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How to avoid being a pest in your sales follow up

Guest post by: Karen Andrews

Article Overview: Did you know that one of the biggest gripes against salespeople by decision makers is the lack of follow up? Many people resist following up because they find it uncomfortable and don’t want to seem pushy or annoying and many people don’t follow up because they simply forget. This lack of follow-up presents a great opportunity for those who are organized and take the time to do it.

How to avoid being a pest in your sales follow up

Did you know that one of the biggest gripes against salespeople by decision makers is the lack of follow up? Many people resist following up because they find it uncomfortable and don't want to seem pushy or annoying and many people don't follow up because they simply forget. This lack of follow-up presents a great opportunity for those who are organized and take the time to do it.

Follow-up is important because

• It lets people know you are interested and that you care
• It's shows your level of commitment
• It keeps the relationship progressing
• It provides opportunities for new discussions and new ideas
• It reminds people you are out there and available
• It shortens the sales cycle
• It saves people time
• It leads to sales!

Some people walk a fine line between following up and being a pest so it's important to know when enough is enough.

When cold calling, follow up can range from one to six months depending on the interest level, time of year and budgets (to name a few). Follow-up is not about pushing your products or services but rather developing a relationship and ‘earning the right' to do business with people. When following up, don't simply call to "follow up", add value in every call and think about what you want to say prior to picking up the phone. Is there something newsworthy that you can discuss that applies to them? Perhaps a success story with a client you've worked with? For example:

• "I was just thinking about our recent conversation and I have some new ideas that I'd like to share with you regarding how our [product/service] may actually complement and enhance what you're currently doing, especially when it comes to [state benefit/end result they could realize]."
• "I was thinking about another client who was in a similar situation as yours and thought that you might be interested in hearing about how we were able to eliminate the challenges they had, such as [insert problems or challenges your product/service could eliminate]."
• "We've made some interesting changes to our [products/service/programs/packages] and thought of you and the results you were looking to achieve. There may be a great fit here worth exploring in more detail so that you can [insert benefit]."

There are many, many examples of large sales being made after 6-12 months of calling just to get an appointment to discuss the opportunity, so don't give up after the first call.

If people insist that they have no need for services and do not anticipate ever having a need, ask if they would like to be included on your mailing list so you can send them interesting information, tips (just like this one)and to keep them abreast of changes in your business or your industry.

If you need to follow-up after a client meeting, I find the best approach to take is to ask them when is the best time to call. This is particularly relevant if you need to follow-up a quote and you're not sure when they will be making a decision. For example - Client "I need to look over your proposal and will give you a call once I've made a decision". Sales rep "No problems, if I haven't heard from you by Thursday (I usually wait 2-3 days) would you mind if I gave you a call?"

By taking this approach you are being told when to follow up and have been given permission to do so - it's efficient, removes any discomfort of follow-up and it works.

Remember, follow-up takes organisation and good record keeping - not a good memory. There are a number of great contact management (or CRM) systems that will keep a record of all your interactions and allow you to enter follow-up calls or tasks. Many of these programs integrate with your Outlook calendar and your handheld so you can enter reminders in the office or out on the road. I use ACT by Sage to enter all my meetings, phone calls and reminders, which synchronises with my Blackberry. No matter where I am I always have access to my diary, my reminders and all my contacts. It's fantastic when I need to follow someone up on a particular day that may have been weeks after the initial meeting.

So, impress your prospects and your clients and earn the right to do business with them; it highlights your commitment and your interest in having them as clients. You will be amazed at the results and just how much you stand out from the crowd.

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Article Tags: closed questions, increase sales, managing sales, open questions, prospecting, questioning, sales, sales coach, sales expert, sales person, sales pipeline, sales strategy, sales tips, sales tricks, salespeople, strategic selling



Related Forum Posts
What to avoid when cold calling? - Cold calling is the nemesis of all sales people. What words to avoid, what not to do when cold calling? I will start first: avoid the word "maybe". When you're cold calling, your best chance of success is to be self assured, confident, and 100% well versed in what you are selling. If you're using the word 'maybe' in your sales scripts, you run the risk of sounding wishy washy. It either is or isn't. Pick one. Another word: "hope" When you tell your client you're 'hoping' for something, you're not sure, are you? If you're not sure, then why should they be? Never let a prospect hear that you're not 100% behind your product, your company or your service, or it's entirely likely you will lose the sale. So, what other words should we avoid?
Re: Do Follow Links - Websites That Search Engines See - It is good idea to allow do follow links on article directories, social media sites or for blog comments and so on. But most times people misuse this for getting backlinks to increase PR of their site's homepage That is why most marketers add "no follow" tag there so they could avoid meaningless posts, articles etc.... Orxan
Re: What to avoid when cold calling? - Excellent point! Many sales people use word "try" to often and I am always surprised to hear it. Either you will do it or not, but please don't try...it sounds really weak. How about the word "just"? I "just" call you to follow up with you... Your clients are not feeling special when you use word just. Simply avoid it next time when you call someone.
Re: How to Promote a MLM Business? - I guess I was more talking about how to get leads to work. You could not just stop there. In-fact you would have to follow-up with everyone of those people that signed up. MLM is hard and I think the people that are best at it have a big personality. It is sales in every way. You have to be a good sales person and a presenter.
Re: Who are the best entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter? - Hi All, Just landed here from Twitter! (I am @4_walls). As the underlying philosophy of social media is "open, random, supportive", I personally see little point in trying to target people for their apparent interests. You don't really know what they are interested in other than the 140 words on their profile, nor do you know who they know! I follow people based on the consistency and value of their Tweets. I am totally allergic to spam and therefore avoid people who post links back to sales or data capture pages, and who do not engage in conversations. Twitter is a two way channel of communication, and I look to see who engages in conversations, and who consistently shares valuable information. My favourite entrepreneurs? @nicktadd @pennypower @mjamme @john_corey


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