Follow-up is one of the most challenging aspects of sales. Many have acknowledged how important following up is to the sales process, but there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding when and how to follow up. Our attention spans are constantly being reduced where following up has never been more crucial. The fact remains that nobody - including salespeople - wants to look annoying, and there is a point at which you will begin to drive away leads when you over-communicate. Here are the top 3 follow-up mistakes and how to fix them.
1. Stop "Touching Base"; Start "Offering Value"
Follow-up emails with subject titles like "just checking in," "just following up", or "just wanting to touch base"; everyone instinctively deleted such email. These phrases are not only meaningless, and they're worthless. The only action they inspire is eye-rolling.
Analyse this prospect's stage in your sales funnel and offer value as you communicate with them! Deliver value instead of just sending random emails. Could one of your blog posts or white papers be helpful in answering the prospect question that they posted during your last conversation? You are showing the prospect that you are genuinely interested in helping them.
2. Stop "Ghosting"; Start "Engaging Meaningfully"
The biggest mistake you can make as a salesperson is simply not following up. Like everyone else, prospects have busy schedules, and you can't expect them to do your job for you – take the initiative to connect. Regardless of the reason for not following up, this is a mistake.
To cut through the noise, you must follow up with prospects after making initial contact – remember to offer value. Decide what agenda you want to discuss with your prospective customer in the next few weeks, and then set reminders for follow-up. It is easy to miss "following up" if you have too many leads or are overwhelmed by new accounts. Establish a CRM system that helps you to keep yourself accountable for consistent follow-up.
3. Stop "Persuading Blindly"; Start "Outlining Next Steps"
As mentioned in point 2, it is crucial to organise your agenda; having a structure and discipline is very important. Rather than looking for ways to persuade a prospect to commit to a purchase decision blindly, you should manage the conversation until a prospect is ready to commit.
Make a plan of action for each interaction during the sales process. Before finishing the meeting with your prospect, schedule a time for the next meeting or next step. It's easier to gauge the prospects' interest level by adding the next step to their radar, reducing the chance that you'll be ghosted. They are more likely to continue talking if you've generated enough value and interest.
Final Thoughts
The ultimate error: Not following up with people the way they prefer
Sending a message or making a follow-up call is better than radio silence, but if you contact a client in a way they don't appreciate, you're also causing harm to yourself. By ignoring or forgetting to ask a client how they would prefer to be contacted, you send a message that your only goal is to make a sale. Prospects feel they are mere numbers to the salesperson, and their needs and preferences don't matter. So, before you wrap up your discovery call, ask the prospect how they prefer to be followed up.
We offer DSM Suite 2.0+ Omnichannel to automate and streamline your customer engagements across multiple channels so you can reach your prospects the way that will work best for them. Chatbot, Live Chat and numerous messaging apps like WeChat, Line, Whatsapp, and Messenger will be integrated into one Inbox so that every message, regardless of the channel, will be consolidated into one place. Additionally, there are automated features such as setting reminders to call customers, receiving notifications when customers ask questions and using self-service chatbots to answer frequently asked questions—making following up much more manageable.
Get a better start with Zooloo. Our team is happy to assist you with your journey towards digital transformation. You will enjoy immense growth opportunities if you partner with the right service provider. Please contact us at sales@zooloo.asia.
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