Sales follow-up is a key element in an effective sales process, and you need to become an expert at following up to close more deals.
If it’s time to improve your follow-up skills, let us introduce you to this sales follow-up guide that you should use to sell more and attract more customers.
Types of sales tracking
These are the types of sales follow-ups, which include emails, calls, and in-person meetings. Each type helps you maintain communication with prospects, address their needs, and effectively guide them through the sales process.
Email follow-up
Email follow-ups act as a friendly nudge in sales that keeps the conversation alive. They are crucial in maintaining contact with prospects and guiding them towards purchasing. Sales reps can effectively nurture leads by creating personalized emails tailored to prospects’ interests and problems.
Using sales follow-up email templates and eye-catching subject lines helps ensure that emails are noticed and responded to quickly. This demonstrates the effectiveness of email follow-up in moving prospects through the sales funnel. It is a vital part of the sales follow-up process, allowing reps to provide valuable information and build relationships over time.
Follow-up calls
Follow-up calls are another essential aspect of sales follow-up strategies, offering a more personal and direct form of communication with prospects. Unlike emails, follow-up calls allow sales reps to engage in real-time conversations, address concerns, and overcome objections effectively. By leveraging their sales pitch and building rapport over the phone, reps can guide prospects through the sales funnel and move them closer to closing deals.
Automated tracking
Automation has transformed the way sales reps follow up with prospects, making the process more efficient and scalable. With automated sales follow-up systems, reps can automatically schedule and send follow-up emails, calls, and messages. This ensures consistent engagement with prospects without the need for manual intervention. By leveraging the best sales follow-up software, reps can track interactions and adjust their follow-up strategies based on prospect engagement. Automated follow-up streamlines the process, allowing reps to focus on high-priority tasks.
Post-sale follow-up
The sales process continues once a deal is closed; post-sale follow-up is equally crucial to fostering customer satisfaction and loyalty. Sales reps demonstrate their commitment to customer success and satisfaction by contacting customers after the purchase. Post-sale follow-up can involve sending a thank you email, conducting satisfaction surveys, or offering additional support and resources. By nurturing relationships with existing customers, reps can increase customer retention and generate referrals, ultimately driving long-term business growth.
SMS and text message tracking
In addition to emails and calls, SMS and text message follow-up offers another effective channel for engaging with prospects. With the prevalence of smartphones, text messages provide a convenient and immediate way to communicate with prospects. Sales reps can use text messages to send quick reminders, share updates, or follow up on specific actions or inquiries. By incorporating texting into their follow-up strategies, reps can reach prospects where they are and increase the chances of getting a response.
Social media platforms offer another avenue for sales follow-up, allowing reps to engage with prospects in a more casual and interactive way. Reps can share valuable content, participate in discussions, and build relationships over time by connecting with prospects on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. Social media adds a personal touch to the sales follow-up process, helping reps stand out and establish themselves as trusted advisors in their industry.
In-person follow-up
Despite the growth of digital communication methods, in-person follow-up remains a powerful tool for building rapport and closing deals. Whether through meetings, networking events, or product demos, face-to-face interactions allow reps to connect with prospects on a deeper level and address their needs more effectively. In-person follow-up demonstrates a commitment to the prospect’s success and provides opportunities for reps to directly showcase the value of their product or service.
By incorporating in-person follow-up into their sales strategies, reps can differentiate themselves from competitors and leave a lasting impression on prospects. Here are several tips to perfect your sales follow-up plan:
Respond quickly to prospects
Fun fact: If you follow up with a prospect online within 5 minutes of their inquiry, they are nine times more likely to engage with you.
Show your prospects that they matter by responding quickly to their queries. Being responsive to their questions shows that you are a brand they can trust.
Space out your follow-ups
Remember that sales follow-ups are meant to cultivate relationships with your prospects, not just remind them to buy from you.
Always consider your prospect’s timeline when scheduling a follow-up call or sending a follow-up email. Every prospect may have different timings, so make a note of when it’s best to contact them to follow up. You can ask them during your call or take cues during your meeting.
For example, let’s say you’re in the business of offering software as a service (SaaS) for dental clinics. If your prospect says they’ll discuss your offering with their management team in two weeks during the meeting, it makes sense to follow up after that meeting, not in three days.
To help with follow-ups and keep your brand top of mind for your prospects, use a customer relationship management (CRM) platform to create an automated email campaign.
Use multiple tracking channels
Every prospect is different, so test out a variety of follow-up channels to find out which one they prefer.
You’ve probably found a prospect who responds to your emails, but rarely takes your calls. Other prospects may answer calls, but they don’t respond to emails or SMS messages.
Use whatever communication method your prospect is comfortable with. Make sure you provide a consistent tone and experience across different communication platforms.
Specify next steps
A deal can fall through the cracks when next steps are unclear. Remember, your prospect may also explore other vendors and forget about your business.
To keep your brand top of mind for prospects, guide them through the process and specify next steps. Set a date and time for your next appointment or call before ending the conversation.
For example, let’s say you’re in the medical equipment business. If your prospect liked your presentation and mentioned that they would regroup internally after two weeks, set a specific date and time for your follow-up appointment or call.
Give your prospects a reason to agree to your follow-up appointment by specifying your agenda, such as a Q&A session after they’ve reviewed other vendors’ offerings.
Keep your follow-ups short
Keep in mind that your prospects are busy. Your follow-ups should be brief; they don’t have time to revisit your proposal.
Show them you value their time. Send follow-up emails that are short and to the point.
When making a follow-up call, keep it short. Don’t keep your prospects on the line for more than 10 minutes.
Make your short sales follow-up effective by using a friendly tone that conveys that you are happy to help and guide them.
Show value with every follow-up
Think of sales follow-ups as an opportunity to keep your prospects engaged, not another chance to pressure them into becoming customers. Every time you reach out to them, offer something that addresses their pain points or ask how you can help them.
Share a blog post or guide that they’ll find helpful while they wait for budget approval. Did your prospect ask for a discount? Let them know when you have special offers on products they’re interested in.
If your prospect recently launched a new product or opened a new store, congratulate them and ask how it went. You might discover new ways to help them after their milestone.
Understand when your prospect is no longer interested
Salespeople can’t keep following up indefinitely. After a certain point, your prospect may no longer need your services and may see you as a nuisance.
There is no magic number of follow-ups, as it can vary from prospect to prospect. However, the average number of follow-ups for most salespeople is around five.
To determine if your prospects still need you, e.g. This email is called a “breakup email.”
If they still need your products or services, they will respond to your breakup email. If they are no longer interested, they will know that you will not be contacting them any further.
Breakup emails foster good professional relationships with your prospects. They show that you understand them and respect their time.
By making the effort to say goodbye (instead of ignoring them), you show them that you care and that you are concerned.