One of the most powerful and forgotten tactics in business is FOLLOW UP.
Let’s start with a quick stat and then a story.
According to the Harvard Business School, increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.
So this means no matter what…
Following up with customers is always more profitable than going out and looking for new customers.
I’ll let that sink in for a second.
I was talking to a golf instructor a while back who shared with me the power of follow up for him. He does over 1200 private lessons per year. That’s a lot of lessons and students to keep track of. But he also shared he could do better. When he consistently follow up with students 15, 30 days after a lesson with a phone call, text, or email his revenue went up 10-20%.
WOW! When you turn 10-20% into dollars that is a lot of additional money just from picking up the phone or sending an email.
So what are the actions you can take to better follow up.
Provide a great service – This concept does not work if you provide a mediocre or poor service / product. Might be obvious but you can’t forget this.
Create great content – Often times you might feel like you’re just bugging people. BUT… If you have content you’re proud of and willing to share this limiting belief can be overcome a bit easier. People are always interested in learning more or hearing an interesting story. Play to those desires and give people what they’re looking for!
Talk to customers – Although this can seem awkward or just plain uncomfortable there is nothing better than talking to customers. Asking them how they’re doing, pains, problems they’re facing. You’ll understand exactly what they’re looking for and how you can help them. This plays back into you can figure out what content to create they’ll be interested in.
What follow up actions should you take? (and how do you systematize it?)
#1 – Create killer autoresponders to follow up with people when they purchase and when they sign up for lists.
#2 – Send personal emails to great past customers to see if they need help with anything else.
#3 – Be willing to call people and see how they’re doing. If a single phone call can land you additional services or purchase it’s always time well spent.
#5 Go out of your way to improve or give a previous client something even if they haven’t asked for it. The act of giving them something for free will go along way in the future.
#6 – Stay active on social media promoting content and offers.
*WARNING – all of this should be done out of sincere care and good will. If your only intention is to get more sales and “get more” out of somebody… It will come accres..