Some facts about sales follow-ups:

• 80 percent of sales close successfully after a minimum of five face-to-face visits.
• 48 percent of salespeople stop after the first call, 25 percent after the second, 12 percent after the third, five percent after the fourth.
• Only 10 percent make the fifth call and they get 80 percent of the sales!

Follow-up is the most important sales activity you need to do and must be done properly to succeed because:

• You will have more contact with the client.
• The client will trust you more because you show up or call when they want you to.
• You will build a better business relationship because you always take care of your client’s needs.

On Getting and Staying Organized

I have a two-tiered file system to stay organized. I will explain mine. You can create your own, but in any case, you must have a system in order to stay organized and know when to follow up.

I write each project/client down on a piece of paper. I keep all my notes about that project/client on that paper. As I get more and more notes, I add pages to that file. In the upper right hand corner, I write down a date (that is a Monday) for follow-up if I will follow up in that current month. If I will follow up in later months, I write down a month and a year.

Projects/clients that I will follow up with in the current month, go in the top file. Clients I will follow up with in future months I put in the bottom file. I review the top file every week. I review the bottom file every month and I move projects/clients from the bottom file to the top at the appropriate month. I do this at night or on the weekend. You must do this at one of these times rather than Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00. During working hours you must be doing work for your clients.

Review Your Activities Periodically

I take out the stack of papers in the top file each weekend and review them. I look at the date I wrote in the top right corner. I have a file folder I call “Weekly to Do File.” I have a piece of paper in that folder for each day of the coming week. On that paper, I write down the phone calls I need to make. Those phone calls correspond with a project/client that I have put in the folder for that specific day. If I have 20 pieces of paper, one for each project for a given week, I prioritize them and only put 5-10 in for any one day.

You do not want to overload yourself with phone calls for any one day. You need to leave time for the unexpected. Clients will call with concerns or questions and you must always have open time in your schedule so you can always answer clients’ calls right away.

The number of clients/projects you have will snowball if you do a great job of following up. You must have a system to keep track of many projects so that you will be successful. You must be highly organized. It is easy to get stressed out; however, having a system for following up will keep you relaxed and make following up easy and fun for you.

When You Do Follow Up

You want to always have a specific reason to follow up with each client. For that reason, at your first meeting with any client, I suggest you not tell your clients everything about what you sell. If you do, you will have no reason to follow up and see them again. You want to give a brief overview of what you sell at the first meeting. You also want to keep the first meeting very brief.

It is important to ask the client, as you finish a meeting, when they want you to follow up with them. This is very important because then when you do follow up, on the date they suggested, you do not appear to be pushy or too aggressive.

When you e-mail/call the client for the next appointment you should state: “I am following up with you now, because when we met on (state the date of your last meeting), you suggested I follow up with you at this time.” This is very powerful because you are doing what the client wants.

Most salespeople do not do this and therefore they follow up at the wrong time, before the client is ready to see them again. This often irritates the client.

All follow-up is your responsibility. You must anticipate your client’s needs. You do not want the client to have to call you to find out about delivery of an order or to ask when they will get something you said you would get to them.

Clients have many things to do each day and working with you is usually a small part of what they do. Your job is to make working with you easy and fun for the client. When a client knows that you are keeping them informed and taking care of all details, then they do not have to worry and they are happy to work with you. This is what you want.

Always keep your clients informed, even if you have bad news for them. Clients know that there are bumps in the road. Tell them right away when a shipment will be late. Tell them if you will be late delivering anything to them that you are working on. Clients want the truth from you. By being up front with clients, this will improve your relationship with them.

Quality Over Quantity

The quality of each sales call is critical. Many sales managers want their salespeople to turn in “call reports” because they feel quantity is critical. Many salespeople are forced to make a specific number of sales calls each day. I do not believe in this because the quality of a sales call greatly outweighs the quantity of sales calls. It is much better to take great care of 20 clients and do a lot of business with those 20, than to try and call on and keep track of 100 clients. If you try to work with too many clients, you will not do a good job and you will actually make less money.

Ask for Their Business

Tell clients in a nice way that you want to work hard to earn their business. If you are talking to a new prospect, they are most likely already buying a similar product from someone else. That is fine. Just ask them to please give you a chance to prove yourself to them. It is great to ask for a small order as this will get your foot in the door. Once you get any order, you must do a fantastic job of following up to insure the order is placed, the material is delivered, and the client is happy. If you do all that, then you can ask for another order.

Be Unique — Solve Problems

Set yourself apart from your competitors. Find out what the specific issues/concerns the client has with what they are now buying. Then explain how you and your products will solve their issues. You are always selling yourself and your products/services. Your clients are always evaluating you. Be a problem solver. Ask open-ended questions about the concerns/problems the client is having as it relates to the type of products you sell. Take notes and then tell your client you will follow up on each of his concerns and keep him posted as to how you will solve each of his concerns.

Features vs. Benefits

Features are what the product/service has and the benefits are what the client gets by having your product/service. State the feature, and then really state how that feature will benefit the client. That is what the client cares about. Many salespeople tell clients about all the bells and whistles their product has and they don’t spend time telling the client why these are important to him.

Listen!

We have two ears and one mouth. Use them proportionally. Most salespeople talk too much. Learn to be a fantastic listener. Learn to write down what the client says. That shows you care what he is saying and also helps you remember what you need to do next.

Learn to listen without the intent to respond. Just listen and take notes. The more the client talks, the better for you because he wants you to have information about him and what he needs from you.

Keep Listening

Please be sure not to interrupt your client. That is why you want to listen without the intent to respond. When the client finishes talking, let there to be a few seconds of silence as he may think of other things to tell you.

I suggest you look at your notes when the client stops talking. The reason is, if the client knows you are writing notes and listening, he may think of other things to say. When you look at the client when they stop talking, they will feel that it is your turn to talk. You want to give your client that extra opportunity to think of other things they want to say.

Communication is 55 percent non-verbal, 38 percent tone and seven percent content. This is very powerful. Pay attention and work on observing your body movements, eye movements and any noises you may make, like clicking a pen on and off, during a meeting. Be aware of your tone of voice. You may need to speak slower or softer. Only seven percent of what a client “hears” is what you actually say. The client is watching you all the time.

You want your clients to know that you sincerely have their best interest at heart. So tell them that you really care about them and you want to have a great business relationship with them. Clients will respect you for this.

The Power of Demonstrations

Demonstrations are very powerful during any face-to-face meeting. A presentation without a demonstration is just conversation: Do demos.

You will be remembered more for what you do and the client sees you doing than for what you say. Get the client involved too by having them do something. Put a brochure in their hand, put a sample of what you sell in front of them. When a client is involved, they will remember you much more.

Collect Kudos Often

Letters of recommendation are very powerful. I suggest you ask all good clients to write you a brief letter. You can use these letters to send to future prospects.

Follow-up is critical to your sales success.

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