Have you had those meetings, in the middle of a busy week which completely fell through the cracks? The type of meeting you left, forgot to follow up with the customer until about a week later, and at that point the follow up just felt awkward.
Needless to say, this meeting with a potential customer went nowhere. Unfortunate, because who knows, it may have led to a huge sale.
The next situation is the sale with a very difficult customer. The kind you are happy to sell the product to and not have to speak with again. These are the “take the money and run” clients, but we should really take the time to nurture them, although they are difficult.
In both cases, what is missing is the follow up. The art of the follow up can make or break a long standing business relationship. It is better to use this opportunity to make it.
Here are a few ways to follow up with customers:
A quick email following up a meeting, an interaction, or a phone call can be a good way to open a more meaningful conversation. If coming out of a meeting, the email is a great way to convey you heard and understood what was being said. An email after an interaction at an event is a great way to say you would like to do further business. So simple, this opportunity for a follow up should not be overlooked.
Hand Written Note
Although time consuming, a hand written note is a very nice touch. Whether you are thanking a client for an order or for being a longstanding customer, the hand written note conveys that you go the extra mile when it comes to taking care of your clients.
Connect On Social Media
Social media provides an excellent opportunity to stay in touch with colleagues and customers. This provides an opportunity to share items which you think are beneficial to their business. Also, it provides an opportunity for you to show up on their news feed and be fresh in the clients mind. This is beneficial for two reasons: 1) you are warming up a prospect if you have recently met, 2) you can keep existing customers informed of updates within your company.
Provide Follow Up Information
It is bound to happen that there will be a meeting where you do not have all the answers. This is where the follow up can provide you a great opportunity to over deliver on the quality of information you were lacking within the meeting. You can provide detailed insight if you leave the meeting and research the information the client was seeking.
Schedule Your Next Meeting
Turning your follow up into the next sales meeting can be an effective way to close, stay in front of your customer, as well as convey to the customer what you can do for them while you are not together. This is a huge test, which will show how much work you have the ability to do on behalf of your customer in between meetings.
The follow up is so simple, but in a busy day when something may have been forgotten, it is just as simple to forget.
What is your favorite follow up method?
Good luck and good selling!