The mail-order marketing experts mastered this principle long ago, and while it seems elementary, it is easy to overlook. But it can substantially boost your marketing and sales success. The rule is "people buy again the way they bought last."
Equipment leasing brokers spend a considerable amount of time generating leads. Leads may arrive from vendors or they may be the result of end-user marketing. You work hard to turn that lead into a funding, and then you look for more. You look for more deals from that customer, as well as more leads like the one you originally received.
Most sales and marketing organizations understand the concepts of the value of repeat purchases and ongoing follow-up with past leads and customers. What is sometimes overlooked is how you follow up. This is where the the time-tested and abundantly proven rule applies.
People are most likely to raise their hands and show interest again when you reach out to them in the same method as when they last showed interest. Meaning, if you generated the original lead from a cold call but the lead never matured, follow up in a few weeks with another phone call. If you generated the original lead with a direct mail campaign, your best bet for successful follow-up is to again send mail to the lead. This method applies to working vendor and end-user leads.
The concept of "people buy again the way they first bought" is more than business-school classroom material. As with most important marketing concepts, it also passes the common sense test. Think of it this way - whatever you did the first time was effective in generating the lead, and so it stands to reason that the same method has the best chance of renewing interest. If people tend to get home late and cannot be reached by phone during the day, they may be more likely to respond to mailed offers. When it is time to ask for another deal or follow up on the lead, those people are still getting home late and reading their mail. They didn't all of a sudden start answering their phone during the day, so why waste your time trying to call them?
If you received the lead from a vendor, the rule can be applied as well, but may take a few modifications. Hopefully you captured a lot information about the lead's business. You should know what types of equipment they use and what their future plans are. Stay in touch with your vendor to find out what equipment they have in inventory. Then follow up with the lead and include suggestions of additional equipment and piggyback on any promotions or sales the vendor is conducting. Of course, no matter why or how you are following up, be sure to include cross-selling opportunities for other products you offer.
To implement this simple but effective follow-up strategy, the first step is to keep a record of how each lead originally found you. It is almost inevitable that you will talk to your leads on the phone and possibly trade emails, but remember it is the success of the original contact that you want to repeat.
