subject: How Following Up Can Increase Your Conversions Up To Fifty Percent [print this page] How Following Up Can Increase Your Conversions Up To Fifty Percent
Learn how to effectively follow up...
According to successful home businesses and off line entrepreneurs marketing statistics following up with customers accounts for up to 50% higher conversion rate in sales and a higher retention rate of customers.
If these numbers don't get your attention then you need to check your pulse. The industry average is approximately 3 to 5% on conversions from a prospect to a paid customer and signed up in your company. If you want to increase these numbers with your home based business or your off-line business you need to start following up with your prospects. You will be amazed at the results by following up with a thank you letter or just a follow up letter.
I always hear some entrepreneurs talking about doing follow up with their customers and they usually try to hard sell their customers by just talking about the product and not what the customer wants or needs. I learned long time ago that you always need to, " Sell the Sizzle not the Steak " which means you need to sell the benefits of your product not the product. It is extremely critical that you listen to your prospects, 99% of the time they will tell you what they want and what they desire. Don't make it harder then it really is.
This is why I use an application in my process of qualification to come into my business because I want the customer to tell me what they need and what they are looking for in a business opportunity so when I follow up with them I know exactly what points I need to discuss with them. In the sales industry whether is direct sales or online sales this is called, " Hot Buttons ". This is how I prepare myself to follow up with my prospects/customers.
I want to make sure that I provide the best service possible to my customers and I don't want to waste their time and money. Today the competition is fierce and cut throat. If you want to survive in this economy you have to do something different that the other 95% are not doing and provide quality service. Customers today are better educated thanks to the internet and social media. Just put yourself in their shoes. I personally demand great customer service when I am spending my money and we have to remember that we are consumers too.
When doing a follow up you want to start by building a rapport with them and be professional at the same time. Address them by their first name when talking to them, you want to make them feel at ease. Always be excited and enthusiastic about yourself and the opportunity your presenting them with. Nobody wants to do business with someone that has no confidence in themselves or their company.
One the biggest problems I see in internet marketing is when entrepreneurs are doing follow up is that they do not listen to their customers. When doing an interview to get someone into your company listen very carefully to what your customer is saying and only address those concerns. If the customer is talking about how he did not get great support from the previous affiliate program he was with before, you don't want to talk about how much money they will make because this is telling them that you really don't care about support and more than likely you will never get that customer to join your company.
Be honest with your customers...
Be honest about everything when you talk to your customers. if not it will catch up with you. If a customer ask you, "How much money have you made?" and you are just starting out. Tell them that you have just started out but with help of my mentor and sponsor I am on track to do very well and besides you are only following up with them because they filled out an application requesting more information which mean that you are providing customer support and service as you are presently speaking to them. And this is what the customer is looking for, so by doing this follow up it shows that you provide quality support.
After you have answered their concerns and only then you can ask them, "So how do you like what you have seen so far?" If he says that everything is great. Now you will tell them, it sounds like you are ready to move to the next step. If you need anything myself and my team will be here to help you every step of the way.
But what if the customer says No, I am not ready right now. Then you have to engage the customer and find out why. It could be that he does not have the money right now or something else but if you want to overcome this objection you must find out what it is that is on his or her mind. If by the third time of asking for the sale they are still not ready don't try to push them anymore and just tell them that you will give them some time to see if this is for them. Ask them, When would be the best time to call them and set a date and time if possible so you have some commitment. And if the follow up does not work, just move on to the next customer.
I hope you find this useful in your business and hope you understand the importance of the art of the follow up.
