How many times should I ‘follow up’?
Naturally, as salespeople, we want the business to come in.
Maybe your solution can’t be tied up on the spot, so you may need to follow up with the client.
As part of your follow up, do you spend time carefully reviewing your CRM notes, mentally preparing yourself for the call with the client – only to discover they are out, they’re away, or worse, they have left the organisation, and your emails remain unanswered, etc?
How often should you keep calling, leaving messages, and emailing before you think ‘enough is enough’?
What can we do to make this part of the sales journey easier, plus get a result?
Where are some of the problems?
As in most situations, before we even look at the ‘how to’, let alone the ‘how often’ on follow up, let’s take a few steps back, revisit the actual client meeting, and see where the gaps might be.
The first thing to review is what happened even before the client meeting, which is ‘Phase One’ of a sale.
Your mindset and prep dictate how sold they are on you before you actually turn up, on how they see you as the Trusted Advisor, Authority in your field, and Subject Matter Expert.
See our blog entitled ‘Pulling the Sale Toward You‘.
Then what happened during the meeting?
The tone and rollout of the client meeting (Phase Two of a sale) will influence the business and determine how they’ll respond to your ‘follow-up’. What I’m getting at is, that they need to be sold on you and your solution ATÂ the meeting, not after.
Your goal is to leave that meeting with them completely sold and eager to do business with you.
Nothing should be left to be sold ‘later’ when you are not around to explain it.
Now let’s look at the ‘wrapping up part’ of the meeting – the tell-tale moment when you either get the order or they are left hanging and need you to follow up on your proposed solution.
What’s your mindset: are you assuming your meeting will need more information and a follow-up?
Do you presume the person will need extra time to digest what you have said, so by accepting such, you say, ‘I’ll leave that with you, and we’ll be in touch’?
Your personality style may have you prematurely wrapping up the client and inadvertently delaying the sale. I.e., not giving them enough time to process what you are saying.
If you are in a hurry, you may be too quick to suggest, ‘I’ll send you an email’.
Sometimes, it’s because you’re short of time or assume the conversation is ‘over’; sometimes, it’s because you believed that they were short of time, and sometimes, it’s because you are uncomfortable with silent pauses. And sometimes it’s a default personality style: if you know anything about extroverts, you’ll know that under pressure extroverts often need the client to get to the point quickly, or else they are tempted to interrupt and take over. So, remember, it’s only over once it’s over!
What’s the ideal flow?
You must undertake decent preparation and due diligence to ensure that YOU are sold on your offering being the right fit before the meeting (Phase One). This would include various client touch points to demonstrate you are the Trusted Advisor and the right solution.
Then, at the meeting (‘Phase Two’), the whole interaction is a conversation between you and the client, i.e., you are partnering and collaborating, uncovering together what they need and coming up with the right solution. The meeting shouldn’t be the ole ‘spray and pray’, or ‘show up and throw up’.
The skill, of course, is understanding what the client needs. Your effort in taking the time to understand them and care about them, their situation, and the outcome will distinguish you. This bit is frequently rushed by salespeople when, in fact, it’s THE most crucial time. If you don’t understand their needs, wants, desires, beliefs, what they think they need or what they actually need, and so on, then you are simply projecting your assumptions.
Clients find money for things they value
Conversely, an expert salesperson will be in a ‘bubble’ with the client, totally consumed by that client’s situation. They will have investigative questions, with the client talking almost 95% of the time. That salesperson will unearth what clients need and, more importantly, know what they value.
Being the Authority when moving into the Follow-Up stage
When you complete your exploration, check your understanding of their situation before explaining how your solution fulfils their requirements. Remember to be patient.
When all points are clear, you would guide them and say, ‘What are your next steps?’ as you need to know what’s happening at their end. Again, this might lead to more questions and clarity, with further ‘exploration’ from you.
Then, when that is done, affirm, ‘Typically, what happens now is…’.
This approach implies professionalism: ‘ I do this all day, every day, you are in safe hands.’
Then you direct what you want to happen – i.e., do you want to catch up later that day or the next once you have written your notes to bring them added precision and propose your first thoughts of a solution? I.e., You may say, ‘John, typically what happens now is I’ll review these notes. Then, let’s catch up between 3 – 5 pm for some clarity, and I may even suggest a few ideas.’
Note, this is a statement. You are not asking for permission- i.e., you are not subserviently saying, ‘Is it OK?’.
Instead, you are taking control, ‘Let’s catch up XYZ’. Ideally, you may not need this ‘touch point’ follow-up.
If you need that additional ‘short, flow-on follow-up,’ touch point, you firmly line up that SECOND engagement at the end of the meeting. I.e., ‘Let’s get together Thursday morning to walk through the solution I have.’ This way, you have every touch point mapped. You both know when you will be calling. It isn’t loosely blowing in the wind.
Following that, you would send a brilliant, bullet-pointed email and add anything that helps you show evidence of alignment. I.e., add a relevant ‘we are aligned’ signature, a review, and, if appropriate, a document (pointing out, based on a discussion, ‘see page 8 for XYZ’).
Between now and that next engagement, you might be smashing out relevant blog content (and sending them a URL ‘Hi John, here’s an article that covers the use of the widget, thought this might be of value’). Or a Li post and then send a message to him in Li. These are called ‘evidence touch points’.
Then, for your scheduled meeting, which may be on a calendar invite, you say, ‘I’m looking forward to bringing you some ideas that will increase/decrease/help achieve this goal‘ etc.
The day before your scheduled call, forward your first brilliant email and remove your current signature so the attached email is immediately visible. And if they had replied to that initial one, include their response too, especially if it is positive where they wrote – e.g. ‘Thanks Sam, great to see you, we love that idea of blah blah, yes look forward to picking this up with you’.
This way, you are now anchoring them on the positives they expressed. Your email can also say, ‘I am looking forward to our chat tomorrow, where we will pick up on our conversation about how we will help you achieve XYZ’.
Eyeballs are on the solution – and on what the outcome is for THEM.
It is not another session of ‘where I go over my proposal,’ in which case, they will most likely respond with ‘It’s OK, just email it.’
Essentially, what I’m highlighting and stressing here is for YOU to drive and LINE UP the next engagement.
Take the lead and control the client’s journey.
Some avoids
There are also a few “no-go’s” to bear in mind.
1. Time: Don’t restrict yourself to the time they advised if they dominate it.
If they set 30 minutes yet are doing all the talking, and it’s now at 30 minutes, you ignore it.
They most likely defined a cautionary 30-meeting duration based on another salesperson who babbled on without tailored or relevant solutions. So it’s their default to have an option to get reps out quickly.
2. Language: Don’t say, ‘I’m just following up.’
i.e., That sentence ‘Just following up’ has so many vague and weak connotations.
It’s like, ‘I’m putting you out.’ It’s subservient. It’s also what a rep traditionally might say when they want to ‘sell’ something.
3. The price: Don’t email the price
Any investment mention should be done verbally, and only after you have walked them through what your solution does for them. Ideally, in person, so consider a Video Conferencing call. Then, any email you send will always reflect that meeting or call discussion. It should never be the first time they have seen the price. Generally, this is why clients ignore follow-up calls too often – they go straight to the price without understanding the value.
How many times should you follow up before abandoning?
A study conducted by the “National Sales Executive Association” (now known as the “Sales Management Association”) suggested that 80% of sales require at least five follow-up calls after the initial meeting, yet 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up. Another article I read on LinkedIn a few years ago cited that most reps abandon following up after three calls. Conversely, decision-makers who were interviewed indicated they needed 12 follow-ups. Think about that! All that work and effort and the salesperson with the most persistence will win that sale.
I’m a big believer that, after conducting a thorough examination, and if you are a seasoned professional having worked with every variable of who you can help, if you feel certain the sale isn’t suitable for you, don’t exhaust further energy on it. It wastes your time and resources if you genuinely don’t have what they need.
Instead, you should be pumping your energy and effort into ideal clients for your solution.
Building relationships before your meeting, being professional during the meeting, and confidently lining up the next meeting will make you stand out.
Read: Pull the sale forward >>>
Read: Stop focusing on Closing >>>
Read: Is it the death of the Cold Caller? >>>
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