Sometimes the biggest secrets to sales success are the easiest things. Being successful in sales can be complex and very strategic but the simplest things can make the most successful sales reps. When I mention a simple thing, I am talking about something as simple as “the follow up”.
You would be surprised at how many sales reps fail to properly follow up. They usually send 1 or 2 follow up emails and move on to the next prospect or lead on their list. The magic is in the follow up.
A lot of prospects could be interested in your product, but people are busy and they might not have the time to respond even though they might be interested in having a conversation or moving forward. Any successful sales rep will tell you it took them 5, 7,and 10 follow up attempts/touches to get an answer on getting a commitment to take the next steps. The magic is in the follow-up.
Create a Calendar
If it is an inbound lead or an outbound lead, and you make your call or you complete your meeting and you get your micro commitments on the next step, what’s next to get a positive or negative response?
Create a calendar of scheduled follow ups. Start with twice a week with email first. If they take the time to write you an email back saying they are ready to take the next step, the fact they took the time out of there day to write you a positive email, says this is a more qualified buyer.
If you do not hear a response, move your follow ups to once a week. Use the triple touch format, which is call and leave a voicemail, send an email, and reach out on social media. Do this for the next 3 weeks or until a response.
Know When to Give Up
For the sales reps who are really good about following up, a lot of them do not know how to take a hint. If you finish your follow up strategy and do not hear a response, chances are they are not interested or not a fit for what they do. If they are not ready to buy now but possibly later, usually they will let you know.
Sales reps who do not know how to take the hint, will keep going and going with the follow ups wasting their time on non-qualified prospects which leads to a weaker pipeline and wasted time. Know when to give up and move on to the next person.
Use a Break-Up Email
One of the ways you can trigger a response is a break-up email. This should be part of your cold email strategy. The break-up email is used as a way to get a little sympathy from the prospect who feels the need to respond while appreciating your persistence. Tell them that you have tried reaching out and have not heard back from them, the timing must not be right and to reach out for any questions. This will likely get you a response from about 40-50% of your non responding prospects.
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