The Follow-Up: Dos and Don’ts

Fabric Newsletter

You worked hard to win the sale. And you want to serve your customer again in the future and have them refer you to their contacts.

The secret? Following up.

Diligent follow-ups before, during and after the sales transaction helps position your business as a resource—not just another company trying to sell things. Strategically timed phone calls, emails and presentations help build goodwill with your customers and vastly improve your odds of future sales.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re following up.

DO
• Learn as much as you can about your clients so you can tailor your follow-ups to their preferences. If they contacted you over the phone, call them back. If they sent you an email, respond by email.

• Follow up in a timely manner. Interest wanes if you wait too long.

• Implement a system to manage follow-ups. There are database and contact management programs to make this easier on you.

• Use different types of follow-ups: personal phone calls, emails, presentations, etc. Recognize birthdays and anniversaries. Send congratulations or sympathy. Of course, follow up with sales and offers that fit their needs.

• Use the Survey/Referral marketing tool to gather important follow-up information. This free resource helps answer the questions: “How’d I do?”, “What can I help you with next?” and “Can you provide referrals?”.

• Know when to stop following up. If you’re being ignored, send one last email or make one last phone call. Let the client know you won’t be contacting them again. But leave it open by stating your contact information and saying that you’ll always be available should they need you in the future. Then move on.

DON’T
• Fear the follow-up. It’s generally easier to nurture and maintain an existing customer than it is to prospect.

• Take no personally. Rethink negative responses by realizing that your products or services just didn’t fit their needs at this moment. Things change. Follow up occasionally to see if needs have changed.

• Put it off. Do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it.

• Disappear if a customer doesn’t work out. Introduce them to someone else in your company (or suggest a competitor) to help them out. This will reflect positively on you.

Following up is a cycle of being persistent, but not pushy. Done correctly, effective follow-ups will elevate your professionalism, reflect the quality of your products and ultimately, generate more sales.