Targeted marketing Stage 6:
The telephone follow-up

Getting a sales appointment is the aim of your targeted marketing. The telephone follow-up call is the way that you will get this sales meeting.

So... the letter has gone out, with a strong message addressed directly to the right decision maker / influencer, at the right address. Up to this point, you probably feel comfortable. But now comes the crunch.. you are going to have to face REJECTION!

Yes, that's right. When you start to telephone all of these carefully targeted, carefully researched folks who have had just the right message aimed at them, a lot of people are going to say (in so many words): "NO, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU ARE OFFERING." (Sorry to have shouted at you, but sometimes that's what it will feel like).

So many sales people are happy about the 'pitch' but when it comes to asking for the order, it's like someone is about to shoot them rather than say 'no'. So a lot of people don't like 'asking for the order'.

You've got to get through this psychological barrier or - to put it bluntly - your business is dead! You are playing the numbers game here, despite all of your careful researching.

But that's why I put a price constraint on the minimum size of order for which this technique will work. If it's too small, this method is not time-effective. But if you can stand a 90 per cent rejection rate, then just focus on the ten per cent of 'yes' responses.

Further help on this topic...

You'll find further help on this topic, or closely related issues, in the side columns on this page..

OK, that's the 'psyche-up' message over. Back to the practicalities.

Be absolutely clear in your mind what you expect from this telephone call. Do you want a sales meeting? An opportunity to quote? A trial order? Or just that the prospect keeps your literature on file (more than this, I hope!). Most of our clients tell us "If I can get face-to-face with the prospects, I can sell to them." And this probably applies to you (if not, wait for a future article on how to manage the face-to-face sales meeting). Be CLEAR on what you want from this call. If you're not, then forget it.

Some practical pointers..

• How long after the mailshot?: Probably between 3 - 10 days after the mailshot should have been received. Sooner, and the recipient may not have received your mailing, later and they may have forgotten it.
• Day of week/time of day? There's no ideal time - you will always be an intruision. Some research has suggested that the higher levels of management should not be approached on Monday morning or Friday afternoons, whilst middle management are oftem more receptive at these times. Check it out for yourself! It may be worth while at first keeping a rough record of times of day / days of week when you make succesful and unsucessfull calls, and so build up your own 'ideal' schedule.
• Check out our article on telephone selling tips, for more guidance.

In a nutshell, that's a practical way to carry out this type of targeted marketing. It won't necessarily be easy. It can be time consuming. And it does require a disciplined approach to make it work. That's why there's one final stage in the process...

Recording, measuring and monitoring your campaigns - this is the key to continuous improvement.

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