Re-contacting Stale Leads
As a salesperson, the problem with stale names on databases is that you have a means of remembering them (albeit electronically) but they have no way of remembering you. So the phone call after some amount of time goes by causes people to have to reconnect who you are with their distance experiences. The whole time that you are trying to jog their memory, they are thinking “telemarketer”; you’re going to face an uphill battle. To counter that I would suggest that you follow my “5+5+5” system with the people on the database. This is not a system for active prospects; it is only to reconnect to older database leads.
The “5+5+5” system goes like this: every day you write 5 personal, hand-written notes to previous visitors. The content should serve to reconnect the relationship, to remind the prospect of who you are, and give them a heads up on a future call. 5 days later the prospect gets a phone call, as promised (5 calls per day). They’re ready for it, they know who you are, and they are far more likely to talk. The system calls for an even flow of cards and calls. Every day the salesperson calls on someone they wrote to 5 days prior.
In summary, that’s 5 cards followed by 5 calls 5 days later. You’ll make 25 calls a week, 100 a month, and you’ll reconnect with 600 people by card and phone every six months. Got it?
Things to keep in mind about the system:
1) The note must be hand-written, and it must be personal. It’s best to reference their previous visit, or some other personal aspect of their lives. (“When we last spoke you were planning for your 2010 retirement – is that still on track? I’d love to talk to you more about that.”) This will not be effective if it looks like a form letter. It must be personal and customized.
2) The note must specifically reference a future call. (“I’ll be calling you in a few days to discuss this with you. It’s been a while since we talked, and I really look forward to catching up.”)
3) The call itself must be an instant relationship reconnect. There must be strong energy with an assumption of a positive tone on both sides. Talk about something personal before talking about housing in any way.
If you follow this system you’ll find it’s easy to handle for the salespeople, and easy to account for on your side.
