What do you see as your hurdles and pain points when marketing and selling? What hurts the most when prospecting for new business? Here are some examples our clients have shared with us.
- I don’t meet the decision-makers.
- I have too many lists to track my prospects and tasks.
- I can’t seem to follow up with everyone and get ahead.
- My sales reps don’t keep me up to date.
Each of these is a royal pain and gets in the way of closing more sales.
FOLLOW-UP FATIGUE EQUALS BURNOUT
Follow-Up Fatigue (FUF) sets in when you’re not looking. All of a sudden, you say, “I am tired” or “I’ve been working these prospects for 6 months and I’m getting nowhere.” If you recognize it, then you are ahead of the game.
Following up is the key to sales yet most salespeople do not follow up. How can you differentiate yourself? The answer is “FOLLOW UP!” Follow up perhaps 12 times before you close a sale. Microsoft says, “If you follow up 9 times, there is a 90% chance that you will be selected when the buyer is ready.”
How can you follow up with everyone? The math is daunting. You meet 5 new contacts per week, then follow up 8 times, spend 30 minutes per follow up and you would’ve spent 20 hours per week.
NO WONDER YOU HAVE FOLLOW-UP FATIGUE
Not only do you have to follow up, but you also have to write proposals and quotes, answer client questions, and keep your task list up to date.
HOW CAN A CRM HELP?
An effective CRM helps you close more sales with less FUF. How does that work? Here are 3 great examples:
Automate 1/3 to 1/2 of Your Touches
Think about the best ways to reach your prospects. The most important is your personal touch. You can support your personal touch with automation. How many repetitive emails do you send out to prospects? How many times do you forget to call a prospect?
A robust CRM enables you to:
- Trigger outreach (emails and texts) based on preset conditions.
- Send reminders to you and your sales team to follow up after specific emails are sent.
- Maintain a library of emails that you can access with autofill so that your emails are personalized.
These are examples of how to combine your “high touch” with “hi tech’ to free you up to spend more time with your “A&B” clients and prospects. That is where the action is!
Visit Clients and Spend Time with Your A&B Prospects
When you spend more time with your clients, you are likely to build loyalty and increase sales. The time needs to be of value to your client so make sure it has an impact.
Spend time with your A&B prospects and, most likely, you will improve your sales conversion rate. Many clients have said how much time they lose pursuing the wrong prospects. It’s a major time waster and a big hurdle to overcome.
How do you overcome this hurdle? Rank your prospects from A to F in your CRM and only spend time with your “A and B” prospects. Research your “C” prospects as some may be worthy. Add prospects to different automations based on their ranking and measure their interactions with you to help in the ranking.
Manage Tasks, Notes, Emails, and Quotes in 1 Place
So many salespeople confess to being disorganized and scattered. Many agree that using sticky notes, spreadsheets, and handwritten lists no longer work for them. Imagine when your notes, “To Dos,” emails, and quotes are all in one place – in the contact’s record.
No longer do you have to remember all the facts. Organize your tasks by their due date and watch as you complete them faster without stress.
NEXT STEPS
We all experience pain points as business owners and salespeople. However, there are practical ways to minimize pain points and, in turn, reduce Follow Up Fatigue. If you would like help with implementing a CRM to help close more sales with less Follow-Up Fatigue, please call us at 301-332-0613 or click here to set up a meeting.
