How to Follow Up On Your Leads

For those of you who read Lisa Coates excellent blog on “The True Definition of a Lead” this will be a great follow up to that. Now that we have a general idea of what exactly a lead is to us and our business (although some were a little far fetched in my humble opinion) let’s figure out HOW to convert more of them.

The common theme among everyone who commented is “develop a system” or some kind of routine method to stay in touch so you can build that necessary relationship or get the right questions answered. If we don’t follow up, what’s the point in generating the lead to begin with?

Regardless of how you generate them, leads have to be managed. After all, the number one complaint from consumers is that we don't call them back. So to avoid that trap, here are some simple ideas regarding Lead Follow Up!

• Have a definition of what a lead is (in case you didn’t read the blog). How long will you keep a lead in your system? Studies show the longer you spend following up on leads, the less business you do each year. Answer this question...A lead is someone who NEEDS to buy or sell within _______ days? My personal recommendation is no more than 30 days. That doesn’t mean you can’t keep their information and stay in touch. If after 30 days they aren’t going to do anything and you’ve been in touch, they know your name, they really become a COI don’t they? Let’s think about it. Our systems are full of people who refer business to us and may one day need our help as well…that’s what these folks become. See my blog (You Did the Hard Work, Now Call Your Past Clients) on how to effectively work your PC/COI list to get more from it.
• 70% of your business should come from lead follow up. That's right...it's that important. 70% of the time you will have to follow up with that lead to get an appointment set. 30% of the time you will set the appointment on the first call. So here's a scary thought...how much business are you losing by not having a great system?
• Lead Follow Up should be a daily activity posted in your schedule. Plan to spend 30 minutes to an hour a day calling your leads and setting up the appointment. A great time to do it is first thing in the morning. Call your hot leads and get some commitments which will start your day off with a great "high." For the not so hot leads, have a schedule of when you will call or email them to keep your name out there. The absolute best thing you can do with long term leads is provide them with information that is valuable. If they aren’t ready to buy or sell, sending them information about this stuff is useless. Send them a discount to a local business owner you’re friends with or some other information they can actually use TODAY.
• Remember leads have NO VALUE. Only contracts do. Are you converting your leads effectively? Where do you go with your lead system or file and say, I'll take a paycheck please...I've generated all these leads, now pay me. Well, not in this business. Leads don't represent security. They have no value until they are a closed deal. Over-managing and over-protecting gets you where exactly? Make it a regular habit to clean out people who never respond. Another habit needs to be finding new leads to replace the ones who buy or sell and the ones you throw away.
• The purpose of your LFU call is to SET AN APPOINTMENT. Period. Nothing else. Each time you follow up with a lead the goal is to get the appointment set. To make a sale you have to do a presentation. To do a presentation, you have to be on an appointment. To have an appointment, you need to generate a lead and get the commitment to meet. Simple as that. Anything else is just being a free information provider. Now, I do understand that you must give out some information to establish credibility and rapport. There is a difference between building trust and providing free information. Most of the time, you know when you've crossed over.
• Accept the fact that you will cycle through a large number of leads each year. Imagine if everyone you talked to bought a house. You could do all your business in January and take the rest of the year off. :) Since that is unlikely to happen, it's important to quickly move to the next lead when you recognize one is dead. As the saying goes, "when the horse is dead, dismount."

Implementing these ideas will help you convert the good ones faster. What are your thoughts on Lead Follow Up?