June 24, 2019

Golden rules for a perfect follow up post a marketing proposal

Phone receiver in hand. Follow up calls to drive revenue

Imagine this, you’ve delivered a fantastic sales pitch, you could feel the lead warming up to you, and your gut says they’re likely to convert. They promise to discuss the offer internally and get back to you. So you wait for their call… and you wait… and you wait some more. 

A lot has been written about the perfect strategy to nurture prospects through each step of the sales funnel, but most sales guys miss out on almost 71% of qualified leads by not doing this simple-yet-crucial thing- Follow up!

Since your follow-up can make or break your deal, here are three reasons why you must follow up after every pitch.

Stay on top of their mind

Your leads not just have multiple competitors chasing them but also numerous business tabs open in their minds. As a result, you may become an out-of-sight-out-of-mind case. Following up jogs their memory and brings the focus back to your offer.

People need constant communication before purchasing

It is said that, on an average, you need to touch base with your leads at least seven times before they think of purchasing your offerings. According to a survey, 80% of the sales are closed after at least 5 follow up calls.

It’s cheaper than chasing a new prospect

Follow-ups take a lot less time and almost no money as compared to chasing a new lead. You’ve already brought the prospect to the end goal, don’t leave money on the table by not giving the final nudge.

When to follow up?

Ideally, you should drop a ‘thank you’ mail a day after the meeting not just to appear good mannered but also touch base. If your lead doesn’t reply on the scheduled date, then go for a follow-up e-mail/call three-four days after the meeting.

Create a series of follow-up templates to be sent across various stages of following up. For instance, the first template could be a simple ‘thank you, looking forward to hearing from you on a particular date, or simply mention soon.

The second template could be just a quick ‘touch base’ mail. Here you ask them if they’ve had the chance to discuss with the team or come to a decision.

The third template could be the first critical nudge as you can throw in a limited period discount or offer, and then so on and so forth. These templates reduce your work by half and all you need to do is quickly populate this with personalized data and send across. You can even automate these templates to avoid human intervention if you’re short-staffed.

Smart ways to follow up

While manual follow-ups are obviously more personalized and direct, there are some smart alternatives. You can also subtly follow-up through sharing your blogs or any media coverage. It instils the trust in your brand or you can share industry information that could be relevant to the prospect’s work.

Follow-ups are an absolute must if you are serious about converting. It’s the final push that also shows your inclination towards closing the deal.

Related Links

1. 14 Sales Follow up Email Templates For Your Next Email Campaign

2. How To Write Sales Follow-up emails that close every time

3. A guide to writing effective proposals