The Fortune is in the Follow Up
80% of sales are made between the 7th and 12th contact.
Wonder how to effectively reach out to your sponsors? I would like to share with you which part of the process will you most likely get a response from them. Ready? Here’s the clue “FIITFU”. Let’s talk about what this is.
The acronym FIITFU stands for the Fortune Is In The Follow Up. This applies to any type of sales and can also be used by a racer when seeking sponsors. I’m gonna share how to do follow up, why to do it, and how it’s gonna pay off for you.
80% of sales are made between the 7th and 12th contact. It’s unlikely that someone will say yes on the first try. In this situation you really have to be persistent.
Being persistent shows a prospect how dedicated you are. If you’re not persistent enough to get their business, why would they think you would be persistent enough to keep their business?
There are only 4 reasons to stop Following up
- They Die
- If they go out of business
- If they say NEVER
- When they say YES
Getting over excuses
There are many common excuses. Rather than accepting them, here are some ways to deal with them:
Excuse #1: “We’ll get back to you.”
Response: “That’s great. I appreciate that. But, I know you’re a busy person, so if I don’t hear back from you in (number of days/by next Tuesday, etc.), I’ll follow up with you.”
Excuse #2: “I’m not the decision maker.”
Response: “Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Who would be the best person for me to talk to?”
Excuse #3: “It’s not in our budget.” -or- “We’ve already made our sponsorship decisions for the year.”
Response: “Is it okay if I stay in touch?”
With these follow up ideas make sure you do them whenever you throw out the word “will follow up”. Because if you are not going to do what you said, why would anyone trust your what you’re going to do? On the customers or sponsors’ perspective, this could also be a way to test people.
Taking the Next Step
It’s critical in the follow up process to do what you say you are going to do when you say you will do it.
Don’t give up! And I wish you the best of luck whether you’re selling or selling sponsorship. If you find this blog helpful, check our other blogs about racing sponsorship too.
Feel free to subscribe on my Kate Dillon Youtube channel to see other interesting videos with topics about sales, marketing, sponsorship, ecommerce, and even unboxing.
