It has taken me a good long while to realize the great importance of giving my prospects a phone call when they have requested more information about my company. Direct voice to voice communication is so important that I make it a habit to make contact with each and every person possible. Why is this? Why don’t multiple follow-up emails work just as well instead?
Let’s look at this from a human perspective. The person who has requested more information about my business is most likely looking for a variety of different things. They are either looking for more money, a better job, more freedom or all of the above. Even though this person may not have any idea who I am or what my business is all about, deep down they long to know how to make a living from home. The first mistake most beginning internet marketers do is to take their leads, load them into an autorepsonder system and send their contacts a series of emails that tells them all about their company. I use to think this was acceptable to handle my contacts this way but then I realized something very important. If I was seriously looking to change my career and start a new business venture, would I rather have a relationship with and autoresponder or a real person?
Well, the answer is pretty obvious, isn’t it? Most all of us want to know that someone will be there helping us along the way when learning a new skill or business. A series of emails might be the easy way out, (heaven knows I have chosen this route for more years than I care to admit), but nothing beats the real contact we have with our potential business partners from either a phone call or face to face. Once I started calling my leads and let them know that a real person was behind that little form they filled out, my business started to find momentum like never before.
A little nervous about making those phone calls? I was too, believe me, but like anything else in life, the more you practice, the easier it gets. Yes, you might stammer and stutter a little at first but after a few calls you will start to relax and find this to be a much better option than filling up an autoresponder with a bunch of emails no one reads. Besides, consider all the time it takes to write those letters when a phone call may only take five or ten minutes!
Here are some tips for making those first phone calls to your prospects a little easier:
*Get in a quiet place with no distractions and make sure you have all the prospect’s information in front of you before you start.
*If you are unsure of what to say, make some notes and keep them near you so you have a reference when you begin speaking.
*Take some deep breaths if you become nervous. This will get oxygen into your system and help you relax.
*When the contact answers, make sure you start with identifying who you are and what company you represent. This will hopefully spark their memory about when they requested more information and also this will help with your credibility. (By NOT stating your name and company up front, you are asking for an immediate negative response from your lead).
*Start the conversation with a good upbeat tone and simply ask the prospect if they have any questions about your business. If so, do your best to help them with a friendly comfortable tone. If they cannot remember what company you are with or they forgot they even filled out a form, verify their email address with them and tell them you will send them the link to your business. Ask them to review the information and then schedule a follow up call in a day or two.
*Always end the conversation by emphasizing with the prospect that you will support them and help them get started when they join your business. Most new entrepreneurs are going to be somewhat afraid of taking those first steps towards building their new business and if they know you are there to support them, then they are more likely to sign up.
I realize that your calls may consist of some hang-ups and some rude no thank you’s here and there and in reality, you don’t want those people of your team anyway. Overall, you will find calling your leads a much more rewarding way of handling your prospects and also you will find your sign-ups coming much faster and on a regular basis.
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