Following up is an essential part of any sales process. However, nearly half of sales professionals (44%) give up after only one attempt. Instead of throwing in the towel, keep going – but with a wiser approach.

Whether you’re following up after an initial conversation or checking in after you’ve submitted a sales proposal, you should always aim to follow up in a way that keeps you top of mind without being spammy.

In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we highlight a post from the Dock blog that covers some of the best tips for following up without bothering your leads.

  1. Don’t wait too long. Try to follow up as soon as possible. The Dock post points out that leads contacted within the first five minutes are 100 times more likely to convert.

  2. Get the cadence right. This can be tricky, because there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to following up. Instead, the Dock post recommends trying to find the sweet spot where you’re not pushy but also not forgotten.

  3. Remember the top of the funnel. Don’t lose sight of your contact rates and meeting rates. If you only focus on closing deals at the bottom of the funnel, you could miss out on some big opportunities.

  4. Embrace multithreading. Instead of only following up with one champion, the Dock post says it’s smart to build a network of champions by multithreading. This allows you to create more advocates for your solution on the buying team. (Want more on multithreading? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s PromoPro Daily.)

  5. Focus on buyer enablement. In your follow-ups, try to make it as easy as possible for your prospects to work with you. The post says you should provide prospects with all the information they need to make an informed decision.

  6. Consider the channel. Different leads prefer different channels, from email to texts to social media. According to the Dock post, you can avoid overwhelming your leads or annoying them by using their preferred channel.

  7. Use a digital sales room. In this centralized location, your leads can find everything they need in one place. They can easily share things like proposals, contracts and presentations with a single link.

  8. Establish the next step. When you follow up, always know what should come next. For example, if you’re on a discovery call, take the last five minutes to go over next steps. The Dock post says a follow-up action plan can help you avoid any miscommunication and ensure you stay on track with your leads.

  9. Personalize your follow-up. It’s OK to automate your follow-up to a degree, the post says, but you should also try to personalize as much as possible. Even just adding their name to the subject line can help build a stronger connection.

Sales follow-up can be effective or annoying – it all depends on how it’s done. Make sure you’re following up in the most helpful way by considering the points above.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: The Dock blog. Dock is a client-facing workspace for creating sales proposals, onboarding plans and more.