[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Imagine this. As a salesperson, you collect an average of 20 business contacts per week from business cards, chat files, form leads. If you work 40 weeks out of the year, that is roughly 800 contacts. Now we know that it takes 5-12 touches to close most sales with 10 minutes per touchpoint, so for simplicity’s sake, we’ll say it takes 8 touches to close a sale. Let’s put this all together.
800 cards x 8 touches x 10 minutes/touch = 64,000 minutes
64,000/60 minutes = 1,067 hours
Looking at this scenario, you are spending most of your time following up with leads, both qualified and unqualified. You do not have time to improve your business and processes. Networking becomes a chore. Your interaction with your customers and team begins to suffer. Your life is consumed with follow-up and other areas of your life deteriorate. This is Follow-Up Fatigue.
It is an easy trap to fall into when we feel we need to be a part of every step of every sale. It is a trap, however, that can be prevented. Here are three ways to prevent Follow-Up Fatigue.
- Implement a CRM with Automation FeaturesCRMs are great for collecting information on qualified leads. After each touchpoint, you can make notes to help nurture the lead. This is still time consuming, so we recommend a CRM that has automated follow-up features that can expedite specific touchpoints. We do believe that although automation is helpful, it should not replace human interaction completely. Take a look at your sales funnel and decide which touchpoints can be automated and which ones need human interaction. When you do this, you will save time and alleviate stress.
- Create Personas of your ideal customerWho is your ideal customer? What do they want? What are their problems and how can you make their lives better? These are just a few questions we ask when we conduct persona exercises. A persona is a fictional personality of your ideal customer. It helps you understand how they think and how they buy. When you understand your ideal customer, you can filter your business cards and introductions through the persona lens to determine if a lead is qualified or not. If you do this, you will not clutter your CRM with unqualified leads and will not waste time on follow ups that will go nowhere.
- Learn to DelegateThere is something in us, whether we are a business owner or a sales manager, that says I can get it done faster and better myself. Maybe in some cases, but most of the time, that mentality tends to be an obstacle. In sales, it can be an obstacle that loses qualified leads. By delegating specific responsibilities of your sales funnel touchpoints to trusted team members, your customers will feel valued and taken care of and your reputation will be in good standing.
Follow-Up Fatigue is a real thing. If you and your team is experiencing this, it is time to step back and ask, “Am I using my CRM to its fullest potential to help nurture qualified leads?”. You need to evaluate who you are engaging? Are they your ideal customer? And last of all, are you working together as a team?
In the coming weeks, we will dive deeper into the prevention of Follow-Up Fatigue. We will look at CRM best practices, what a persona exercise looks like, and more. In the meantime, you can look at our other blog topics or go to our Resources page for free downloads.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”More Topics About Follow Up Fatigue” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”2″ element_width=”6″ orderby=”rand” grid_id=”vc_gid:1616691469487-72e83d48-61c3-0″ taxonomies=”24″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
