Would Your Customers Call You Prosponsive?

I don’t even think that prosponsive is an actual word but, after I invented it, I discovered that it does appear to be in some urban dictionaries. For them, it is probably an afterthought. For me, and being in sales, being prosponsive is a way of life.

There is responsive as in “reacting to” and then there is prosponsive as in “proactively reaching out”. Guess which one wins in sales? The simple fact is, if your customer is calling you, and particularly if this is because you neglected your obligation to call them, you have already failed. You know that I am right because you have been there on the short end of this stick before.[Tweet “In sales you are either reactive or prosponsive. Which are you?”]

A salesperson promises to get back with you by the end of the week with a delivery date for your recent order. Friday comes and goes as does Monday of the following week. Still no update. During this time your are first feeling concern, then annoyance, and finally a slow burn. You are the one who initiates the call to your salesperson and it’s probably not pretty. Will you think about this experience the next time that you consider doing business with this person? How about if you have chance to refer him or her to others? The answer to both is “yes” and the result to both is “no”.

When I was in the electric sign business, my most reliable resources for referrals came from commercial realtors. I once asked one of these folks if there were any other services that I could provide them with in addition to my referrals. His response caught me off guard. “I refer people to you because I know that they won’t be asking me about signs again.” What? He went on to explain that he knew that they were always taken care of and that referring me always reflected positively on him. Prosponsive.

The simple fact is that you should always be the one who initiates that call regardless of whether it is expected or not. Certainly, if you tell someone that you will be in touch with them in a week, you do so in four days. Under promise and over deliver. For an added touch, use a tool like RightInbox to delay send your emails to go out late at night or on weekends. Your customers will be blown away by the fact that you think about them 24/7. Typically the only people that do that are family. Welcome to the family.

Being prosponsive extends beyond being in touch with people prior to when they expect to hear from you. As a salesperson, your customers and prospective customers should all be on a recurring touch schedule so that they are never wondering … “Whatever happened to Fred?”. Well over 60% of your lost customers left you for one reason only … they felt like you did not care. They felt unloved and unimportant. They still spend money on your products and services but not on YOUR products and services. Bummer.

How about you? Are you prosponsive or reactive?

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!