I Hate Follow-Up! (and other lies we tell ourselves)

Why do you resist following up with your prospects? 

Ugh, we've all been there. You finally muster the courage to send the emails or the direct messages, or finally pop-in to an escrow or attorney office, and then...

Nothing. 

Zip.

Zilch. 

You wait for that phone to ring...

Even though you know it's probably going to take more than one touch point for a prospect to get to know, like, and trust you enough to hire your services.

And then... the shame cycle happens:

• I coulda...
• I shoulda...
• Even if you found the courage or discipline again to finally follow-up, six weeks has passed and now you're embarrased, so you don't. 
• Repeat

Sound familiar?

Relax...you're not alone.

Let's stop the shame cycle today. 

Run the Numbers

Most salespeople (that's you! Yep, you're a self-employed solopreneur wearing all the hats) don't follow-up. Me included. I have had to work hard to remind myself of it's importance. 

"The fortune is in the follow-up" is not a myth. It's just facts. 

Most notaries give up too quickly. Look at some of these statistics on sales:

• 44% of salespeople give up after first call.
• 24% give up after second call.
• Another 14% quit after the third call.
• And 12% after fourth outreach. 

So, 94% of salespeople will have quit after fourth follow-up.  But get this, 60% of sales and hires are made after the fourth call or interaction. In fact, when it comes to professional services, it can often take 7-10 exposures before a prospect says yes. 

If 94 out of 100 notaries are quitting their follow-up after four tries, you can see why there's no traffic after the extra mile. Now you understand how the fortune really is in the follow-up. 

Let's look at this pragmatically, so you have a tangible framework for your system of follow-up. 

The Five Step Follow-Up System

1. Schedule It: Make an appointment on your calendar for your next follow up. Use the rhythm below as a guideline. 
2. Try this rhythm (3-1-4): If you haven't heard back from a prospect, send your first follow-up message 3 days after the original outreach. If you still haven't heard back, send another follow-up 1 week after the original message. And if you still haven't heard back, send another follow-up 4 days after this last message. If you still don't hear back, you can wind it back a bit, and just send an occasional follow-up email (monthly or whatever you want). Or...
3. Try connecting on a different platform: Maybe email isn't the way way they want to talk. Maybe it's on LinkedIn, or Instagram, or text message, or a good old fashioned telephone call or in-person meeting. Mix it up a bit if they're not responsive on one platform or another. 
4. Have fun with this: Show your personality, but don't make it all about you. 
5. Keep talking: Keep reaching out to them until they opt-out or ask you not to. I've never had a prospect in escrow or law ever ask me to stop contacting them. I've been ignored plenty of times, but never openly rejected. 

This is the follow-up system I used to land several estate planning attorney clients, four of which had enough volume and paid high enough fees for trust delivery work, that I could average a six-figure income with their appointments alone. 

Let's dispel some myths about follow-up:

• You're not annoying anyone. 
• You're not bothering anyone. 
• You're not being a pest.

If you're a notary that takes your role seriously and has gone through advanced training, received certifications, cares about your clients, understands the importance of integrity, and goes above and beyond, then you must follow-up. 

In fact, I'll go so far as to say that it's a disservice to your prospects and clients not to follow-up. If they don't hire you; capable; caring; and competent, then they may hire someone who is not.