The Abundant Accountant: Leads, Sales & Business Growth for Accounting, Tax and Bookkeeping Professionals 019 | How to Handle a Sales Follow Up With New Leads Without Being Annoying
Do you ever wonder if you’re being annoying to your new leads?
This is a struggle that holds many accountants back from following up, and ultimately hurts their clients and hurts their business!
Most clients require up to five follow-ups before they bring in more revenue to your firm by enrolling with you. However, most accountants don’t even follow up once! That is money left on the table, but more importantly, that is the value that you have missed out on.
Instead of spending your time worrying about being annoying to your clients, you can change your focus. Focus on:
- Getting to know your clients on a more personal level.
- Serving them by putting them on a follow-up schedule based on their business and the needs of your prospects.
- Keeping yourself on the top of their mind so that when they need someone, you’re the one they call!
If you don’t follow up, they’re going to need help eventually. If you haven't followed up, odds are that you won’t be on the top of their mind. You want to be the one that they call first and proper sales follow up will help you achieve this.
In this episode of The Abundant Accountant podcast, The Pitch Queen, along with with Denise Mandeau talk about follow up, and how you can strategically follow up with your leads to help make yourself stand out from any other accountant.
If you know that you can serve your clients more effectively, and you are certain that you’re leaving money on the table, you’ll want to tune in to this week’s episode of The Abundant Accountant podcast!
Enjoy, and thank you for listening and tuning into The Abundant Accountant Podcast!
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- How to stop competing on price FOREVER!
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Here are a few key secrets we talked about in this episode:
- The Pitch Queen, Michelle, introduces herself and Denise and shares about her business.
- Follow up - how can you do that without being annoying?
- Did you know that 80% of sales might require 5 follow-ups?
- “People are so afraid to reach out and talk to people, but the truth is, nobody follows up! People actually like it when you reach out to them and show you care.”
- The fortune is in the follow-up, and is where a lot of revenue can be generated!
- Not one accounting professional that we’ve worked with has done any follow-up. This means there is a lot of opportunity to rise above the rest in this area!
- Follow up helps you grow a deeper relationship and build rapport with clients.
- Follow up helps you stay top of mind for your client’s and prospects. Sometimes timing is off when you first meet, and there’s always something that happens - if you’re top of mind, they’re going to think of you first and you’ll gain the business.
- New leads are much more expensive than following up with current clients!
- Make your follow up communication have significance: “I’m just checking up on you” has no meaning. Make it specific to your last communication you had with them.
- There was one client who wasn’t ready to enroll with Denise, and Denise continued to follow up with him. About 4 months after their initial meeting, something came up that she thought would be of interest to him, and she invited him to the event. He then signed up for a $10,000 engagement! The fortune is in the follow up!
- If you are working with someone who is not ready to engage with you right now, or today, anytime you’re in a meeting or on a call with a client, schedule a follow up within 12-24 hours right then. Never wait! Schedule the follow up immediately.
- Remove the back and forth - you don't have to email or call them again, schedule it right then and there.
- People appreciate that you take action and book things immediately!
- Schedule a check-in in one month if they aren’t a good fit now. If you feel like they will be a good fit for your firm, once a month is a great goal for follow up.
- I recommend sending a thank you email to your potential client, thank them for their time, and mention “I look forward to talking to you on [future date], etc…”
- When I’m sending the thank you, I will also do a little recap of our conversation, sharing “This is what I heard was important to you, etc…”
- It shows that you were listening and helps you remember what you spoke about in a later meeting - also, paste that email in the calendar appointment notes so you can see and know exactly what you spoke about previously.
- Send off-topic emails to your clients! Send something fun that is related to your client’s interests. It’s really the thought that counts, and that is what people remember.
- If you follow up, you differentiate yourself! If you can’t do it every month, do it every other month!
- Accountants tend to like to send stuff about tax laws - your clients might not really care! Send them something personal. If you don’t know anything about them personally, take them for coffee and learn more about them as a human being! What is their passion and what do they love to do?
- Focus on value. Reflect back to them what is important to them. Let them know you heard them, you care about what is important to them, and that will make you stand out!
- Keep building rapport! Every time we reach out and follow up, it builds that relationship even more!
- Follow up in a genuine activity that sets you apart, and will keep you at the top of your potential client’s mind.
- Michelle and Denise challenge you to incorporate 30 minutes to an hour of follow up into their schedule each week, and see how it impacts your firm!
Learn More & Connect With Me Here!
P.S. Do You want to MAKE MORE MONEY, WORK FEWER HOURS?
Join me so you can unlock the secrets to growing a profitable accounting firm with less stress by joining our upcoming Abundant Accountants Masterclass!
You will learn:
- The easiest ways to sift through clients and get to the RIGHT ones!
- Proven tactics to actually get paid instead of giving away FREE advice!
- How to stop competing on price FOREVER!
Join our Abundant Accountants Masterclass today over at theabundantaccountant.com
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