Can you get a house for the price of a tree?
This is a great question, if only because it makes you cock your head to the side and go “what?”
At the end of Chapter 13 of The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino’s famous book (which I have read over and over for 20+ years) you will find these words:
“No longer will I judge a man on one meeting; no longer will I fail to call again tomorrow on he who meets me with hate today. This day he will not buy gold chariots for a penny, yet tomorrow he would exchange his home for a tree.”
It has been said over and over that “the fortune is in the follow up.” There is definitely some truth to that, but of course the fortune is also in the approaching and presenting and the serving, etc. If you don’t approach (make contacts) then you can’t make a fortune through follow up because there is no one to follow up on!
people who diligently and professionally follow-up are massively more successful than those that don’t
Anyway, where this rings true is that the people who diligently and professionally follow-up are massively more successful than those that don’t. This has been where I have been most successful. Being an introvert by nature, the hardest part for me was always the front side, which is what I call making the approach (contact). I learned to master that skill by doing it so many times I overcame my reluctance through sheer repetition.
As a natural introvert, it was more comfortable to develop my relational skills by building on my listening tendency. So once I am in a conversation, this is where I can really be effective. So, all I ever cared about in the approach was getting the conversation initiated and have information get into the prospects hands so that I had the beginning part of the bridge built. Through consistent follow up everything else happens naturally. During the follow up phase, you develop rapport and ultimately the relationship deepens, which means the prospect is trusting you more. People do business with people they like and trust. I teach in The Process to be nice, honest, respectful, and never pressure. This allows you to easily follow up all the time and forever. People aren’t afraid of you and hence they get real which makes doing business easy and natural. At some point you are metaphorically sitting next to them helping them decide what is best for them. It becomes completely mutual and using your product or getting involved in your business becomes very comfortable for them to do.
People do business with people they like and trust
There is a section in The Process where I talk specifically about how good and consistent follow up shines the light of credibility on you and makes people trust you to do business with. But for here let me just marry the home for a tree piece to the follow up. You’re not the only one that has ups and downs, good days and bad days, changes of mind, changes in circumstances, changes of heart, epiphanies, awakenings, acquisition of new information. Your prospects live in the same world and have the emotions and brains too! Today fro whatever reason it is, they may not be ready to take action, but tomorrow is a different day, so follow up, and acquire some homes for trees!
