How much do you chase people up?
Discussion
Does anyone think that this is ridiculous a business practice... chasing people up, possibly relentlessly in some cases.
There have been times I have been doing some research and gathering information months or even upto a year before I may actually need them.
After getting a quotation there is then the relentless follow up by phone, email etc.
Is it me or is this pestering just bad business practice? surely if you have given someone a quote and they like it they will accept or need any other information get back to you?
There have been times I have been doing some research and gathering information months or even upto a year before I may actually need them.
After getting a quotation there is then the relentless follow up by phone, email etc.
Is it me or is this pestering just bad business practice? surely if you have given someone a quote and they like it they will accept or need any other information get back to you?
I work in sales and follow up leads and quotations. If you asked for a quote there is a good chance I would give you a call to make sure everything is OK etc..
If you then told me you wouldn't be doing anything with it for a year I probably wouldn't call you back.
Basically someone is just doing their job. Be honest about when you need things and you'll probably be left alone.
One question though; what's the point in getting a quote a year before you need it?
If you then told me you wouldn't be doing anything with it for a year I probably wouldn't call you back.
Basically someone is just doing their job. Be honest about when you need things and you'll probably be left alone.
One question though; what's the point in getting a quote a year before you need it?
It's called selling.
Sounds like you haven't been entirely straight when asking for your 'information', because if you were you'd either a) not get it at all or b) not get call backs.
Don't get me wrong we all do it/have done it, but you can hardly complain about a sales guy trying to sell to a supposed prospect.
Read any sales book and they'll say the guys that make the 'touches' longest make the most money. By some margin. The theory goes most sales are made after 7 or so contacts. Anyone giving up before then is losing out. (Unless of course the 'prospect' is a competitor fishing for a price to beat).
Sounds like you haven't been entirely straight when asking for your 'information', because if you were you'd either a) not get it at all or b) not get call backs.
Don't get me wrong we all do it/have done it, but you can hardly complain about a sales guy trying to sell to a supposed prospect.
Read any sales book and they'll say the guys that make the 'touches' longest make the most money. By some margin. The theory goes most sales are made after 7 or so contacts. Anyone giving up before then is losing out. (Unless of course the 'prospect' is a competitor fishing for a price to beat).
I work for myself and believe me, after quite a few times of speaking to someone on the phone, giving them free advice, going out to see them, preparing a quotation and posting it out to them, it is nice to know whether someone is still interested or not, especially if the job is big enough
robemcdonald said:
I work in sales and follow up leads and quotations. If you asked for a quote there is a good chance I would give you a call to make sure everything is OK etc..
If you then told me you wouldn't be doing anything with it for a year I probably wouldn't call you back.
Basically someone is just doing their job. Be honest about when you need things and you'll probably be left alone.
One question though; what's the point in getting a quote a year before you need it?
You can allocate funds, organise other projects to align with that particular one, that kind of thing.If you then told me you wouldn't be doing anything with it for a year I probably wouldn't call you back.
Basically someone is just doing their job. Be honest about when you need things and you'll probably be left alone.
One question though; what's the point in getting a quote a year before you need it?
Also if you're busy doing other things they may be prioritised.
technodup said:
It's called selling.
Sounds like you haven't been entirely straight when asking for your 'information', because if you were you'd either a) not get it at all or b) not get call backs.
Don't get me wrong we all do it/have done it, but you can hardly complain about a sales guy trying to sell to a supposed prospect.
Read any sales book and they'll say the guys that make the 'touches' longest make the most money. By some margin. The theory goes most sales are made after 7 or so contacts. Anyone giving up before then is losing out. (Unless of course the 'prospect' is a competitor fishing for a price to beat).
Well calling me 7 times is going to drive me away rather than have me interested.Sounds like you haven't been entirely straight when asking for your 'information', because if you were you'd either a) not get it at all or b) not get call backs.
Don't get me wrong we all do it/have done it, but you can hardly complain about a sales guy trying to sell to a supposed prospect.
Read any sales book and they'll say the guys that make the 'touches' longest make the most money. By some margin. The theory goes most sales are made after 7 or so contacts. Anyone giving up before then is losing out. (Unless of course the 'prospect' is a competitor fishing for a price to beat).
In my mind the question arises, why are they being so pushy? Are they on the verge of bankruptcy? Are they trying to sell me this now to stop be finding other quotations that are likely to be better value?
To me it just gets irritating, you've sent your information and price. I need the goods/services that's why I am using my time! and yours to get a quotation or information. I will get back to you when the time comes.
One of my hates is going to the effort of meetings, probably 2 or 3, spend time, effort and money on the sales process, sending in a proposal and the prospect ignoring me and not returning calls or emails. It is just plain rude.
During the meetings we will have discussed price and service etc so the proposal shouldn't surprise anybody. The only thing I expect is honesty of budgets, timescales and expectations. If the project isn't going to start for 3 months, fine I will contact in two. If you don't want to do business with me absolutely fine but at least tell me.
If you are only researching and the project isn't starting for 12 months fine, let me know up front and I can limit the amount of my expertise, time and money I give away because you can guarantee in 12 months the project will have changed completely or you will have forgotten the suppliers you met.
To me business relationships are about honesty and communication especially in the very early stages.
During the meetings we will have discussed price and service etc so the proposal shouldn't surprise anybody. The only thing I expect is honesty of budgets, timescales and expectations. If the project isn't going to start for 3 months, fine I will contact in two. If you don't want to do business with me absolutely fine but at least tell me.
If you are only researching and the project isn't starting for 12 months fine, let me know up front and I can limit the amount of my expertise, time and money I give away because you can guarantee in 12 months the project will have changed completely or you will have forgotten the suppliers you met.
To me business relationships are about honesty and communication especially in the very early stages.
jamoor said:
robemcdonald said:
I work in sales and follow up leads and quotations. If you asked for a quote there is a good chance I would give you a call to make sure everything is OK etc..
If you then told me you wouldn't be doing anything with it for a year I probably wouldn't call you back.
Basically someone is just doing their job. Be honest about when you need things and you'll probably be left alone.
One question though; what's the point in getting a quote a year before you need it?
You can allocate funds, organise other projects to align with that particular one, that kind of thing.If you then told me you wouldn't be doing anything with it for a year I probably wouldn't call you back.
Basically someone is just doing their job. Be honest about when you need things and you'll probably be left alone.
One question though; what's the point in getting a quote a year before you need it?
Also if you're busy doing other things they may be prioritised.
jamoor said:
robemcdonald said:
I work in sales and follow up leads and quotations. If you asked for a quote there is a good chance I would give you a call to make sure everything is OK etc..
If you then told me you wouldn't be doing anything with it for a year I probably wouldn't call you back.
Basically someone is just doing their job. Be honest about when you need things and you'll probably be left alone.
One question though; what's the point in getting a quote a year before you need it?
You can allocate funds, organise other projects to align with that particular one, that kind of thing.If you then told me you wouldn't be doing anything with it for a year I probably wouldn't call you back.
Basically someone is just doing their job. Be honest about when you need things and you'll probably be left alone.
One question though; what's the point in getting a quote a year before you need it?
Also if you're busy doing other things they may be prioritised.
Audicab said:
One of my hates is going to the effort of meetings, probably 2 or 3, spend time, effort and money on the sales process, sending in a proposal and the prospect ignoring me and not returning calls or emails. It is just plain rude.
During the meetings we will have discussed price and service etc so the proposal shouldn't surprise anybody. The only thing I expect is honesty of budgets, timescales and expectations. If the project isn't going to start for 3 months, fine I will contact in two. If you don't want to do business with me absolutely fine but at least tell me.
If you are only researching and the project isn't starting for 12 months fine, let me know up front and I can limit the amount of my expertise, time and money I give away because you can guarantee in 12 months the project will have changed completely or you will have forgotten the suppliers you met.
To me business relationships are about honesty and communication especially in the very early stages.
Agreed. Britain is absolutely terrible for 'the soft no'. It's infuriating. I've got plenty of things to be doing with my day and wasting time chasing up a dreamer who can't bring himself to say "sorry, not going to happen" is not appreciated.During the meetings we will have discussed price and service etc so the proposal shouldn't surprise anybody. The only thing I expect is honesty of budgets, timescales and expectations. If the project isn't going to start for 3 months, fine I will contact in two. If you don't want to do business with me absolutely fine but at least tell me.
If you are only researching and the project isn't starting for 12 months fine, let me know up front and I can limit the amount of my expertise, time and money I give away because you can guarantee in 12 months the project will have changed completely or you will have forgotten the suppliers you met.
To me business relationships are about honesty and communication especially in the very early stages.
IME big corporates are the worst for it.
My wife works for one and they f
k about small suppliers something rotten. Dragging them across the country for meeting after meeting, spinning the sales process out for months and then fobbing them off with some bks about 'resource allocation' or 'project timescale alignment' because ultimately, someone more senior said 'no' and the corporate drone isn't up to just telling the supplier they were probably getting a bit ahead of themselves and wasted their time.jamoor said:
To me it just gets irritating, you've sent your information and price. I need the goods/services that's why I am using my time! and yours to get a quotation or information. I will get back to you when the time comes.
You'll find if you're clear the calls will stop. All a sales guy wants to hear is yes or no, or a definite timescale. Any variation of I'll think about it, I'm not ready just yet, I'll call you, phone me in a few months or whatever is going to result in the situation you have. If you'd said to me you'll not be buying for 12 months you'd be a dead lead, no more calls, not worth the hassle. If you're buying a fleet from Boeing it might be different but either way I'm guessing you haven't been very clear at all.
And you're forgetting sales people are there to sell, not to wait for you to come back to them. People who say that rarely do in my experience, which takes us neatly back to "do you want it or not?"
I find people nowadays make their own decisions.
If i went to view a car and the salesman took my number then if he called me in a few weeks and asked 'do you want to buy the car' i wouldnt suddenly think oh yes thanks for reminding me.
If i view a house i know if ill make an offer or not. Regardless of whether i get a phone call or not. Having the estate agent chase me up wouldnt suddenly make me offer.
I, personally, think that in the main chasing people up is not worthwhile. They will come back if they want you.
Clearly, however, if youre not busy enough as a salesman then you may as well do it.
If i went to view a car and the salesman took my number then if he called me in a few weeks and asked 'do you want to buy the car' i wouldnt suddenly think oh yes thanks for reminding me.
If i view a house i know if ill make an offer or not. Regardless of whether i get a phone call or not. Having the estate agent chase me up wouldnt suddenly make me offer.
I, personally, think that in the main chasing people up is not worthwhile. They will come back if they want you.
Clearly, however, if youre not busy enough as a salesman then you may as well do it.
jonah35 said:
I find people nowadays make their own decisions.
If i went to view a car and the salesman took my number then if he called me in a few weeks and asked 'do you want to buy the car' i wouldnt suddenly think oh yes thanks for reminding me.
If i view a house i know if ill make an offer or not. Regardless of whether i get a phone call or not. Having the estate agent chase me up wouldnt suddenly make me offer.
I, personally, think that in the main chasing people up is not worthwhile. They will come back if they want you.
Clearly, however, if youre not busy enough as a salesman then you may as well do it.
This is my thinking, its not like my requirement for a widget has suddenly vanished.If i went to view a car and the salesman took my number then if he called me in a few weeks and asked 'do you want to buy the car' i wouldnt suddenly think oh yes thanks for reminding me.
If i view a house i know if ill make an offer or not. Regardless of whether i get a phone call or not. Having the estate agent chase me up wouldnt suddenly make me offer.
I, personally, think that in the main chasing people up is not worthwhile. They will come back if they want you.
Clearly, however, if youre not busy enough as a salesman then you may as well do it.
technodup said:
ou'll find if you're clear the calls will stop. All a sales guy wants to hear is yes or no, or a definite timescale. Any variation of I'll think about it, I'm not ready just yet, I'll call you, phone me in a few months or whatever is going to result in the situation you have.
If you'd said to me you'll not be buying for 12 months you'd be a dead lead, no more calls, not worth the hassle. If you're buying a fleet from Boeing it might be different but either way I'm guessing you haven't been very clear at all.
And you're forgetting sales people are there to sell, not to wait for you to come back to them. People who say that rarely do in my experience, which takes us neatly back to "do you want it or not?"
Yeah I see what you mean, I guess I don't like dealing with salespeople.If you'd said to me you'll not be buying for 12 months you'd be a dead lead, no more calls, not worth the hassle. If you're buying a fleet from Boeing it might be different but either way I'm guessing you haven't been very clear at all.
And you're forgetting sales people are there to sell, not to wait for you to come back to them. People who say that rarely do in my experience, which takes us neatly back to "do you want it or not?"
I have a supplier that doesn't have salespeople, instead just support staff if you need any information. They will call round a couplea year with information on new products and a price list and it ends there. Don't really ask if you need anything, which imo is the way it should be.
Sometimes I've had a salesperson call me back and offer a discount on their quotation if I go for it, this is pretty silly imo as
1) Why didnt you offer the lowest price initially
2) If I hang on will you call back again in a weeks time with another x% off again?
jonah35 said:
I, personally, think that in the main chasing people up is not worthwhile. They will come back if they want you.
I can guarantee you nothing is further from the truth. In the B2B world if you don't follow up you don't eat. Someone else will be in and steal your lunch. They might have wanted you yesterday, but another guy phoned today and his widget was bigger, shinier, cheaper.Comparing B2B (which is what I assume we're talking about) with buying a car or house is like apples and oranges.
jamoor said:
This is my thinking, its not like my requirement for a widget has suddenly vanished.
No, your requirement for a widget hasn't even been established, that's why they're following up. Do you need it today? No. Next week, month? No. Maybe in a year? That is not a requirement as far as a business is concerned, it's so vague as to be worthless.Say no. Say phone in six months. Say yes. Give some clarity and the 'problem' will go away.
Disastrous said:
IME big corporates are the worst for it.
My wife works for one and they fk about small suppliers something rotten. Dragging them across the country for meeting after meeting, spinning the sales process out for months and then fobbing them off with some bks about 'resource allocation' or 'project timescale alignment' because ultimately, someone more senior said 'no' and the corporate drone isn't up to just telling the supplier they were probably getting a bit ahead of themselves and wasted their time.
Yep.My wife works for one and they f
k about small suppliers something rotten. Dragging them across the country for meeting after meeting, spinning the sales process out for months and then fobbing them off with some bks about 'resource allocation' or 'project timescale alignment' because ultimately, someone more senior said 'no' and the corporate drone isn't up to just telling the supplier they were probably getting a bit ahead of themselves and wasted their time.I work in a biggish organisation within IT.
Forever there are requests which people want developed;
"Have you got any money?" I ask
"Yes"
I go away get a quote - only £2.5K - should be easy to get this done as it was really important to the individual.
"Yeah, let me come back to you when I get the money signed off"
Thats it. Loads more chasing required. Always being told "keep it in the pipeline".
Embarassing stuff for me as i need to deal with these external companies.
One recently quoted £4.5k to change 1 line in a macro. I think thats their "you have f
ked us around too much" rate.A few people are on my list - £1k up front before I even look at it. Often sorts the serious from the fanciful.
jamoor said:
Sometimes I've had a salesperson call me back and offer a discount on their quotation if I go for it, this is pretty silly imo as
1) Why didnt you offer the lowest price initially
2) If I hang on will you call back again in a weeks time with another x% off again?
That's just sales. If you buy a car do you pay sticker price or ask for a discount? Some people will pay more, so why drop if you don't have to?1) Why didnt you offer the lowest price initially
2) If I hang on will you call back again in a weeks time with another x% off again?
Doesn't matter if it's a salesperson any more either. Websites will do a better deal now if you click to leave the page etc, it's just the way it is.
Audicab said:
One of my hates is going to the effort of meetings, probably 2 or 3, spend time, effort and money on the sales process, sending in a proposal and the prospect ignoring me and not returning calls or emails. It is just plain rude.
During the meetings we will have discussed price and service etc so the proposal shouldn't surprise anybody. The only thing I expect is honesty of budgets, timescales and expectations. If the project isn't going to start for 3 months, fine I will contact in two. If you don't want to do business with me absolutely fine but at least tell me.
If you are only researching and the project isn't starting for 12 months fine, let me know up front and I can limit the amount of my expertise, time and money I give away because you can guarantee in 12 months the project will have changed completely or you will have forgotten the suppliers you met.
To me business relationships are about honesty and communication especially in the very early stages.
Perfectly summarised.During the meetings we will have discussed price and service etc so the proposal shouldn't surprise anybody. The only thing I expect is honesty of budgets, timescales and expectations. If the project isn't going to start for 3 months, fine I will contact in two. If you don't want to do business with me absolutely fine but at least tell me.
If you are only researching and the project isn't starting for 12 months fine, let me know up front and I can limit the amount of my expertise, time and money I give away because you can guarantee in 12 months the project will have changed completely or you will have forgotten the suppliers you met.
To me business relationships are about honesty and communication especially in the very early stages.
technodup said:
jonah35 said:
I, personally, think that in the main chasing people up is not worthwhile. They will come back if they want you.
I can guarantee you nothing is further from the truth. In the B2B world if you don't follow up you don't eat. Someone else will be in and steal your lunch. They might have wanted you yesterday, but another guy phoned today and his widget was bigger, shinier, cheaper.Comparing B2B (which is what I assume we're talking about) with buying a car or house is like apples and oranges.
jamoor said:
This is my thinking, its not like my requirement for a widget has suddenly vanished.
No, your requirement for a widget hasn't even been established, that's why they're following up. Do you need it today? No. Next week, month? No. Maybe in a year? That is not a requirement as far as a business is concerned, it's so vague as to be worthless.Say no. Say phone in six months. Say yes. Give some clarity and the 'problem' will go away.
I've been working in sales for the best part of 19 years now, mostly B2B, and I wouldn't want to waste time chasing a dead lead or wanting to pester someone, I want to spend the time looking for new opportunities. Trust me, sales people do not want to spend time keep calling people back and getting 'fobbed off', but if they feel they have a good offer on the table for both parties they will chase for the sale.
if you're clear from the beginning about the time frame in which you're going to make a decision and perhaps agree a date for a follow-up, then you'd get a 'courtesy' call a week or so before. If you're enquiry was vague as to when you're going to make a decision and it's of a reasonable order then expect to get the follow-ups, but as said, if you're clear with the sales agent they will respect that.
Now I have my own business supplying printed materials and products for sales, events and marketing and the majority of the time the turnaround is key and often last minute, so I always ask when the order is required at the initial enquiry which helps eliminate some of these issues and it's not often a client has a print requirement for something needed in more than 1 months time..
The client may go out for a few quotes and I can usually get a quote back within 10-20mins or so, if it is an urgent enquiry then you can expect a follow-up call or email from me later the same day or following morning. If its less urgent then I'd email a couple of days later, rarely do I call or follow up more than 2 times, just don't have time to keep chasing, and to be honest in most circumstances I'd get the order confirmed off the back of the initial quote or one follow up.
It's when you have chatted with someone about their enquiry that might be quite substantial and you've taken time to put together the quote and send it, then you follow it up a day or two later but get no response, then perhaps call, perhaps send another email, and in a space of a week or so you've had zero response from the initial enquiry, that's when it gets annoying. If you no longer have the requirement, say so, if you don't need it for 3 months, tell me.. just a response out of courtesy would be very welcome and take 10 secs to reply to an email and save us both the hassle.
On another note, I have had many occasions when I've followed up with a client and they've completely forgotten that they had the requirement and have been very grateful I chased them so they could get the order on time.
If you're a new potential client with a decent value order then it is expected you'll get several call backs if you haven't agreed a time frame for a decision, also depends on the sales person.
Edited by Lexual on Tuesday 25th April 21:56
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