Next Steps

You’ve mastered the sales pitch, great!

… but what about the followthrough?

Because anyone can grab a clipboard and post up outside of a shopping mall, intercepting families as they come and go.

“Beautiful family you’ve got there!”

“Hey thanks!”

“I’m the editor of American Families magazine and we’d love to profile your wonderful family in our next issue!”

Mom: “How flattering!”
Dad: “We’d love to!”

Anyone can converse like this. Anyone can exchange contact information with each and every participating family, and anyone can smile such a big smile, where if it were any bigger, the ends of your mouth would stretch around until they meet in the back center of your head, causing your scalp to blow away in the wind like a toupee.

Anyone can do these things.

But what happens when you go home for the day, what then? When the answering machine is flooded with messages from all of those families?

Beep! “Wonderful meeting you today, just wanted to see about next steps for the magazine profile…”

Beep! “…needed to get the dates locked in for the shoot because my wife is traveling for work and…”

Beep! “Just following up about the shoot - great to meet you, again!”

“Who are all of these people?” Mom asks, walking up behind you. “What did you tell them?”

“Goddammit!” Dad shouts. “Is this about that fake magazine again!? What is the matter with you!”

“Stop shouting at him!” Mom yells at Dad.

“Shut up, both of you!” you scream.

Thankfully, the right followthrough is just one move away. You execute it perfectly, in the middle of the night, but like all things in business, you can’t please everyone.

The next morning, Dad barges into the kitchen looking maniacal in his white undershirt tucked into white briefs.

“Who cut the damn phone line!?”