Hold the pallbearers!  Don’t close that casket just yet!

Did you know that it costs 4x as much to bury someone as it does to resurrect them? How is that you ask? After all, if you bury them they are gone and you never deal with them again, so theoretically it shouldn’t be costing you anymore. Right? Wrong!

In defense of my case I call to the stand…Opportunity Cost.

You know how your Aunt Millie always said that her secrets would die with her? Well think of your dying leads in the same way. If you simply let them die the potential money you could have earned from them will simply die with them.

Let’s look at that in real numbers. Let’s say on average you make 30 sales a month with an average ticket price of $500. That’s $15,000. Not bad.

But now let’s look at all of the leads that did not lead to a sale and were simply left to rot and die.

Let’s say that you are a decent salesperson and you converted 30% of your leads. So with 30 sales that means you would have had 100 leads total and therefore 70 unconverted leads. Now, we will be fair and say that half of those unconverted leads wouldn’t even let you in the door and would go in another category. So that leaves us with 35 unconverted leads with potential to buy in the future.

Most salespeople would simply say, “Well, I tried,” and move onto the next list of leads, leaving those 35 unconverted leads to shrivel up and die.

What they don’t see is that maybe those 35 unconverted leads couldn’t buy this month, but next month is a whole new ballgame. In which case that is $17,500 of untapped potential, not to mention any referrals or repeat business that might occur.

What if I told you that there was a simple yet effective way to keep in touch with those unconverted leads, preventing them from dying. Matt and I like to call it life support.  So what’s the secret?

Resurrecting your leads can be as simple as putting them on your monthly communications such as newsletters, blogs, holiday mailers, etc.  But much like CPR, the longer your leads go without “life support” the less chance of bringing them back.

I have now brought that brilliant piece of advice into my marriage and into my business life.  However, Matt and I (being the psychological geeks that we are) have noticed that this is not just a male thing, but a human thing and that it encompasses more than just hunger.  We have observed that our decisions are impacted most negatively when we are hungry, angry, hot, lonely, or tired.  These are the times when we find ourselves wanting to toss in the towel or shut down.

Now granted, we have a bit of an advantage in that we are able to hold each other accountable when we notice the shift from being positive and motivated to being negative and sluggish.  (Just as long as it doesn’t happen at the same time.)  Often times we will allow each other to vent for a little while, but if it begins to become a “bitch-fest” we try to gently probe into one of these five areas and put some perspective on the problem.

And then of course we try to remedy the problem as quickly as possible so as to help with productivity.  Maybe it is taking a 10 minute break for a snack or a quick walk around the block.  Maybe a refreshed cup of Jo.  But no matter what we try to keep each other from wallowing in the negative state that not only kills productivity but makes you feel like crap.  (And let’s face it, when running multiple businesses, who has time to wallow?)

For example, today we were driving from one meeting to another.  It was extremely hot and humid and I was mentally exhausted after a great brainstorming session.  I started expressing doubts in myself and the entrepreneurial life.  Matt was great and listened to me for a bit and then gently (that is the key) reminded me that this was not me talking, but rather it was me being hot and tired.

And you know what?  He was right.  After a quick stop for some ice cold lemonade and mental rest I was back to my normal even-keeled self.

Are there times when you notice that you struggle most?  What are your triggers?  What are the triggers of those around you?  How can you help yourself and those around you when these moments hit?

Even if your grab someone’s attention your prospect is continually being bombarded with information from other people.

Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up.

Over 50% of sales are made AFTER the 5th contact.

If you do NOT have a system for this and an automatic follow-up system then you are just warming up prospects for your competition.

Now why is follow-up so important?

There are several reasons.

1) It gives you an opportunity to build trust People buy from those who they like and trust.
2) It gives you the ability to become an expert and position yourself that way in your prospect’s mind.
3) It gives you more time to educate and sell your prospects.
4) Your prospect may not be in the “buying now” mode so by implementing a system you are automatically capturing more market share in the future.

And the other reason to do it —

NOBODY ELSE DOES! And normally that is a good indicator of what you should be doing.

So realize that the brain is bombarded with information and you must continually follow-up with people or you’re losing a lot of money.

-Matt