The 2 most important letters in closing a deal – F.U.

“We have to f.u.”

I got this message on WhatsApp from our sales manager Amy on a Tues morning and I had to read it a few times and think what the abbreviations did not stand for.

What Amy, bless her kind hardworking soul, meant was to Follow Up.

In my opinion Following Up are perhaps the 2 most important words in our business and in our advice to clients especially in South East Asia where relationship building is so important.

Why don’t people follow up?

These are very good pointers for you as a business owner or your sales team about why people don’t follow up ;

1. Ego

We find that the client is not on the same level as we are or the client said something offensive or is hard to deal with. So we pre-judge them and drop them.

Don’t do that to yourself. Some of our clients need time to warm up and they turn out to be good clients in the end.

2. We are shy

We are worried what will people think if we consistently message them and bombard them with messages. The market has unfortunately no place for shy people hard as it sounds. Part of hustling means a consistent thick skinned approach to clients with the mindset that they NEED YOU.

3. Negative Narrative

Having a negative narrative like telling ourselves “This lead won’t be a client anyway” or “I don’t think the client is interested at all” can lead to procrastination or worse, a bad delivery of our services that become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Thus the integration of your company’s vision, mission and values is crucial to clean up any personal negative narratives your staff or you might have. A company’s vision helps keep your eyes on the goal.

Why following up is important.

1. Market Feedback

A deal cycle for our business is about 2 months. And in these 2 months it is a constant back and forth communication about what the client wants versus what we offer (for both service and price). This period of time is very good for us as we start to get an understanding on what the market wants and adjust ourselves for it.

2. Relationship building

Consistent communication and follow up shows a lot of things ! Sincerity, reliability and amicability are like the holy trinity of relationship building.

People need to know that you WANT the deal and you CAN DELIVER the deal and that you are someone they CAN WORK WITH. Once you establish that, they will also bring referrals as we have encountered.

Follow up requires constant communication with your client on good days and bad days. I can assure you if you engage, stay consistent and don’t shy away regardless of how difficult the communication can get, you have in your hands the stepping stones to a great business.

About Us

Curt & Co. is a business consulting company focused on the South East Asian region.

We complement our clients through extensive market research and due diligence, providing thorough, feasible and financially efficient growth methods for our clients in the region.

We provide 3 main pillars of services including

· Overseas Business Expansion Consulting

· Marketing

· Business Operations Outsource

Clients have the advantage in ​accessing our network in our help whether to meet partners, set terms for franchisees or licensees or negotiate with direct clients in closing a deal.

Our offices are located in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines.

Find out more on us : www.Curtconsult.com

Contact Us : hey@curtconsult.com