5 Tips For Insanely Powerful and Surprising Sales Follow-Up
Not long ago, my wife Melissa and I walked into a new home sales office where a very pleasant woman – whom we will call Betty – greeted us. Betty told us about the highlights of her community, why her company rocks and about all of the features included in the models. And then we left.
Three weeks later we received a card in the mail that read something like this:
Ryan and Melissa,
Thank you for visiting our community at ___________. We still have 20 homesites to choose from and several inventory homes that are ready for move-in. We would love to schedule a time for you to come back in and get some more details. My days off are Tuesday and Wednesday. If you have any questions, please call anytime.
– Betty
What is wrong with this follow-up? I know, I know …it’s hard to know where to begin!
Before you tear Betty to pieces, let’s give her credit for at least sending a follow up card. Most of the time we don’t receive any follow up at all: no call, no email, no card …n-o-t-h-i-n-g.
Want to stand out from the crowd and boost your sales? Here are five surprising and insanely powerful tips for great follow-up:
1. Do it
As mentioned, most people never receive any type of post visit communication. I promise you that there are sales sitting inside your CRM or in the stack of registration cards hiding in your bottom drawer. Call these people or at least email them! Your bank account will thank you.
2. Do it Faster
According to InsideSales.com, 50 percent of be-back sales go to the first sales person to follow-up with a prospect. The fact that Betty waited three weeks to contact us means she could very likely be following up with someone who already bought a home from another sales person.
If you want to capture the buyer at the height of their emotional altitude, follow-up within four hours of their visit to your sales office. Yes, you read that correctly: I recommend following up within a four hour window from your initial meeting. Enthusiasm does not increase over time; it dwindles …and it dwindles fast.
3. Personalize the Heck Out of it!
Betty sent us a pretty generic card, which isn’t unusual. Most sales people send generic cards clearly generated via some kind of template. The same holds true for email. If you want to stand out, take the time (it doesn’t take much) to make your communication actually mean something to your prospective buyer.
But personalizing your follow-up requires you to get personal with your prospects during your sales presentation. Find out why they are moving and uncover what isn’t working for them right now. By getting more personal, you discover something far more surprising to talk about in your follow-up: THEM!
4. Use Video
Video is everything these days. Our society transmits more video in one day today than all of the information transmitted by video from the beginning of time through 2003. Use video clips to showcase the amenities you know your clients want. Surprise them with the kitchen they gasped about, the closet space that made them grin. Shoot video of yourself relaying a personalized message. Get creative and forget about what you may look like on camera. As Nike says, “Just Do It.”
5. Be Consistent
People visit a sales office because something in their life isn’t right — they feel dissatisfied. And that dissatisfaction tends to grow over time. The customer that came in yesterday with a level four dissatisfaction and didn’t buy will likely grow to a level seven or eight dissatisfaction in the next six months. The question is, are you following-up consistently enough for them to remember you when they finally decide to purchase?
Work on improving your follow-up skills and not only will you increase your commissions this year, but you will change someone’s world.
