Discover seven techniques to use on your sales follow-up calls that will help you build relationships with your clients and get you to the sales finish line.
You had your initial sales call and it went well. Congrats! But don’t go cracking the champagne bottle just yet. Now is not the time to lose momentum by sitting back and expecting a sale to land in your lap. Sales follow-up calls are one of the most important vehicles to closing a deal. They show commitment from you and your agency. Sales follow-up calls also do a lot of the heavy lifting in establishing a relationship and rapport with new clients. So what can you do to ensure your follow-ups yield more deals? Here are seven sales follow-up calls techniques to earn you more sales.
1. Prepare For The Call
Review your notes from previous calls with your client and establish the purpose for your follow-up call. Your sales follow-up calls should never be meaningless “touching base” calls and should always have an actionable item on the agenda. Create your list of questions and talking points. Scripts and talking tracks are helpful but be sure to tailor them to the specific client.
2. Send a Call Reminder
2. Send a Call Reminder Send an email the day before your call, reminding your client about the upcoming conversation. Include a brief synopsis of your previous call topics and a short agenda for your upcoming call. Be transparent about the purpose of this follow-up call and set an expectation for how long you anticipate the call to last. Communicating an expected call duration shows respect for your clients who undoubtedly have busy days with competing priorities.
3. Match the Tone
A simple sales follow-up calls technique is to match the tone of your client. If they are talking softly, match their energy and follow suit. Likewise, if they are high energy and very chatty, feel free to amp up your own energy. Be sure to stay on track, though, since it’s very easy to get carried away in high-energy conversations. By matching the tone and energy level of your client, you make them feel at ease, which is a great state to be in when trying to secure a sale.
4. Don’t Assume Anything
Even after an initial call, never assume your client is a “sure thing.” It’s important to ask probing questions and truly understand the needs of your client. Thought-provoking questions can build trust with your client in sales follow-up calls. A client is more apt to trust you when you make thorough efforts of understanding their circumstances.
5. Let Your Client Speak
It’s so easy to get carried away in sales follow-up calls, rambling on through your script or talking track. If you are relying on a script, be sure to build in pauses and breaks where you ask your client for feedback and then sit back and let them talk. Anything your client says is gold and can be mined for later conversations. Take notes!
6. Share Your Summary and Next Steps
Before ending the call, take a moment to summarize the conversation. This works two ways in that it repeats your information for the client as well as makes sure you and your client are on the same page. This is a good place to include action items that both you and the client will need to follow through on before the next contact. Make clear what the next communication touchpoint will be, whether it will be an email, a call, or a meeting.
7. Write Thorough Notes and Track Progress
When the sales follow-up calls are over, synthesize your notes into an easy-to-read summary. Be sure to include any details that can be used for future follow-ups. This is also a good time to add details to any systems or software you have in place, tracking the client through your sales cycle. Remember to record any personal information that was shared with you. The name of a pet, or a child’s age. Even these anecdotal details can prove beneficial during follow-up conversations as they demonstrate how well you listened to your client.
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