By George Mavros
THERE is so much to tell you about this very important part of the sales process that this month I will give an overview and next month I’ll follow-up with some specific strategies.
Many surveys / studies completed over the years have reported that the vast majority of sales people do not follow-up and yet anyone that has been in sales knows that there are very few high value sales that are made after just one contact.
In addition to this there are more than enough study results that prove that an effective follow-up strategy can increase your closing rate by as much as two to three times your existing rate.
What is follow-up?
It is the process of following –up with your client in reference to a previous communication between you. It is another opportunity for you to build your relationship with your client.
Remember “before they buy your product or service – they must buy you” if people don’t like or trust the sales person they rarely will buy from them.
The follow up allows you more opportunities to demonstrate to your client that you are interested in them, that you care and it should allow you to show that you are valuable to them.
When should we do follow-up?
Follow-up should never end, the timing between the follow-up contacts may and should vary but it should never end.
There is an art to follow-up, it should not be so often that they feel you are stalking or harassing them, it should not be so laid back that every time you contact them you need to remind them who you are and where you’re from.
It is important that you space out the information or details that you give to your client at the conclusion of the follow-up and get agreement on the next time you will contact them. It starts before the actual sale starts and continues all the way through including after they have bought. It could be to check they got your first correspondence through to “do you have any questions on the proposal I put to you” and then after the sale, where you are checking to see that they are happy with the purchase and is there anything else you can do to assist them.
You need to follow-up with potential new clients as they rarely just hear about you and then decide to buy there and then. Prior to the sale it is about encouraging people to see you and discuss the possible opportunities.
Once they are a true potential client for you they become a prospect and your goal is to get them to buy. Therefore it’s about working through whatever barriers there are that prevented them from purchasing when you did your sales presentation.
Once a customer, the follow up is to ensure that they are happy and possibly gain referrals or to ensure the next time that they want to buy they come back to you.
One of the best ways to follow-up is to make contact about something that is of value to them and not related to your sale to them. It is giving something to them and allows you to say “oh by the way, how’s the decision coming along?”
You do not need an expensive CRM system to do follow-up I have and still do use card systems and Outlook as a big part of my CRM process.
Follow-up must be part of a successful Customer Service strategy; it allows you to gain insight into your customer’s thoughts
If you can’t wait till next month to hear about strategies, follow-up with me and I will be happy to help you out.
About the author: George Mavros runs sales training business, Leap of Faith Training. Visit www.leapoffaithtraining.com.au
