IT really is about the follow up and how to do it right.

Having worked in sales for the majority of my life, I am surprised at the number of people I come across who just don’t follow up properly. For example, I have sent many an email asking for costings and saying I want to move forward with printing or advertising, and do these companies get back to me?

Nope! And they lose my business. I don’t understand why, when someone is sending out such strong buying signals, that people do not call me and take my money.

This is the easy bit; people with whom you have met and have expressed an interest in your products or services are easy pickings.

They have already given you the go-ahead to sell to them, and they have practically told you that they want to buy from you.

So how do you follow up successfully? What is needed from that sales call to get them to place an order with you?

  • Get a date, a specific date, for the follow-up call; if your potential client won’t commit to a specific date then they are probably not interested. Move on.
  • Send a thank you note or email confirming when you will follow up. Do not sell in this note/email.
  • Call on time. Never, ever, be late, not even a nanosecond late.

A follow-up call is no different from a meeting. If a potential customer is expecting to hear from you at a certain time, call them at this time. I often have many customers grateful for the promptness of my follow-up call. It leaves a fuzzy feeling in your customer’s stomach to know they are important to you.

  • Avoid awful follow-up calls with lame conversation like ‘I was just calling to follow up on the proposal!’ They are routine, boring and you will probably make your potential customer tune out. Listen for the yawn if you use this statement.
  • No answer? Be persistent but not annoying. No one likes a pest.
  • Have a strategy. Be friendly and get to know your potential customers; people buy from people.
  • Feel free to support your potential customer on the social media platforms before you call them. OK, I am not saying stalk them, but sharing a Twitter or facebook update will put you in a good light.

Following these tips will ensure that when you have a hot lead you will put yourself in the best position to get the business. Good luck, and if you would like more hints and marketing tips please have a look at my blog kennedypr.co.uk and follow me on Twitter @KenziaDigital.