Following yesterday’s article, a few discussions started as a result. Here’s how a few of them went.

Reader #1

“I told myself this at one time. I was wrong. Businesses and people are busy, they get side-tracked and don’t always prioritise software purchases. Following up is as much about closing the sale as it is getting it done now before their ADD gets focused on the next thing.”

To that, I’m saying “Being busy is not a problem when you’re helping someone capture 10% more of their revenue as profits.” — naturally doing that is not a normal feat everyone can achieve and it’s a stretch. However, the point of what I was saying is that, given tremendous amounts of value are provided to the other party, you should not worry about them being too busy.

No matter how busy a person is, it’s just a matter of prioritisation. You’re busy as hell doing whatever you do at work yet you still open up time for your family (I hope). It’s not a matter of “I don’t have time”. Same thing applies if what you provide is helping a lot.

So the idea was “make sure you do offer a lot”.

Reader #2

“Anything that goes against conventional marketing advice tends to upset marketers (unless you call it hacking of some type).

For what it’s worth, I completely agree with you. I’ve owned businesses where sales people followed every rule in the book, including on following up with calls. And I own my current business where we rely a lot, lot more on pull rather than push.

By the time the client makes their enquiry of us they are already pretty sold on the ‘product’ and all we’ve got to do is make sure we don’t screw it up. Provide info requested, reply to emails promptly, be polite. That’s it. The ones who are a good fit for us end up becoming clients… and become great and long standing clients. They love working with us, we love working with them.

The others can be converted but when we’ve tried in the past – with follow up calls etc – we’ve noticed that they make lower quality clients – they are fussier, slower to pay, make more complaints.

Sometimes quality of client is more important that number of clients or what they spend.”

We can get into discussions about the Pareto distribution here. I’m sure you’ve heard of it but don’t think of it as much. I’ve thought of it for 20% of the time period between when I first read about it and today.

The large majority will not be able to relate to what I write and you read.

Which is why I don’t get mad when I get trash talked — what I’m writing is not for the masses. It’s for either the people that are at the top or those who are trying to get there and are a bit successful. Yes, a lot won’t relate and say “this is shit” as I guess it’s impossible for someone to imagine how it is like to be in a top percentile position unless they are there.

Sure, there are movies which express how the Alpha Female/Male is behaving (how the top businesswoman/man is behaving) but the real-life counterparts of these will see the movies and understand parts of them are exaggerated for dramatism — just to make a parallel to social hierarchies.

To Reader #2, I’ve answered “You know what I’m saying because you’ve been through it, you’ve had the experience, which people who disagree on what I say don’t have.

I can also assume the fact that you’re not young, given your businesses have been through this. Yes, as you pointed out, a follow-up can get you that sale — but is it worth it in the long run? It might be if you plan on mass selling something and don’t care about them.

If you want to build a relationship, as you’ve pointed out, it’s worth having the patience of a farmer as opposed to “being on the hunt” and “always be closing”.”

I was replied with “You assume correctly. It’s a long time since I was young. Even my kids don’t consider themselves young any more! :)”

Reader #3

“I think you’re confusing following up with chasing.

Chasing a client who’s not excited is indeed a waste of time and should be avoided, focus instead on better targeting to find excited people or solving bigger problems.

But following up is more than chasing, it’s building a relationship and learning. Why did they not convert? Do they not have the problem you’re solving? Do they think your solution won’t help? Are they at the end of a budget cycle?

Circumstances change for companies often and it’s never a bad thing to build a relationship – so long as you remember that anything but an excited yes is actually a no and not to be chased.”

My answer: “I get what you’re saying. You know that following up is not chasing.

A lot of people don’t and thus chase blindly.

The second half of your comment is also something that I understand, yet it addresses another meaning of following-up which I didn’t want to touch.”

Conclusions

Reader #2 gets the idea as he’s a mature person who’s been through these experiences. He resonates with the idea because he’s been through the “a la carte” way and saw where that lead.

Maybe both him and I are following our confirmation biases given our industries (he’s in M&A)

Reader #3 sums the article perfectly in a sentence “anything but an excited yes is actually a no and not to be chased.”

As you can see, opinions are pretty much dispersed and I’m aware it can be seen as a controversial view — however, I stand by it. And those who have won stand by it.

About Ch Daniel

I run chagency, an experiences design agency that specialises on helping tech CEOs reduce user churn. We believe experiences are not only the reason why users choose not to leave but also what generates word of mouth. We’re building a credo around this belief.

If I’ve brought you any kind of value, follow me and get in touch here: LinkedIn | Twitter | Email

I’ve also created an infinitely-valuable app for sneaker/fashion enthusiasts called Legit Check that impacted hundreds of thousands over millions of times – check it out at chdaniel.com/app

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