as a cold email, or as a follow-up to someone you’ve met with.
Here’s an example of it as cold outreach:
Hi [first name],
Nonprofits, small businesses, and government agencies all have one thing in common.
They save time by using [our product] to help them [do X and Y].
Check out these stories & quotes from some of our current customers [link]
You can learn more about what we do by visiting our site, and I’d love to show you a bit more detail about our product / services.
Regards,
John
And here’s an example of using it to follow up…
Hi [first name],
Thanks for taking the time to chat the other day – as mentioned, we’re pleased to already have nonprofits, small businesses, and government agencies saving time by using our product to help them [do X and Y]
Feel free to take a look at these stories & quotes from some of our current customers [link]
Let me know what other information I can provide, and I’d love to [send a quote / proposal your way / get you started with a free trial etc]
Regards,
John
This post is also available in: French