When you do followup with clients, watch your ‘stats’. Your own statistics will prove that your initial sale will multiply into an ROI (return on investment) to break all company records. Why would you want to leave that money on the table and walk away?
So when your staff (you?) goes blank and has nothing to say, give them something to say – every time.
Here’s a set of great reasons to followup with clients. They are great for a variety of reasons but mostly because among them, you can have a valid reason to stay in touch and followup at least monthly if not weekly with every client.
Moreover, you can make yourself, your staff, your product and your company synonymous with superior service in the eyes of your ideal clients. Tie them to you. Ideally, each phone call should only take 3 minutes – no burden on you and no pressure on the client.
1. Thank your client for the sale. Appreciation is the most powerful emotion you can evoke and build on in relationship with your clients. Use it. I know you already said thank you in person. They need to hear it again; it is a simple thing to do that reinforces how much you value them as your client.
2. Call when you say you will. At the end of each contact, the client needs to know you will call again. So call them back when you say you will. It will probably be less than a 3-minute call, but it will reinforce their decision to work with you vs. your competitor.
3. Send a written thank you along with any information/material/samples/ contacts you said you would provide. It’s perfectly OK in sales to not have a form or a piece of information at hand IF you promise to provide it as soon as you get back to the office –just be sure you do.
4. Follow-up again, whenever you provide material/samples in your thank-you.
5. Always have a next step. At a minimum, set the expectation for your next call (2 day, 2 weeks, 2 months).
6. If you didn’t close them the last time, ask for the sale again. Or maybe an add-on will meet all their requirements and close the sale for you. If they didn’t buy, ask for feedback why not. Ask what would have moved them to yes.
7. Create an opportunity to answer additional questions they now have.
8. Make it personal – if all your contact is by letter, email, or voice mail. To get an answer, decision, or response, make it personal – in person or by phone, not by letter or e-mail, or voice mail.
9. Ask for referrals with every call – not just after you close the sale. That way you harvest all the leads from your warm and hot prospects' Rolodex!
10. Ask for testimonials in writing with permission to publish them on your website or in your marketing material. You can get a testimonial immediately about sales, closing, delivery, benefits, etc. You can cultivate the relationship to develop other testimonials over many years about your company, and products, or better, the resulting benefits for their company.
In any field, top success stories are about those individuals who make a habit of providing excellent follow-up. The cliché still applies: “Clients aren’t interested in how much you know until they know how much you care about them.”
It doesn’t have to be painful or take forever to followup with your clients. Set up systems; make it a habit; keep calls to 3-minutes and on task. Be sure to track and reward for both effort and results. The results will motivate you; and the rewards will motivate your team to stick with it.
©Kerri Salls' expertise helps increase sales & profitability for entrepreneurs and business owners aiding them to make more money, save more money & save time doing it. She offers the Competitive Edge Business Coaching Alliance at www.ce-alliance.com.
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