One of my personal challenges as a small business owner is following up
with new business after providing a proposal/quote. It's easy for me to
assume, when I haven't heard back from a client, that: they don't want
to deal with me, they've got a better quote, my price is too high, I
didn't present the info well, etc. etc.
While occasionally this
may be true for the most part it isn't. And, unless I make the follow-up
call, my mind can continue to spin all the reasons why someone hasn't
gotten back to me/doesn't want to do business with me.
As my
business grows follow-up is becoming even more important. Actually, it's
not more important now it's just more obvious because I have more
potential clients.
The value of follow-up was highlighted for me
again last week. I had four potential clients that I hadn't heard back
from. Two were new clients that had received proposals. The other two
were clients I had done other work for and who had mentioned in
conversation other work they might need done.
In all four cases a follow-up phone call resulted in them each confirming their intention to move forward with new business.
Even if only two out of the four had decided to go ahead that still would have been good news. And, here's why:
I would KNOW the end result and have an opportunity to ask 'why' if
they decided to not go forward or to go elsewhere (thus eliminating
further stewing and guessing as to any reason).
I would have an
opportunity to EVALUATE my proposal and client interaction to determine
if there was anything I could have/should have done differently or if
this was simply a matter of 'you win some and you lose some'.
I would have information that may prove valuable in PREPARING future client proposals.
All in all, knowing is much better than not knowing.
I'm
grateful to my husband who is usually the one that asks me some of the
hard questions I don't always want to hear but need to hear. Questions
like, "Have you followed up with... on the proposal you sent to them?"
I
know I shouldn't NEED to be asked but sometimes I do. And, it's the
same question I ask my clients. It may not always be the question we
want to hear but it is often the question we need to hear - and then act
on.
Not following up with your clients will lose you business
because the competition will likely win it from you when they follow up.
And even if the competition doesn't follow up, great plans and
intentions sometimes get shelved 'for another day' that never comes when
no one follows up with us.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7220444
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