I want to throw something at you, particularly since it's the end of the week that I know is going to make some people pretty uncomfortable. But it is one of my core beliefs as a business development consultant. One of the things I always wonder about is our people who think they're good at follow up really good at sales, and my gut instinct. And if you've worked with me in the past, or talk to me about what makes the best salespeople, the best is follow up is probably a crutch, not a skill or an attribute.
So what do I mean by that? It's pretty simple. The reason most salespeople think they're good at follow up, is they have to do a lot of it, which at the core of an issue means they're not good at collecting decisions from the prospects or suspects that they're working with. So rather than knowing where they got to, at the end of of a sales call, they opt out to the easiest, most acceptable thing for both themselves, and the person they're trying to do business with. And they commit to, I'll follow up with you in a few days, a couple of weeks, whatever the timeframe is that's appropriate for the business that they're doing. And they believe that they've actually made progress on that call, when they get a commitment, maybe an agreement, at least they didn't get a rejection, from somebody said that says, Sure, follow up with me then and we can talk. Well, I frankly, find that to be a complete and total waste of time in most cases.
So here's my advice to you. This is your Friday, fast tip. If you're living in a world of follow ups, meaning if you look back at what you did this week, and you didn't collect decisions, but you look at your calendar for next week or the week after. And you have a bunch of people that you've got a call back and say, Hey, what are we doing? Do you still love what I've got or what happens next, or whatever it is, if you find yourself with more follow ups, then decisions, you're not doing sales, right? And you need to get that fixed as quickly as possible. You never want to find out that your best trade is follow up. Because that probably tells you your worst trait is the ability to collect decisions. So rethink the value and power and success that you're creating by being good at follow ups.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend and get ready to go out and make money next week. Take care.
