I see too many business owners leave money on the table–and leave lives unchanged–because they’re not following up.
So the mantra I’ve been making all my clients repeat this year is:
Follow up, follow up, follow up.
When was the last time you sold something to your audience? Last week? Last month? Last quarter? (If it was more than that, we need to have a different talk.)
How many times did you follow up with your audience after you made the pitch? What did you say in those follow-ups? How direct were you?
In our last big campaign, I sent 3 “last chance” emails on the final day of promotions. 49% of our sales happened on that last day. About 30% of those happened between the 2nd and 3rd email. Yes, a few even occurred after the 3rd email.
Before that, I sent out testimonials, video case studies, FAQs, and additional content to educate readers.
All of that was after we made the initial pitch.
Look, I know you don’t want to annoy your readers, fans, and subscribers. But think about how busy you are, how many emails you miss, how many opportunities you’ve beat yourself up for missing in the last few months.
They’re facing the same thing.
If you don’t follow up with them, they can’t buy. If they can’t buy, they can’t experience the transformation–big or small–your offer will create for them. Here are 3 ways you can follow up, help customers get what they really want, and maximize the profit you’re generating in your business.
1) The Pitch Follow-Up
Every time you make a pitch, plan to send 4-6 follow-ups. Not all of these emails need to go for the “hard sell.”
You can provide additional content, tell stories, and share results from former clients. Though, you should include at least 2 or 3 follow-ups that directly overcome objections to buying, describe the perfect customer for your offer, and heighten the natural urgency they feel for buying.
Make sure that all of your follow-ups include a call to action to buy.
Here’s an email I sent recently as part of my own pitch follow-up campaign. The email told a story about one of our clients which allowed me to describe our Perfect Participant, highlight the problem we solve, and point to specific outcomes new clients could expect. While the “sell” was soft, it was still clear and–ultimately–effective.
2) The Up-Sell Follow-Up
Customers who buy from you once are 2x more likely to buy from you the next time you make an offer. That’s true even immediately after they’re first purchase.
Your new customer has just expressed a specific need. Do you have something else you could sell that further helps to fulfill that need? Maybe it’s 1:1 consulting, a video course, a consultation with a team member, etc…
Follow-up with another offer.
We recently put this Up-Sell Follow-up in place to suggest our entrepreneurial community, The Lab, to new customers. Just 3 quick emails to point out a few of the benefits of the community and tie them to problems we know those customers have–nothing fancy.
The application is simple: people who buy certain products are tagged in our ConvertKit system with a label that triggers this automated email sequence. It happens automagically. Even if it only increases sales incrementally, those are sales I don’t have to work harder for and those increments really start to add up!
3) The Referral Follow-Up
I’m often asked how to get more referral business–or how to turn referrals into a dependable system.
The easiest way is to ask. The easiest way to do that is by automating it.
You can set up a short sequence like the one above or use a tool like Boomerang or Zapier to send referral emails a short time after a client completes with you.
Now your ask is just another part of the process your clients or customers go through in the course of doing business with you.
And, of course, this doesn’t just apply to service-based businesses. If you have a product-based business, you can ask for referrals, too. Just ask your customers to share your product with friends who might like or need it.
Are you sold? Choose one of these follow-up techniques to implement in your business now.
