Unsexy Follow Up

In this episode, Elizabeth Sutherland breaks down one of the most common reasons marketing fails: lack of follow-up.

You'll learn:

• Why most sales happen after the first few touchpoints

• How simple follow-up tactics can make a big difference

• Why consistency matters more than flash
  
  

Key takeaway: Marketing without follow-up is like fishing without reeling in your catch.

Elizabeth Sutherland is President and CEO at Sutherland Weston, where she has led strategy and brand development for the past twenty years. She helps Maine-based companies connect their brand, marketing, and sales efforts in practical, profitable ways.

Need help with your follow-up game? Visit sutherlandweston.com.

 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
If you're doing marketing and you'renot doing the follow up, it's like
fishing without wheeling in your catch.
This is the briefcase from SutherlandWeston Marketing Communications.
Quick conversations from everydayobservations, delivering practical
marketing ideas you can carry with you.
I'm Elizabeth Sutherland, I'mpresident, and CEO at Sutherland

(00:22):
Weston Marketing Communications.
Not everybody wants to seethe sausage being made.
You're right.
'cause it can be pretty unsexy.
Just like there are someunsexy parts of marketing.
For instance, well follow up.
Most marketing efforts don'tfail because they're bad.
They fail because no one follows up.
We see this all the time.

(00:42):
I would love to hear an example of this.
Well, business owners, business leadersget excited about a new campaign,
but they forget that most saleshappen after the first touchpoint.
Research shows that it takesfive or seven interactions with
a potential customer before theyactually become a real customer.
But most businesses give upafter an interaction or two.

(01:05):
In radio, we were told youdon't swap out your jingles just
because you're tired of them.
About the time you wanna swap'em out is about the time your
audience is just catching on.
That's absolutely true, Ric.
And you know what else is superimportant for people to remember?
You have to follow up afterthat jingle is being heard.
So once that audience is hearingyour jingle and they're hearing from

(01:28):
you, you need to follow up with them.
You cannot expect them to find you.
You have to go to them.
So what should a business or anorganization do to follow up?
Well, they can create anautomated email sequence.
They could send a just checking inmessage that actually has some value
to it and isn't just a hard sell.
Or they could create themselves a calendarreminder to follow up manually personally

(01:53):
over the phone after a set period of time.
All of those touches need to havea level of consistency so the
customer is reminded, you stolemy words right out of my mouth.
They absolutely need to beconsistent, not only in the
message, but in the regularity.
Follow up doesn't have to be complicated,it just needs to be consistent.

(02:14):
It might not be as sexy as thefirst splash of that jingle.
That's gonna be what reels that customerin, because if you're doing marketing and
you're not doing the follow up, it's likephishing without reeling in your catch.
You have been listening tothe Briefcase from Sutherland.
Weston Marketing Communications got aquestion for the Sutherland Weston team.

(02:36):
Email us @sutherlandweston.com.