“Nothing ever happens in business until somebody sells something” is the old adage. So until you, great salesperson, close a deal your job is not finished. In these times of disruption of the traditional face-to-face selling process the follow up has a different look. Looking at a prospect on a screen offers a different set of feedback than sitting across the desk from them. But the follow up is still key to finding, winning and keeping good customers.
Great Salespeople Use Follow Up Skills To Close More Business
Image from Pixabay
How Is It The Same In Virtual Selling?
First of all, great salespeople recognize the need for follow up. At the end of each sales call, virtual or not, you need to set the agenda for the next meeting. At each step of the sales process the salesperson seeks to gain insight into the prospect. For long sales cycle work follow up occurs on a schedule. For shorter sales cycle business, frequent follow up is important to maintain sales momentum.
Why Is It Important To Follow Up?
Great salespeople know situations change. Think about the first quarter of 2020 when the stay-at-home orders were given. Most of us started working from home and selling virtually. The needs and priorities of many companies changed. By doing follow up great salespeople quickly understood the changing needs of their clients. They were able to pivot their sales process to meet the changing environment.
Do You Have A Process?
My mentor Jim Wilson offers this advice:
“Not every deal closes on the first visit. Be organized. Be disciplined. And follow up with a purpose.”
- Develop a system.
- Refer to the system every day.
- Be as specific as possible.
- Determine a day to follow up.
- Determine a time to follow up.
- Know why you are calling.
- Make sure your prospect knows why you are calling.
- Determine what questions you should ask before you make the call.
- Evaluate whether you are moving the process forward.
- Determine what the next step will be.
All great sales people are diligent in their follow up.
What You Can Do Right Now To Improve Your Follow Up Skill
- Develop a follow-up system.
- Create an agenda for each follow-up call.
- Listen actively to your prospect to understand the next step to close.
To learn more sales secrets see Chapter Sixteen, Making The Sales Call, in Secrets of the Softer Side of Selling. For even more sales encouragement, join our FREE Sales Club! “See” you next week.
Good selling!
Don Crawford