I had my driveway redone recently. I gave the job to a 27 year old kid (at my age, everyone’s a kid) who was just starting his business.
Him and his dad showed up (who did most of the work – a good dad trying to teach his son. 
and nicely finished the job.
Afterwards, I immediately texted him a referral; a friend who lives around the corner from my house.
He never thanked me. 
What’s worse, when I saw my friend a week later and asked her what happened, she said, “I left three messages. He never called me back. So I hired someone else.”
I gave this kid a sale; put it in his hands. But because of his lack of immediate follow up, or in this case none at all, he was the one who lost the sale and gave it to someone else. The exponential cost – his reputation, and my reluctance to ever give him a referral again.
FACT: When it comes to prospecting, only 46% of salespeople never even make a single follow-up attempt after a cold call, while 51% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call.
Sometimes, just following up one more time than your competition can make the difference between earning a sale or losing one. That’s when follow up becomes your competitive edge. So:
JUST FOLLOW UP!
The post The Death of a Sale first appeared on Keith Rosen.