17 Highly-Guarded Strategies to Close Every Sale – Strategy #15: Take Follow-Up to the Next Level

Thank you cards. You must send out thank you cards. Preferably a handwritten thank you card instead of an e-card, because people get bombarded with e-mails. This is something that I do regularly in my business to thank people for their time and consideration. It’s not enough to just sign your name to some random thank you card. Take just a few moments to actually write the person’s name and a short blurb thanking them for their time, consideration or whatever it was that they did for you. You must do this even if the person did not invest in your product. Remember, the key is to build long-term relationships.

I also suggest that you go online and invest in a birthday card system. You can actually send birthday cards, thank you cards, and holiday cards to your entire database of clients. It’s that little bit of extra that makes you extraordinary and stick out from your competition. Your clients remember these added touches when they are in the market for your product or have a referral.

Strategy #15 Champion Tip: Send out thank you cards just to let your clients know that you really do appreciate the time that they invested with your business.

17 Highly-Guarded Strategies to Close Every Sale – Strategy #16: Become a Record Breaker

This is my favorite strategy, because I love to set goals and break records. It keeps me motivated and focused on achieving more than I have already accomplished. If you are a record breaker, then you can never become complacent.

What is your personal sales record? What is the most that you have ever earned in sales? Write it down right now.

Now, what’s your record breaking goal? Write that down. Also, write down when you want to accomplish that goal. Now, put that record breaking goal and the date in front of you so that you see it everyday. Let me give you the three steps that will guarantee that you will break the record.

First, you must know it in order to break it. Sales records are developed, recorded in the books and then broken. Someone in your sales organization, business or in the same industry is the top earner. Find out what their check is per month and set a goal to break it. I broke records in every single network marketing company that I was involved in. How? I set the goal of being the top earner and the date of when I would achieve it. I got focused and did it!

If there’s no one for you to compete with in your industry, then strive to beat your own personal record. What is your personal sales record? What’s the most you ever earned? If you’re an independent contractor, what’s the highest 1099 filed? Find it out. Look at it, cross it out and commit to breaking that record. This works for anyone in sales and marketing.

Secondly, you must own it. Create a check of the exact amount that you want to earn by a certain date and put it somewhere so that you can see it everyday. One of my students wrote out a check for $7,000 and dated it three months out from that date. She posted a copy of that check everywhere so that she challenged herself everyday to break that record. She actually earned a check that was seventeen percent more than what the amount was on that check. Take action today and write down the exact amount you want earn 90 days from now.

Thirdly, understand that records are made to be broken. When Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile, within the next three years over twenty other people did it too. What happened? Did legs and feet get different? No. The mind believed that it was possible. Because one person did it, everyone else knew it was possible. Well, guess what? You can do it too. Find out the record numbers in your company or within your own sales and commit to breaking them by a certain date. You can do it! Don’t let any tell you that it’s impossible.

I’m in full agreement with you that you CAN break records. There is no doubt about it! Just set the date and break the record. Go for it!

Strategy #16 Champion Tip: Determine the most that you’ve ever earned on one sale and strive to break the record. Write out a check with the date that you believe that you will break that record and put it in a place so that you see it every day.

17 Highly-Guarded Strategies to Close Every Sale – Strategy #14: Follow-Up

How do you close? Remember, not everybody makes a decision the first day. Many people want to wait and see if you are going be around six months from now. They want to be assured that you believe in your product/service so much that you are sticking it out for the long haul and would be there to support them if they invested in what you are offering. Your clients have every right to do that based on 97% of people in sales and marketing skipping from one product to the next.

So, how do you handle that type of situation? You follow-up and maintain contact with them. You likely have their email address, phone number and mailing address so just keep them posted on what you are doing. No, don’t pester them. Just keep them in the loop. There’s a lady that tried to sell my wife some cosmetics, but Christie just wasn’t interested at the time. Since the initial presentation at the department store, the lady has mailed postcards to Christie to let her know about upcoming sales. She followed up with her after the initial presentation, and Christie has invested in the products from time to time.

Strategy #14 Champion Tip: Take the time to follow-up with your customer and prove to them that you believe in your product and you are dedicated to building your business.

17 Highly-Guarded Strategies to Close Every Sale – Strategy #17: Commitment – Most People Quit. Will You?

Let’s say that you are in real estate and you show a home to a couple in September 2008. They don’t purchase the home from you, but you send a thank you card and keep them in the loop of your business. Three years later, they are looking to purchase another home. Most likely, the realtor that sold them a home quit, moved or changed phone numbers, but you have been dripping on them. Now, they are ready to upgrade. Maybe they purchased a townhouse for $150,000.00 from the first realtor. Now, they want to purchase an $800,000.00 home. They see the yearly refrigerator calendar that you mailed them during the holidays and called you to see property.

Isn’t that awesome? That’s what happens when you commit to opening up long-term relationships with clients. It actually happened with me and my current broker. I didn’t
use his services initially, but he kept sending me information and caught my eye with some of his promos. It was nearly four years before I engaged in any type of business with him. I saw that he was committed to his business and believed that he would be just as committed to my business with him.

Are you committed? Will you quit? If you are going to quit in whatever product or service you are doing right now, just please quit now for the benefit of the other ethical, moral
champions involved in sales and marketing. Please quit now and let those who have a right to earn huge income do it when they have an ethical and moral product and/or service. BUT if you are truly committed to the process, then take action and start implementing the strategies that you have learned in this book to radically increase your sales ration and open up hundreds of long-term relationships.

Strategy #17 Champion Tip: Stay committed and follow-up on the relationships that you have opened up. You will build trust with them through your commitment of opening up long-term relationships and earn the right to do business with them.

17 Highly-Guarded Strategies to Close Every Sale – Strategy #13: Actively Listening

Ninety-seven percent of people that are in sales and marketing simply do not listen to their buyer. They think they know everything about what the buyer wants. If they would simply listen to the buyer instead of talking, then they would really know what the buyer wanted and understand how they could close the sale for their product/service. Before I speak at an event, I will ask the promoter, “What do you believe the attendees need to hear to change their lives?” At that point, I shut-up and listen. By actively listening to the wants and needs of the attendees, my sales increase and I build relationships.

These are two powerful words: Shut-up and listen. After you ask your open-ended, positive closing questions, you have to be silent. The cool thing is that if you rearrange the letters in the word “silent”, you will get “listen.” Further proving that the two go hand-in-hand. When you are actively listening, you are focused. You are not distracted or multi-tasking while your potential client is speaking. Multi-tasking equals multi-failing in this situation so don’t do it. You have to respect the client’s words and listen to what they really want in order to successfully close the sale and open a relationship.

Strategy #13 Champion Tip: Shut-up and listen to really hear the needs of your client and close the sale.

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