As counter-intuitive as sounds, following up to close the sale in this ‘Corona’ period, is even more necessary.
Buyers want responsive sellers but are not responsive themselves. This emphasizes the need to follow-up to close the sale. A foot in the door doesn’t a closed sale. Increase your chances of getting the sale by following up.
How many times should you follow up on a sales lead? Well, the more you do, the higher the chances of closing. By up to 90%, if you follow-up a fifth or sixth time, sales productivity statistics prove. Sadly about half of sales people give up after the first attempt! And many more don’t follow-up after the sale.
Verbalised, this one-off attempt sounds thus: “He didn’t pick when I called”, “He said he would call me back”; “She said I email her the information”. Notice how defeatist they sound. How they stink of absconding responsibility. ‘It wasn’t me! It was the customer’
Follow-up to close the sale, otherwise…
So while you sit on your laurels, another responsive seller is already quietly, and rapidly crawling inside your potential client’s (prospect’s) mind, like armies of ants through small holes at the corners of old rickety doors and windows, weakening hinges. Among the weakened hinges is your one ‘phone call or unread email. And what did your competitor do differently? He followed-up a fifth and sixth time and the buyer responded accordingly.
Follow-up to close the sale even in ‘Corona’ period
In this ‘Corona’ period, as counter-intuitive as following up sounds, it is even more necessary. Buyers will not understand that, like them, you retracted into your survival cocoon. They’ll remember that you abandoned them in a time of need. So how do I do sales follow up? There was a time this meant only physical visits or phone calls.
Luckily today there are many different ways to follow-up. Sales follow up email, text messages, WhatsApp and informative newsletters or webinars. You could also connect on social media to be sharing useful tips. None of these however dilute the power of being seen physically so, pop in now and then.
What’s the sales follow-up process? What is the best way to follow up with customers? Well it can be scientific. Some companies, for instance, have ‘What should a salesperson do to follow up?’ scripted manuals. Email after three days, text after seven, call after ten, you catch my drift. Commendable. But not necessarily the most effective of follow-up strategies, because, it runs the risk of becoming a crutch. “I sent the first email and waiting to send a text on Day 7” a detached report can read. Also, it’s a blanket method to idiosyncratic buyers. So, just own the sales follow up process.
What’s the sales follow-up process
After the first contact, send a thank you follow-up email and WhatsApp chat. This way it feels more personal and you have each other’s’ contacts in your inboxes and not on a disposable business card. Also ask prospect immediately, or over time, if they would like this (sign up to newsletter, here’s a sample) or that, (Connect with them on LinkedIn) etc.
The point here is to have regular contact, find out which contact method they prefer, while sharing relevant content each time. Remember, buyers want responsive sellers but are not responsive themselves.
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