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The right answer to this question is not how often you should follow up but rather that you follow up—especially if you have lost a new business pitch. Tom Hopkins says in his classic book, How To Master The Art Of Selling that every “No” gets you closer to “Yes”. Most people give up at the first hint of “No”. But “No” is not “Never”. You still have an opportunity to build a relationship. Even if you don’t go on to win business from that client, your thoughtful and respectful persistence can keep you top of mind for referrals to others in that prospect’s sphere that could benefit from what you do. And, you can ask for feedback from your prospect if you don’t win your pitch. According to Mariette Edwards, RTB’s resident expert on pitching, asking for feedback is one of the 5 keys to success in any pitch you make. If you win your pitch, Mariette suggests that you ask your new client this:

What were the top three factors that influenced your decision?

If you lose the pitch, you can still ask for feedback depending on the situation, of course. Mariette suggests this question in the right circumstances: 

What could we have done that would have made our pitch stronger?

Can persistence go too far? I’m reminded of The Fight Lawyer, Justin Klein, who tried to get feedback on a pitch he’d lost and could not get his prospect to return his call until he left this VM message:

I will continue to call you until you call me back.

What happened? His prospect called him back with the information he wanted while reinforcing that he certainly lived up to his brand!

(FYI, we’ll be talking more about how and when to ask for feedback as well as the 4 other keys to successful pitching in our Pitch Secrets for Lawyers, CPAs and Other Professionals workshop in Atlanta coming up this week.)

Until next time,

Robin