If you are not using a reminder tool in your sales process, your customers will forget you are around. In most cases, probably 90 percent of the time, a buyer is not ready to buy, when you are ready to sell. If you have an automated reminder program in your sales process, you will capture more sales automatically.
TOMA is Critical to success
Top Of Mind Awareness (TOMA) is the sales goal we must strive for with our prospects and customers. Our customers are bombarded with thousands of messages everyday. In today's world it's virtually impossible to get away from commercial messages. When we examine our situation, it is no wonder prospects and customers lose track of us. How many messages are you getting each day through radio, television, direct mail, newspapers, magazines, billboards and road signs? There is simply too much competition for us to have TOMA with our prospects and customers unless we send reminders.
Many salespeople mistakenly think they are bugging prospects and customers when they send them email, mail or make the telephone calls to clients. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unless you are getting hate mail from your prospects and customers who are asking you to stop sending them letters, emails or sales material, you aren't bugging your customers. Hopefully, you are maintaining TOMA.
Develop a Simple Follow-up System
Remember, 90 percent of your prospects aren't ready to purchase when you are ready to sell. If you don't keep in touch with prospects, they will forget you exist. Contact management systems are great sales tools, designed to keep track of prospects and customers. Many of these software programs are capable of a simply follow-up procedure. If you initiate a follow-up program, you will be amazed how many sales you can reap from this simple concept. If you automate this process, you will dramatically increase sales.
Don't think of reminders as bugging your customers, think of them as contact management. If you don't maintain TOMA, then you leave the door open for your prospect to buy from anyone who is around when they are ready to buy.
Steve Martinez is a Sales Management Growth Strategist and Founder of Selling Magic. His organization teaches businesses how to automate and customizing CRM solutions with the best practices of sales management for increased profits. http://www.sellingmagic.com
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