Sales Follow Up Call | Tips and Techniques

Doing a sales follow up call is one of the most neglected aspects of sales. Study after study has shown that sales reps quite often give up just before the sales is made.

All the time and energy spent in generating the sales leads, cold calling, prospecting and doing the sales presentation could have born fruit with just a few more sales follow up calls.

Most sales reps quit the follow up process after 5 calls but research has shown that most people make a buying decision at call number 7.

If you’ve been in sales, you know that this is probably true for you as well. Here are a few things you can do to improve each sales follow up call.

Main Problem with Follow Up

The type of follow up that’s needed, however, is not the type that mechanically goes through a list of prospects to get the phone call in.

But it’s a thoughtful and concerted effort to take them to the next level in making the decision and at the very least, building another level of relationship or trust.

This type of sales follow up call requires that you make every call count. Most sales reps follow up asking, “would you like to place and order?” The prospects will usually say, “no, I haven’t made a decision yet.” Then the sales follow up call ends.

There is no hard and fast formula to take them to the next level or to build relationship, but here are the guidelines that I use to make each follow up call count.

Ask for the Order

This is obvious, but whatever you do on the call, you should somehow find a way to ask for the order each time. This way, they are clear about what you’re calling about as well as value your time and theirs. It should seem obvious that you’re trying to sell them something, but if it’s left to be implied, it’ll be overlooked in the midst of other distractions on both ends.

Take them to the Next Level - Find Out What Their Hesitation Is

There’s always a reason for not buying, whether it’s money, not enough time to think about it, more research. Whatever the reason is, offer your assistance in helping them find a solution.

Then on your next call, don’t just ask for the order. Also refer back to your last conversation. ‘Mr. Prospect, last time we spoke, you mentioned that this was the reason you didn’t want to buy right now.”

This builds upon that last sales follow up call that you had so you don't have to start over. Also, this builds credibility and trust knowing that you are listening to his needs and not just wanting a sale.

Now most sales reps cannot remember the majority of the conversations they have with prospects. Most sales reps use a CRM or some sort of customer relationship management system to keep track of their calls.

Make sure you do detailed notes after each call, detailing what the conversation was about. Also make not of any other information that the prospect has volunteered. Never waste a prospect's statement.

Build Relationship – Find Out One Thing About Them Personally or Business

One of my objectives of every call is to learn something new about the prospect whether it’s a personal or business related. And I try to make reference to at least one point of fact that I’ve learned previously on each sales follow up call.

This helps your prospect feel like you’re building a relationship with him and getting to know him instead of just getting his sale. You have to sell your prospect on you and then on your product. To get them sold on you as a person, you need to show him that you care about him, want to get to know him and really have the best in mind for him.

That translates into selling when with integrity and honesty you share how your product or service is going to genuinely help him and his business. If you can show this effectively, you will make the sale.

These are a few things you can do on your sales follow up call to make it worth while for you and the prospect and help you get that sale.

If you're doing something like learning how to sell insurance for example, learning how to do an effective sales follow up call will give you the edge over the competition.