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Always Give Feedback when You Get a Lead

By Brad Shorr | May 5, 2008

Your lead source wants to know
When you get a sales lead, do you always tell the lead source how it turned out? You should, because that’s how you get more leads and better leads. It’s a matter of common courtesy. When people go out of their way to help you, they want to know what happened. Otherwise, they may assume you never followed up, in which case you’ll never get another lead from them.

Don’t just close the loop on leads that pan out. Those are the most fun to talk about, but your lead source needs to know about leads that went badly. In fact, it’s more important to report back on leads that go bad, because the lead source may need to contact the lead to keep that relationship intact. On top of that, if the lead source knows what happened, he or she may be able to help you turn things around.

When you give feedback quickly and honestly, you’re telling the lead source you are professional, responsible, efficient, and thankful. You’re the kind of sales person people want to help. You’re the kind of sales person people want to introduce to their most trusted friends and colleagues.

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    • 5 Responses to “Always Give Feedback when You Get a Lead”

    1. Karen Swim Says:
      May 5th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

      Hi Brad,

      This is a very good point. Over the weekend someone followed up with me letting me know the outcome of a referral. It had turned out badly and I appreciated the follow-up so that I could act accordingly. Following up with the lead source keeps the relationship intact even if the outcome was not optimal.

    2. Brad Shorr Says:
      May 5th, 2008 at 5:37 pm

      Hi Karen, your experience is a perfect case study. Would you give that person another referral, even tho this one turned out badly?

    3. Karen Swim Says:
      May 5th, 2008 at 6:43 pm

      Brad, I would based on other experiences but I would qualify leads differently. Knowing what does not work would help me to know what types of referrals to make, so truly even a bad experience can be a win-win.

    4. Ricardo Bueno Says:
      May 6th, 2008 at 3:34 am

      I think this is the part where individuals fail to solidify their referral relationship. This is one of the best things you can do to ensure that referral relationship will remain in place for a very long time!

      As the other comments suggest, even if the outcome doesn’t result in a successful sale, giving feedback is still the best thing to do.

    5. Brad Shorr Says:
      May 6th, 2008 at 5:18 am

      Hi Karen, Ricardo. You’re making me think feedback on a bad lead may be more important than feedback on a good lead. The question is, why do sales people neglect feedback on referrals gone bad? Maybe that’s another post …

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