Scheduling your way to sales success

Someone who is “off pattern” clues you into the possibility that there might be a problem. That doesn’t mean you should give up on this prospect, or think the lead is dead. The individual might not be sharing a business or personal issue. But if you don’t act consistently, you can’t read your prospect’s behavior as well.

A suggested pattern for calling would be as follows:

• Week #1: You can call [up to] twice, but no more than one voice mail
• Week #2: Same as above
• Week #3: Don’t make any calls
• Week #4: One call, one voice mail

Now you’ve called for a month. If this is a referral or introduction, you might want to reach out to the referring party on Week #3. If this pattern (especially week #3) makes you nervous, you don’t have enough leads. By the third week you should have new prospects that you are excited about.

You now need a longer stretch between calls. For the next three months, I’d call once a month (again, my focus would be on my new leads anyway); and after that, I’d call every other month.

Important: Put your new prospects on your e-newsletter list. I endorse using e-relationship because it solves the problem of staying in touch. It isn’t as direct as phone calls, which solves the problem of appearing to be “pushy”.

If you follow this pattern of phoning and emailing, you will have some “lost” prospects re-emerge. Others you may see at networking events, social events, etc. Those face-to-face encounters give you another way to communicate with these people.

At the end of our call, my friend felt better. He needed some guidelines for what might be perceived as being a “phone bully” vs. what was too little to accomplish his goal. Having a schedule for calling all new leads will help you keep calm and not “reactive,” which is the best way to manage your sales life!

Read also these columns by Gail Goodman:

• You can’t “just dial” anymore
• Is phoning dead? Hardly
• Diagnosing your lack of appointments: 7 possible reasons