Using Sales Follow Up Strategies to Engage With Prospects

Many salespeople focus on how they will find and engage with prospects, which are certainly important steps in the sales process. However, another critical step is following up after that initial meeting, email, or pitch, and it’s a step that many salespeople forget to take. Your follow-up process can make or break your success as a salesperson, so follow these tips to boost your strategy and take advantage of this opportunity for communication.

What Is a Sales Follow-Up?

A sales follow-up is when a salesperson reaches out to a contact they recently met or spoke with to encourage them to take the next steps in the sales process. This typically involves at least one form of communication, and you can reach out right away or use a multi-touch email nurturing campaign.

Whether you’ve just wrapped up a great meeting or you’ve sent an email to a prospect that perfectly fits into your target persona criteria, following up soon after can improve your success rates and help you close more deals. Additionally, when you create strong relationships with your customers, you can increase your chances of maintaining those relationships and continuing to sell to them, whether they become regular customers of a particular product or service or you’re able to upsell and provide additional resources to them.

Communication Methods for Following Up

You can choose how you want to follow up with your prospects and clients since there are many different communication methods, including:

• Email: Email is of the most highly utilized communication methods when it comes to sales follow-ups. An email feels less invasive than a phone call, but it’s also less personal. Your message may not even make it to the person you’re trying to email, depending on their spam and external email filters. If you can email them directly and feel confident that the message will get to them, it’s an option for communication, but it’s not the only option.
• Phone call: Calling is a good way to get a quick response. If the person you’re calling picks up the phone, you’ll get an answer either way, or they’ll ask you to follow up again in a few days or a few weeks. However, too many phone calls can make you look aggressive or even bothersome, which you want to avoid.
• Handwritten note: While cards and notes in the mail were once commonplace, they’ve become less frequently used, so receiving something handwritten is more meaningful than getting yet another email.

When to Follow Up on a Sale

Your sales follow-up timeline will ultimately depend on the conversation you had with the person, as they may request a certain period of time to review the information or discuss options with decision-makers. However, the best time to get a commitment for the next step in the process is when you’re in a conversation or meeting or you’ve already established a line of communication with the individual.

If you didn’t establish a timeline for following up, you should reach out within a day or two of the initial contact or meeting. In that follow-up communication, request their preferred communication method and when they might expect to be able to discuss your pitch further. Keep the line of communication open and let them know that you plan to continue to follow-up.

If you don’t hear back right away, don’t give up! People get busy and their inboxes get flooded every day. Keep reaching out every few days until you hear back or set up a reminder to send an email once a week if you know they’re receiving a lot of emails. You can also look into other communication methods, especially in today’s modern age of too many emails.

How to Personalize Your Sales Follow-Ups

Another important consideration in your sales follow-up strategies is how you’re personalizing what you send. Follow these steps to make your communications more personal.

1. Add a personal touch: Include some type of personalization in your note that touches on some of the topics of conversation during your initial meeting or contact.
2. Summarize the points covered: You could even send a message that summarizes the conversation or provides answers to questions that came up during your discussion. Review your notes and check for updates on the individual or their company to reference any specific points of interest.
3. Consider something tangible: Sending something tangible, such as a personalized card that will be delivered to their office, can help you stand out even more. It’s easy for emails to get filtered or junked, but it’s less likely that a personal, handwritten card will be tossed aside.
4. Enlist the help of Handwrytten: Handwrytten is a leading provider of scaled handwritten communication, and a partnership allows you to communicate more effectively with your prospects and customers without having to pick up a pen.
5. Continue to provide value: A sales follow-up is more than just a check-in. You should continue to provide value to your prospects throughout your follow-up communication strategy, whether you’re including links to resources that can answer their questions or addressing pain points and how what you’re offering to them can address those concerns. Use data to back up your claims, including testimonials, case studies, and research, to show that you’re trustworthy and transparent.

Work With Handwrytten

Integrating handwritten communication into your sales automation process is as easy as downloading an app. You input what you want the card to say, and Handwrytten’s innovative handwriting robots will put the pen to the paper, creating your customized cards in the style of your choice. The messages you send might express appreciation for your prospect’s time or mention specific topics discussed during an initial meeting.

With the right follow-up techniques, you can increase your chances of sales success and maintain strong and effective communication with members of your target audience. Communicating in unique ways is also effective when it comes to standing out in a sea of digital messages. Partner with Handwrytten and take advantage of the benefits that can come with personalized and handwritten messaging tools.