346 Keep Following Up Buyers

<p>There is a certain well known Japanese recruitment focused company, who keeps calling me at regular intervals.  Maybe there is nothing particularly outstanding about a firm doing follow-up, but I am impressed.  The reason this firm stands out amongst others for me is that the people calling me change from time to time.  Usually, with sales teams, someone is the designated salesperson for that firm and when that person leaves, the relationship falls in a hole.  No one else in the company does any follow-up or if they do, they don’t sustain it.  This firm has been calling over the last five years and the callers keep changing, but the calls keep coming – they haven’t given up on me.  When I think about that effort, I wonder how they do that?  What system are they using which makes sure that someone from that company is well organised enough to call me?</p> <p>The second thing I reflect on is how well organised are we as a sales company? How well organised am I?  There is no doubt we suffer from the falling through the cracks problem when people leave.  It is rarely the case that we can guarantee to keep going with the buyer when the people change.  Sometimes it is chemistry and sometimes it is effort. </p> <p>You can work on the effort component. Keep in mind though, that, by definition, we are often dealing with the 80% of our team, who contribute a 20% share of the results and likely cause 80% of our problems.  If one of those people takes over the new client, then strap on your seat belt for a rocky ride.</p> <p>Now chemistry is even more difficult.  The previous salesperson built up a close personal relationship with the buyer, which has now been broken and needs to be re-established.  It is a fact that we don’t necessarily get on well with all our buyers.  It can be personality, style, communication differences and varying expectations. Sometimes<span lang= "EN-AU" xml:lang="EN-AU">,</span> the new salesperson just cannot keep that buyer with the f<span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang= "EN-AU">i</span>rm and we accep