How's YOUR follow up system?

We've all heard it for years, the key is in the follow up... most sales are made after the umpteenth follow up... follow up is critical... got the picture?

Well, I agree 110%.  But I practice only about 50%.  I know that is the weakest part of my business and I am working on improving that part. We get busy and all of a sudden that post-it note on our desk is 2 weeks old and we wonder whether it's too late to even bother calling...

Yesterday I saw first hand an EXCELLENT example of great follow up... and it's probably going to result in a sale!

Yesterday my husband, Tim, forwarded me an email with 6 quotes for car insurance from AAA.  One quote was from AAA company and the other 5 were from other companies they represent.  They ranged anywhere from $1200 per year to over $2,000 per year. (we're paying about $1,800 right now).  I called him and said "I didn't know you were shopping for car insurance" and he said "I thought YOU did it!"

So here we are, we have no clue why we're looking at this price quote, but it looks GOOD!

Then when I got home last night there was a message on the machine from the agent at AAA.  He said that last year about this time we had requested a quote so he knew we were coming up for renewal and he just wanted to provide us with some updated quotes and to call him if we have any questions.

HE KNEW WE HAD REQUESTED A QUOTE A YEAR AGO AND HE KNEW WE WERE COMING UP FOR RENEWAL AGAIN!!!!

That's follow up!  The only thing that would have been better would be to put that story in the email that he sent so we knew WHY we were getting the email.

What type of follow up do YOU have?  If one of your potential buyers decides to rent for a year instead... are you following up with them about 9 months later to see if they're ready?  Are you following up with listings you DIDN'T get and contacting them again when they expire?

I know, it's a lot of work, but GETTING the leads is the hardest part in most businesses.  If someone has stepped forward and even HINTED that they're interested in buying or selling, stay in touch with them until they DO! (or they call the cops on you... that's a good time to take them out of your tickler file!)

p.s.  the $1,200 a year quote is for the SAME coverage we have and it's with a very reputable company... I think we may be switching!