S t r a t e g i c   T i p :

When reviewing your scheduled calls, follow your plan, not your fears.

R e a l   T i m e   B e n e f i t s :

The absolute best time to set a Next Call date is right when you get off the phone with a prospect, because it's at that moment you have the clearest sense of the prospect's intentions.

So that's just what you did. You found a warm lead and immediately used
TOP PRODUCER's Follow-up circuit to set a Next call date for June 15. June 15! -- it was so clear when you got off the phone that this was when to follow-up.

So why -- now that it's June 15 and you're staring at the prospect's name and number in the Call field of Today's business -- are you asking yourself whether it's too soon to call?

In most cases it's not rational re-evaluation. It's call reluctance, the #1 enemy of success in selling. As we all know, there's no shortage of "perfectly rational" excuses for not making follow-up calls to prospects. One favorite: "It's just too early to call. The prospects probably aren't ready to sell yet. . . It might turn them off if I come across as being too pushy".

When you depart from your plan and start asking yourself "is it too soon to call?", chances are it's not. The best prospectors in the business are those who trust their original instincts about when to follow-up. They learn -- often the hard way, when they lose a lead-to not let themselves get sidetracked by fear when the time comes to call back.

Nonetheless, if you find you've convinced yourself that it's "too soon to call", take this tip from a successful agent who developed an effective alternative to doing nothing. She sends her prospects a brief "I was thinking of calling you" letter or postcard specifically written for this purpose.

She says that these communications have generated good results because they enable her to make the contact with the prospect, but in a rejection free manner that's not overly aggressive. In addition, she says that in some situations, this non-aggressive approach actually seemed to help. When she did follow-up by phone a few weeks later the prospects thanked her for the letter, gave her the listing and mentioned they appreciated her low-key approach in contrast to her competitors hard closing phone calls.

However, caution must be used with this technique. This rejection avoidance strategy could easily get out of hand and start costing you listings. Use it only as a last resort.

R e a l   W o r l d   S c e n a r i o :

You're making cold-calls one late May morning and talk to a woman who says that she and her husband are considering moving in the summer or fall. As you talk she seems very encouraging, so when you get off the phone it's clear that you should call back in 3 weeks. After you enter some notes you set a Next call date for June 15.

When June 15 rolls around, you see in Today's business that it's time to follow-up. Call reluctance sets in. After all, didn't she say that they were thinking of moving in the summer or the fall? Well it's still spring. Summer doesn't actually start until June 21! And she was so nice on the phone, the last thing you want to do is come across as too aggressive. In fact, the more you think about it, the more you're convinced that it really is too soon to call. Next week is much more appropriate.

Even though you've decided not to make the call, wouldn't it be better to make some form of contact, just in case she and her husband do decide to list sooner rather than later?. Instead of taking the direct approach and calling, why not at least send the following letter?

Make no mistake. When the day comes to make that scheduled follow-up call, you really should "just do it", because if you don't, you just might see your competitor's sign on the prospect's lawn before you can say "listing presentation".

However, if for some reason follow-up fear does set in, do the next best thing and send an "I was thinking of calling you" letter. Because it's times like these -- and we all have them sometimes -- that one thing's for sure: The "next best thing" is much better than nothing at all.

P r a c t i c a l   T e c h n i q u e:

If, when looking at a prospect follow-up call in Today's business,you feel reluctant to call, send an "I was thinking of calling you" letter instead. You can use the letter shown above, substituting your own content where appropriate. To write this letter in TOP PRODUCER System 6, simply do the following:

• Click on Mail and Create new letter
• In the Word Processor, click on File and Page Setup to establish the letter's formatting. Enter the desired values and click OK
• Click on Insert and click on Merge Field
• Highlight the desired fields and click on Insert to place them in the letter
• Compose and layout the letter as desired and click on File and Save as TOP PRODUCER letter
• Choose a name like Thought it might be too soon and enter it in the Document field
• Scroll through the Category field and highlight General follow-up letters. Click on OK. Close the letter file by clicking on File and Close. Close the Word Processor by clicking on File and Close.

You have now created a standard "I was thinking of calling you" follow-up letter. If you wish to use the same basic letter in the future, simply do the following:

• Click on the Address book icon
• Select a contact
• Click on Contact record
• Click on Send mail to contact icon
• Click on Select letter (or enter shortcut code)
• Select General follow-up letters
• Click on Next
• Select Thought it might be too soon
• Click on OK
• Click on View
• Click on Print

N e t w o r t h y:

For details on how to get even more out of the Word Processor and Mailout features, refer to VOLUME 2 of the TOP PRODUCER System 6 video training series

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