Quite possibly one of the most important aspects of sales is the follow up. I have lead sales teams in two different industries for over 25 years and this seems to be an issue for salespeople and insurance agents alike. Only the superstars seem to have system they use consistently. Whenever I bring the subject up with my life insurance agents I always get the question how do you follow up with clients? As if I have a magic system. My short answer is the one you use consistently.

Now there is certainly no shortage of systems for salespeople and insurance agents to purchase on the market. There is anything from CRMs like Constant Contact,  Salesforce, Infusionsoft and Sendout cards. Any of these systems work just fine if you don’t make the time to do it yourself or have your office staff do it. An insurance agent or salesperson can spend thousands of dollars on a good CRM system. When agents ask me which one I use, my answer is none of the above. But I do have a system and I do use it daily. My cost is zero but it does take up some of my time.

I became a big believer a few years ago in Google calendar. I put my life on it. Every hour of every day is on my calendar and I don’t stop my day until it is all complete. I like using Google calendar because it automatically syncs up with my smart phone and Microsoft Outlook.  So I have back up if any one system crashes. When a client or prospect tells me when to follow up I immediately put the time, date and reason or notes on my calendar to follow up. Whether it is a phone call, email or postcard I will follow up until the sale is made or the take out a straining order. Most salespeople fail to realize clients are testing you to see how committed you are to your profession and to helping them with a solution to ‘fix their problem” with your product or service. Lack of good follow up is one of the main causes for lost sales. It is never the client or prospects responsibility to follow up with you. THIS IS YOUR JOB! Do not drop the ball and miss a sales opportunity because you forgot to follow up.

I still hand write postcards, thank you cards, send my own emails, make my own phone calls and post my own social media. This may sound like a monumental task for some insurance agents or salespeople, but I want my agents and clients to know they are always worth my time, efforts and I really appreciate them being my customer or on my team. I have a rather large team and a very large book of business I am very grateful for. These people pay my bills and I refuse to hand them off to a third party or technology company and hope they do a good job. Certainly that is my system and it works for me.  There is no right answer when you are asked the question how do you follow up with clients?, tell them do the one that works for them but do it every day without fail.

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”–Thomas A. Edison

Image by Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net

yourfriend4life.com

Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger and team leader with over 26 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.