You never fail to get a sale because you followed up too much, but understanding the inflexion points in the process when you reach them is critical, and it will vary almost every time.
You might follow up poorly, or with inappropriate ineffective material, but the number is important.
Most sales functions operate on some sort of commission basis, and this encourages cherry picking, and limits follow up, which takes time away from the less obvious cherries. However, there is often great value in the follow up when done well, it builds a depth of understanding that can significantly enhance the lifetime value of a customer, rather than the short term transactional relationships so encouraged by default.
Besides, it is unusual in B2B to make a sale on first contact. There is plenty of research around that points conclusively to the majority of sales happening after the 5th follow up.
So here are some thoughts on follow up.
- People buy when they are ready to buy. They do not buy when you are ready to sell, at least not without significant inducement. They might be prime prospects, just not at the moment, and failing to follow up risks them not coming back to you at the time they are ready to buy.
- Pepper your follow ups with smart questions, things that encourage meaningful conversations, and demonstrate you are across the issues that the prospect faces.
- Continuously demonstrate the value of your solution by demonstrating how it can solve the problem they face.
- Use old fashioned snail mail with handwritten envelopes and notes. Because they are so rare now, and the investment of time you have made is obvious, snail mail always gets opened, usually read and understood.
- Have a follow up plan, a sequence that is logical and suites the industry and circumstances of the lead you are nurturing.
- Ensure the material you follow up with is appropriate to the prospects position in the buying cycle.
- Make it easy for the prospect to take the next step.
- Give yourself permission to follow up again. E.g. Don’t just leave a message saying you called, leave one that primes them for the next time you call. ‘I missed you today, but will try again tomorrow morning at 8.30, as I think this may be important to you’.
- Try the dead horse approach. At some point, you have to move on when all else fails. However, before you do, ‘Dead Horse’ is a technique that has some sort of psychological motivation, so it often works, e.g.. ‘I have called and left a number of messages, none of them have been returned. While we are both busy, I thought this might have been important for you, but apparently not, so I will not bother you again. If you would like to reconnect, I would be happy to do so, but until, then, I assume we are done. Have a great day.’
Even doing a couple of these will lift your sales hit rate significantly, so don’t let the ‘hunter’ instinct of many sales people move them onto greener pastures too quickly.
