As mentioned in our last two blogs of this series: ‘Got A Lead, What Next?’ – when prospecting for new clients, we categorise leads into two categories. The first one being Hot Leads, and second one – Positive Engagements (which is what this blog is about).
To recap, we class a Positive Engagement Lead as a prospective client that replies when we reach out to them via email, but rather than wanting to talk now, they say they’re interested, but would prefer us to get back in touch at a later date (having understood what you offer).
These kinds of leads can be gold, and we proactively follow them up. In fact, I can, hand on heart, say that the biggest accounts I have secured and managed throughout my career are ones where they’ve had to be worked at. They’ve needed persistence, for, after all, if it’s an account worth having, it’s an account other people will be targeting, so you have to compete to win.
However, one thing we’ve noticed is that a lot of people don’t consistently follow-up these kinds of leads. They might follow-up once or twice, or put something in their diary and end up getting side-tracked. But, they don’t tend to apply a solid, yet simple, strategy to consistently follow-up these kinds of leads. It’s much easier to contact someone you know (the line of least resistance), and doing that is important to retain/develop relationships, but it’s also vital to consistently reach out to people you’ve never engaged with before, and people that have said they’re interested but not ready to talk right now – especially when you know they have a requirement for what you offer, and have already displayed a level of interest.
“Remember, it’s easier for them to forget you than remember you. And, if you don’t remind them who you are, and that you can help, you WILL be forgotten.”
At Neptik we manage Positive Engagements using a blend of email, and telephone (yes, the good old phone). When we next reach out to them depends on when they asked us to. But, we don’t quite wait till the time they’ve suggested.
For example, if someone says come back to me in three months, we’ll follow-up in two. If they say come back to me in the New Year, we’ll reach back out in December and wish them a ‘Happy Christmas’ (when it’s likely they’re in a good mood), and see if we can get something in the diary for Jan.
When getting back to them, we can say we’re aware that our follow-up is a little early, it doesn’t look bad. It shows we’re on the ball, and it shows we’re keen. Also, there’s usually a reason why someone gives you a follow-up date. Often, it’s because they might be looking to consider something then. But, if you wait till then, you might find that decision has already been made without what you offer being considered.
The other thing we do is always follow-up in the same email trail that includes what we originally reached out about, and their reply. It saves us having to go into too much detail, and it reminds them of their original response – sort of like an informal contract. It helps pick up the conversation.
When we reach out to a Positive Engagement of say a month or two ago, we tend to find that something along the lines of the below works really well:
“Hi XXX,
Hope you’re keeping well.
I just wanted to follow up from my email you replied to a few months back about business development at XXX.
I understand my timing was out then, but thought it worth coming back now to see if you might be up for a chat about how we can help? In case you may not remember, here’s some more info about our service, including a breakdown of our six-step-process: https://neptik.com/
I’d be delighted to jump on a call, understand where you’re at on the new-biz front, and run through how we can help.
If there’s a good time perhaps tomorrow, or Mon/Tue for a chat, just say when, and I’ll get a call arranged for us.
Really looking forward to hopefully catching up soon!
Kind regards,
XXX”
It’s quite possible that we don’t get a reply right away. Which isn’t unusual and is certainly nothing to worry about. Remember, it’s a Positive Engagement. We’ve already established a line of communication. We just need to be persistent; all be it in a friendly and polite way. It’s also worth noting that whilst we’ve waited roughly till about the time they asked for us to get back in touch, if we don’t get a response within a week, then it’s worth following up again.
In such a case, we might follow-up with something like:
“Hi XXX,
Hope all is well.
Just a quick follow-up from last Thursday – apologies for coming back to you before you’ve replied.
As you can probably tell, I’m keen to catch up and have a chat about how we can help you and XXX ramp up sales; so I was wondering if there might be a good time for a chat. I was thinking maybe tomorrow, Friday, or early next week if there’s a convenent slot for you?
That said, if there’s a better day, just let me know and I’ll be delighted to get something arranged for then.
Kind regards,
XXX”
Whilst we’ll get bites in our first follow up, we tend to get more here. In fact, we see some really high response stats. But, it’s inevitable that some people still won’t be ready to re-engage just yet (for whatever reason).
“Always remember, they didn’t get up that morning hoping you were going to get in touch.”
By this point, we’ve followed up twice since the time we said we’d get back in touch. At this point, we’d usually leave the 3rd follow up till a couple of weeks later. However, this time we usually use the phone initially (if their initial reply had their mob number in their signature – which it usually does), and if required, follow-up with an email.
With the phone, we make sure we’re ready for 3 potential eventualities:
1 – They answer, they’re happy to talk – we need to be ready to break the ice, find out where they’re at with regards to how what you’re selling can help. Then, tailor your pitch to solve those challenges, and build it into a close, or at the very least a clear call-to-action (a verbal contract for what happens next).
2 – They answer the phone but can’t talk right now – we need to either have some dates/times we can suggest off the cuff, which we then agree to either send a meeting invite for, or we agree to send the dates/times over (they may not be able to access their diary there and then).
3 – They don’t answer, we go to voicemail. Here I always leave a message, but I make sure I’m ready to leave a message (don’t be caught off guard). It’s important you know what you’re going to say, so I’d suggest preparing something in advance. In time, it’ll roll off your tongue. You just need to touch on who you are, the previous reply you got from them saying they’d be happy to pick up the conversation ‘around about now’, and that you’ll follow-up in an email.
You might be tempted to pass on leaving the message and go straight to email, but a solid, friendly voicemail gives you another touchpoint, another interaction that the prospective client will consciously hear (and subconsciously remember). What will it do? It’ll make the next time you reach out stand out more.
“I know it’s a bit of a cliché – but, when it comes to these calls, the old adage ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ really is the case. Winging it could see a viable potential customer walk off in another direction.”
After making the call:
If you achieve eventuality 2, and you manage to confirm a date/time, then follow-up simply with a calendar invite – job done. But, if you didn’t manage to confirm a time, but said you’d get some dates over, then use something like what you’d have sent when getting a Hot Lead to your initial outreach.
Remember? Something like this:
“Hi XXX,
Great to catch up just now. Just to follow-up, how might one of the below days/times work for you:
Monday 31st – XX, XX, or XX
Tuesday 1st – XX, XX, or XX
Wednesday 3rd – XX, XX or XX
If there’s a good time in there, let me know and I’ll send a meeting invite over. If not, and there’s a better slot the following week, just say when and I’ll be delighted to get something arranged.
Looking forward to hopefully catching up soon,
Kind regards,
XXX”
If you achieve eventuality 3, then we go with something like (again, keeping it in the same email trail):
“Hi XXX,
Hope you’re keeping well.
I just called, but got your voicemail, so I left a message, but thought it best to send a quick email too.
As mentioned, it would be great to get that call arranged, so I was just wondering how might one of the below days/times work for you:
Monday 31st – XX, XX, or XX
Tuesday 1st – XX, XX, or XX
Wednesday 3rd – XX, XX or XX
If there’s a good time in there, let me know and I’ll send a meeting invite over. If not, and there’s a better slot the following week, just say when and I’ll be delighted to get something arranged.
Looking forward to hopefully catching up soon,
Kind regards,
XXX”
What we find is that by going through the cycle we’ve just walked through, more often than not, we’re going to take the cream off the top – it works tremendously well. But, like pressing olives for oil, whilst the first press might seem like the best, there is still a lot of good stuff left in there. That said, we always carefully manage the fine balance between showing we’re keen and professionally persistent, against tragically falling into the realms of becoming – quite simply – annoying.
So, from here on, we follow a similar cycle to the above, but we spread out the interval between communications, and when we reach out, be it email, or telephone, we keep it light, maybe even slipping in a bit of humour where we reflect on our own persistence.
We might wait for a month, maybe even a little longer, then we go with something along the lines of (reaching back out on a Friday after a while works great for us BTW):
“Hi XXX,
Hope you’re having a good end to the week.
Firstly, I know I’m being persistent, and the last thing I want to do is become annoying, so please accept my apologies in advance. It’s just that I’m really keen to have a chat about how we can help XXX with your outbound sales prospecting.
We’re proud to be trusted to support many businesses across multiple B2B sectors, and I would LOVE to catch up with you, understand where you’re at with new-biz, and run through how we can help.
If that sounds good, how might sometime next week work for a short call?
If we don’t arrange anything beforehand, have a great weekend!
Kind regards,
XXX“
As mentioned, a little reflection and self-awareness tends to work a treat, and catching people on a Friday means we regularly find they are in a pretty upbeat mood and ready for the weekend. Less pressure, a more open mind.
But, if we don’t score lucky at this stage, we still do not presume the lead to be dead and buried. We just give it a little time to breathe. In many cases, we’ll hear back from them a week or two later. Something might happen on their side that triggers them to get in touch.
The thing to remember is, by now, we have well and truly planted the seed. The next time we follow-up Positive Engagements that have still yet to come to fruition is typically 3 months; when it’s time to get the watering-can out again. This ‘further out’ connect strategy will be something I talk about in another blog.
So, there you have it – a short guide to turning a Positive Engagement into a Hot Lead (and hopefully, into a customer).
Now, I understand that the idea of having such a proactive outbound strategy where you’re committing yourself upfront to so many stages might seem a little daunting and make you feel apprehensive – I get it. If that’s the case, then why not just dip your toe in the water. Try out some of the early stages of following up that we use and see how it goes?
My guess is that once you start to see the positive responses you’re generating and get a taste for what you’re achieving, you’ll start to feel more confident about the rest of the process. And, don’t feel you need to follow what we’ve said like it’s set in stone. Play about with it. Find out what works for you. For us, the main thing is to keep activity consistent, don’t treat it like something you can switch on and off when you want to, or something to fill in the gaps when you’ve got through your to-do list. Consistency is the key to opening your door to more sales.
