How many times have you sent information to your sales prospect only to hear them say, "I’ve been busy and haven’t had a chance to open your package?" Here are a few other lines I’ve heard when following up with prospects, do any of these sound familiar?

• "I have a stack of unopened envelopes on my desk."
• "Try me again in next week, I’m swamped."
• "(Sigh) I just can’t think about this right now."
• "(Sound disgusted) I can’t talk right now."
• "I’ll call you I don’t have the time."

There are several ways to minimize the frequency of these responses. The first way is what you say in your upfront agreement with your sales prospect. Once you have agreed to send them information, I would then summarize a time line of how they will receive and review the information. Your #1 goal is to gain commitment from your prospect.

For example, you could say something like, "(Insert the first name of your prospect here), so let me understand this, I’m going to prepare a sample kit for you today, I'll send it out tomorrow and then you will most likely review it (Insert a day here)? How about I call you again on (Insert a day, date and time here) to discuss this a bit further? Does that work well for you?"

The other idea that you may want to consider is sending an email right after you speak with them that details what you had discussed. In the subject line write, "Re: Thank you for your time, I will speak with you (Insert a day, date and time here)" and remember to use their name in the body of the email and to thank them again for their time. I know this sounds a bit trivial, however, it’s one of those things where it’s common sense (to use their name in the email or to thank them for their time), but not common usage. One day prior to your appointment take your original sent email and forward this email to them. In the subject line write: "(Insert the name of your company here) - Friendly Appointment Reminder."

Another idea that you could use during your upfront agreement is what I call a "Phone Handshake." I’m not nuts, I just like to be a little bit different over the telephone, it may sound unusual, but it works (remember that your attitude is everything and positive attitudes attract positive outcomes). Once you have clearly stated an agreement (see example above) you then smile and say, "(Insert the first name of your prospect here), Can I get a phone handshake on that? They will most likely laugh and respond with something like, "Sure, that’s fine." If you think you're done then your not. When you get off the phone you send an email similar to the one mentioned in the previous paragraph, but in the subject line you write, "Re: Phone Handshake and Thank you." In the body of the email I would add something like, "Per our conversation, you have agreed to a phone handshake to (Insert your upfront agreement here)." And once again, one day prior to your appointment take your original sent email and forward this email to them. In the subject write: "(Insert the name of your company here) - Friendly Appointment Reminder."

The third idea that you could use in conjunction with either idea mentioned above involves what you write on the package you send to your prospect. It’s actually three separate ideas, but today you get three for the price of one! Here are a few ideas that you could use when preparing your prospect’s sales package:

• Place a motivation quote on the outside of the package. Locate an inspiring quote (visit: www.brainyquotes.com) and get these quotes printed on labels (you should be able to do this yourself on your computer). This makes for a great conversational piece when you call them back, "(Insert the first name of your prospect here), did you get my sales package, better yet, did you like my quote?"
• Try writing a little note on the front of the package and then signing your name.
• This idea varies according to your prospect’s industry. If they're in real estate write this under their name, "King Of Real Estate" or "Queen of Real Estate." If they are an entrepreneur write this under their name, "Entrepreneur Of The Year!"

I strongly encourage that you incorporate one or more of these ideas when you are sending information to your sales prospects. These ideas will help you to quickly connect with your prospects so that you STANDOUT amongst others who may be competing for your prospect’s time!