There’s almost no marketer I know who is doing enough to follow-up on their customers and interested prospects. I think it stems from not wanting to “annoy” their list. Well, let me share with you six of the best follow-up methods I use to consistently pull in more profits.

Typically I see people sending out one or two emails and then moving on to their next project. Bad idea! It’s not enough to tell your list about something once, twice…even three or four times. Some statistics I’ve seen – and my experience – suggest that it takes seven contacts to make a sale.

Your customers/prospects are constantly in a “moving parade” of their needs and desires. Perhaps you are selling a workout program and you’ve hit your opt-in list 3x with the offer. You figure it’s time to move on – but not so fast. You cannot control when your prospect is ready for your solution – but it’s your job to be there for them when they are.

Here’s a personal example. I’ve always worked out and played sports but slowly I even so, I had gained about 10-11 lbs. in the 11 years since college. One day, looking at a picture of myself playing beach volleyball I thought, “My god – who is that chubby guy?”

That’s when I decided to really get serious and get the weight off. I paid my personal trainer triple his normal fee for an intense six-week workout program and I hired a nutritionist. If you had a product for fitness in front of me during this period – I’d have bought it in a second. (Side note: I’m excited to report I’ve dropped (and kept off) about 9 lbs and really feel much better.)

One more example and then I’ll give you some specifics you can use starting today.

The other day I was taking the Metro back home from D.C. and I was a little hungry but didn’t really feel like stopping. There was a door marked “Food Court” but I just figured I’d wait and eat at home. Well, when I got down to the bottom of the escalator there was another sign that said “Don’t Go Hungry! Food Court Entrance” with an arrow pointing to the right. That “second notice” got me. Minutes later I had a turkey sub in my hands.

I think you get the point and you can think about how this same principle of follow-up plays in your life and your own purchasing decisions. How many times do you buy something the first time you become aware of it?

Okay now I promised you six different ways to follow-up beyond your first email or letter. Here they are:

1. FAQ
2. Reasons Why
3. Other People Responded (Testimonials)
4. Time’s / Spaces Running Out
5. “I Goofed”
6. 2nd Chance

I don’t have space to cover all of them but I’ll get through a couple and give you a few examples.

FAQs

This is a super easy way to follow-up because you are sending out “FAQ” or Frequently Asked Questions. People love the question & answer format because it doesn’t seem like they are being sold.

I love the FAQ because it allows me to answer and overcome objections by asking the questions around that objection. One of the first things you should always do before writing copy or formulating your offer is brainstorm objections of why people won’t buy.

Where do you come up with your FAQs? A good place to start is after you send out your initial email. If you get questions in return, definitely include those. Or go ahead and make your own covering objections and other things you anticipate that people will want answers to.

Typically I use a subject of either:

[[firstname]] RE: my last email
[[firstname]] – answers to your questions about XYZ

It’s a very simple Q&A format that really works like magic because it gets underneath a prospect’s “advertising radar” and is a perfect follow-up.

Exhibit #  – example email

Reasons Why

This is another simple one to create. You just think of 7, 12, 19, 28, 612…whatever number of reasons why your prospect should buy. People love having real reasons why they should act, and you are giving them an entire arsenal of purchase justifications. This makes for an easy email to create since you are just writing short, little reasons-why like this:

Reason #88: xxxxxxxxxxx

Reason #89: xxxxxxxxxxx

Other people responded

Here’s another easy way to create a follow-up email by using comments and testimonials from the first buyers of a product. You simply send out a note mentioning to the prospect they might have been skeptical – but take a look at what these people had to report. Then it’s just testimonial after testimonial and a link to your sales copy.

Time/Space is running out

If you have a scarcity type offer – a quick note mentioning how many spots or how time is left in the deadline is always a sure profit maker. A deadline is incredibly powerful for getting people to act – but you need to do it with integrity.

“I goofed”

This is a really good one to use *IF* you really do goof and something goes wrong (which isn’t that far-fetched of a possibility). Legitimate reasons for an “I goofed” email could be that a server went down, there was a wrong link, a link not working, etc. etc. Lots of reasons and this follow-up is incredibly powerful. Note: I know some people use an “I goofed” email as a regular part of their sequence, but that’s just too far over the line.

2nd chance

Ok – the easiest one is the last follow-up I’ll share with you. You literally only need to add a few words at the top of your follow-up email….

“2nd and Final Notice”

And then just copy and paste your previous email. I’m serious. It’s that easy.

With these six follow-ups, you’ve got no more excuses for not capturing more profits from every prospect.