Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to follow-up with prospective clients, if they found the answers to their questions and booked their own appointments?
But they don’t, do they? You need to tell them what they need to know (even if they don’t ask), tell them what to do to take the next step, and make sure they do it.
You could ‘wing it’ and perhaps you do. But it’s better to use a system.
A follow-up system will help you sign up more clients more quickly and with less effort. You will have fewer questions to answer, fewer objections to overcome, and fewer delays to slow down the process.
A system will help you close a higher percentage of leads and prospects, with less work and overhead and friction. When someone calls or writes, your system tells you precisely what to tell them; you have documents and links ready to send them, and you don’t have to rely on your memory—you follow your checklist.
Professionals don’t wing it; they use a system. I encourage you to create and use your own.
Keep it simple. Start by identifying the first step—what to say, what to do and when.
What will you tell them? What will you offer them? What will you say to get them to take the next step?
Set up a file with forms and templates and answers to FAQs. Make notes about how to handle leads that come in from ads, from referrals, and from visitors to your website. For each type of case or matter, identify language to describe the benefits and value of what you do and pair these with illustrative stories of cases or clients.
Automate subsequent follow-ups via letters or texts or calls. Decide how many follow-ups to make and how often. Account for those prospective clients who need a lot of hand-holding and won’t be ready to hire you for weeks or months, and for others who want to get started immediately.
You don’t have to figure it all out immediately. Just start. Think about your last new case or client—what you said and did, what worked and what didn’t. You’ll figure it out, one step at a time.
