Master These 5 Essential Tips for the Ideal Sales Follow-up Call

You might have done an excellent product demo, an impressive first in-person meeting, or would have sent an engaging email that would compel the prospect to take action. But if you don’t follow up after, chances are that you might lose the prospect. Statistics say that only 2% of sales happen at the first meeting, while 50% of the sales happen after the 5th contact, but most of the sales reps give up after the 2nd attempt.

These studies clearly mean that persistent and strategic follow-ups are crucial to getting better sales results. However, a lack of robust strategy for the sales follow-up calls might result in losing prospects.

We have brought you five essential tips for an ideal sales follow-up call to help you turn your prospects into long-term and happy customers. Let’s check them out.

Why is a Sales Follow-Up Pitch Important?

A study by Brevet says that 80% of the prospects say ‘no’ four times before they say ‘yes’ (however, most salespeople give up after making the fourth call). This means that follow-ups if done tactfully, have immense potential to turn a prospect into a customer.

Having said that, salespeople should also not be too pushy and intrusive as it may push away your prospects; A maximum of six to seven follow-ups are enough. Apart from expanding one’s customer base, a sales follow-up helps build goodwill, trust, and relationship between the prospect, the salesperson, and consequently the brand.

Five Essential Follow-Up Call Tips to Master

1. Create a Follow-up Strategy:

A sales follow-up strategy is a planned series of communication with a prospect intended to establish a relationship and generate more sales. In many cases, salespeople forget about the prospect after the first call and don’t follow up due to a lack of a proper follow-up plan. A good sales strategy will include:

• a follow-up schedule
• sales calendar of the details of all the meetings with the prospect
• number of follow-ups to be done with each client

2. Script a Separate Sales Pitch for Follow-Ups:

The response for your follow-up largely depends on the sales pitch script. You can create templates for every follow-up that is lined up with a prospect and modify it according to the mode of communication used: e-mail, text message, or phone call. Following are the features of a working follow-up sales pitch:

• Short and crisp
• Adds value to the customer
• Clear subject lines (in case of emails)
• An engaging opening statement (in case of a phone call)
• Indicate or request a dedicated time for the sales follow-up call
• A call to action at the end

3. Send Reminders for Follow-up Calls:

It is best to send a reminder beforehand to the client stating the tentative time for the call one day prior. In case the client is not reachable at the time of call, you should leave a text message explaining the next time you will try to contact them.

You can schedule or automate all the follow-ups with the help of your planned calendar so that you don’t miss out on any of the prospects. Reminders can be simple, short, to the point, and crisp so that your prospect gets to read them quickly and is annoyed on receiving them. You may draft something as simple as,

 Dear (Name), 

‍

 We hope that you are doing well.

This is a gentle reminder regarding our next appointment scheduled at (date and time).

We look forward to meeting you/talking to you. 

Warm regards,

(Your name/company name)

4. Add Value to Prospective Clients’ Experience:

Every time you give a follow-up call or send an email, try to add some value to the communication. Send an informative article or video link related to the industry, product, or market that can help them enhance their knowledge in the area or finalise a decision.

This way, your client will remember you as a salesperson who values their prospects. For this, you can do a little exercise of keeping a pool of articles, videos, and related content that can be used in email or phone sales communications.

5. Be Punctual:

Lastly, always be on time. Make sure you make a follow-up sales call at the designated appointment time, whether it is an in-person meeting, a video call, or a phone call. These small things make a big difference and impact the prospects. The respect that you will earn will not only reflect you but also on your company and the product.

Wrapping Up

Follow-ups are the most challenging part of any sales strategy or process. For beginners, it may feel embarrassing or like hounding the prospects. And the fear of being hung up or even facing a rude response from the prospects can be a nightmare for any salesperson. But the key is to accept it as part of your job, deal with rejection over a sales call, and keep trying. Remember, when it comes to sales follow-up calls, persistence is the key.

At Juno School of Business, we help salespeople who are at the beginning stage of their careers to scale up their learning through our interactive online training programs. Visit our website or book a session today to know more.