Table of content

• Why sales follow-ups are important
• Five tips to make your follow up emails valuable and effective

You’ve just returned from a sales meeting with a high-profile client, and you’ve nailed it. Your industry knowledge and understanding of his business needs astounded the prospect.

The agreement is practically complete. All that’s left now is for the decision-makers to convene for a consultation before moving forward with your idea.

However, you’re now perplexed because you’re unsure how to go with this encounter. You’re worried you’ll screw up the deal. You, on the other hand, are desperate to get this company on board.

If any of the above describes you, you’re not alone.

According to studies, about 80% of sales leads require at least five follow-ups after the original sales meeting. However, roughly 44% of salespeople give up after just one follow-up or fail to follow-up at all.

On the other side, some salespeople inundate their leads with follow-up emails and phone calls. The majority of them never succeed in closing the deal.

You must approach sales as if they were real-life relationships. How would you feel if your better half sent you a daily reminder email asking if you still appreciated your relationship? Every other day, or a “just checking” call?

It’s impossible to be too demanding in a new relationship. And it’s important to remember this when following up with sales prospects. You must strike the appropriate balance.

Here are a couple approaches to sales follow-ups that will not irritate your prospects.

1. Ask for the Best Way To Follow Up

When you’re having a sales conversation with a prospect, remember that you’re attempting to create a win-win situation. The client requires your services, and you require the revenue. As a result, there’s no need to feel bad about following up.

In fact, the ideal method to establish a win-win situation is to simply ask when and how you should follow up shortly after your initial conversation. Your prospects are busy people who would enjoy it if you show that you care about their time.

“I recognize the value of your time, so please let me know how I may reach you and when we can talk more about this?”

This straightforward method is recommended by Jon Barrows, a sales trainer for firms such as LinkedIn, Salesforce, and Box. It will not only increase your prospect’s faith in you, but it will also provide you a clear concept of how to proceed with your follow-up sequence.

2. Determine the Next Action Items

Without specific action items, a sales meeting, no matter how good and effective, typically goes to waste. Try to come up with at least one clear action item before the meeting ends. This will not only keep the client interested, but it will also allow you to stay in touch with the lead.

A higher-level management meeting or a more detailed product brief can be used as an action item. It should be timed or at the very least have a rough schedule.

Of course, you can’t force the customer to make a decision in the first meeting, but you can extract something that both you and the client can anticipate.

3. Get in Touch the Same Day

Intelligent follow-ups at the correct moments can have a huge impact on your potential clients, keeping you at the top of their minds as they compare service providers.

Ensure that you contact the client the same day as your initial encounter. A simple thank you note that contains the meeting minutes and essential action items, as well as their estimated timeframes, works incredibly well in my experience.

This achieves two objectives.

• It clearly communicates your understanding of the meeting to the client. So if he has a different understanding of one or more issues, he can immediately clarify.
• It implicitly communicates your understanding of what the next action item is going to be.

4. Build Confidence By Offering Free Advice and Resources

It isn’t always necessary to follow up on sales leads. In fact, rather than closing the business, the focus of most of your initial encounters should be on resolving the client’s difficulties and meeting their needs.

You can do this by providing extra advise on how to effectively fix the prospect’s problems. Forget about your product and instead focus on providing solutions that will have an immediate impact. Send them research articles, eBook links, or other information that will help them better comprehend the problem.

All of these reassuring actions not only put you in the prospect’s good books, but they also keep you in touch and help you nurture the lead.

5. Connect on LinkedIn and Twitter

These days, almost every business professional has a LinkedIn page. LinkedIn is such a powerful tool for B2B sales professionals that it generates over 80% of all B2B sales leads created through social media. Twitter, on the other hand, is an excellent resource for learning about your prospect’s hobbies and interests.

To get closer to your target decision makers, you can combine the strengths of various platforms. Connect with them on LinkedIn, read their profile, and participate in LinkedIn group discussions. Demonstrate your functional expertise and gain the client’s trust by demonstrating a thorough comprehension of their issues.

LinkedIn’s Inmail tool is very handy for salespeople. You can utilize it to personally approach potential customers. LinkedIn for Sales Professionals, which provides specific follow-up solutions to help you remain in touch with your target clients more efficiently, was just released.