Sales Tip of the Week – FOLLOW-UP STRATEGIES
Once you’ve made the initial call or meeting, it can sometimes be hard to know how to follow up to keep yourself ‘front of mind’ with the prospect.
One thing you mustn’t do is waste the prospect’s time: you’ll simply be adding to the general level of ‘redundant noise’ so prevalent in business these days. So, there’s no point in ringing up with a simple courtesy call, unless you genuinely have that kind of relationship.
New information
Far better to provide your prospects with something they’ll actually value – perhaps some new information to share or the answer to a question you were unable to respond to initially. Try calling with the line: ‘I’ve got some good news for you’ or ‘I’m phoning with an update for you’.
Relevance
Other ways of maintaining your profile with the customer is to email or send them relevant articles from trade publications, success stories, case-studies and testimonials – but I stress the word relevant here.
Referrals
Finally, you can in some circumstances, also draw on your own contacts to refer business to the prospect or even, in the current economic climate, help out decision-makers you know are being affected by a reorganisation or redundancy. Occasionally, you may be able to tip them off about similar roles available you hear about amongst your other customers. But do tread carefully in these circumstances.
Source : CIM
