sales mindset

How Long Should You Follow Up with Prospects? (How about 10 years?)

Yesterday someone signed up for a business strategy session using my online scheduler. Her name sounded familiar and she answered the qualifier, “How did you hear about me?” with “I’m on your email list.” When I looked her up, I saw that she has been on my list since 2012.

That’s right, my friend. She has been on my email list for 10 years and I’m only just hearing from her now.

This comes on the heels of someone else who signed up for my upcoming Sales Mindset Mastery for Entrepreneurs masterclass who I haven’t heard from since 2016.

If this doesn’t validate the benefit of consistent follow-up, I don’t know what does.

There may be a lot of reasons you’re not communicating with your community more frequently, but don’t let “I just sent an email/posted the other day” be one of them. Your job is to stay in touch, provide value by sharing your expertise, and most importantly, be consistent so that people know they can count on you. You just never know when one touch may inspire someone to reach out because it’s the right time for them.

One of the biggest fears people have when selling is sounding pushy or “salesy.” You may think that if you follow up multiple times with a prospect or email your list too often that people will be turned off.

Actually, the opposite is true. If you don’t follow up with them (more frequently than you are likely comfortable with) they will forget about you and be more likely to unsubscribe or unfollow.

I’ll admit that in the past I have gone through dry spells where I wasn’t active with communication. There have been prospects that I dropped prematurely or never followed up with. If that’s where you are right now, it’s OK.

The best thing you can do is jump right back in. And don’t bother starting the email with “I know you haven’t heard from me in a while.” Everyone has friends that they can call on no matter how long it’s been. Your community is like that, too.

How long should you follow up with a prospect before giving up? Statistics have shown that it takes “7 times, 7 ways” before you’ll get a response. Yet most people give up after one or two touches, assuming that no response means they’re not interested. Keep going – you never know if someone will reach out to you after 10 years of being on your list.

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