The quickest and surest way to fail as a salesperson is to neglect following up with leads after a sales meeting.
Too often salespeople take shortcuts by waiting for the next meeting with his/her lead. Even more often, sales people fail to:
- Input key meeting information into their CRM
- Send a thank you note with sustentive facts
- Propose an action item and schedule next steps
These three basic steps may seem obvious, but they are commonly overlooked.
After meeting with your prospect, take these 3 steps to properly follow up.
1) Update meeting information in your CRM. Log notes about the conversation such as what the prospect likes and dislikes. Establishing repertoire is key to nurturing that lead. She might mention that she is traveling to San Francisco for the next two weeks and won’t be able to have a face to face meeting. Be proactive! Note this inside your company’s CRM and follow up accordingly.
2) Say thank you. A truly genuine thank you note from a colleague or salesperson is rare. This development evolved because we now primarily communicate via texts, emails and other mediums behind a screen. Good salespeople write a follow up email, but the best sales people use Inkit’s platform to send out a real postcard. Adding a more personal touch is more likely to make you stand out the masses who only send an email.
3) Schedule your next touch in your CRM/calendar. Following up is all about discipline. Whether it’s a phone call, email, in-person meeting, or a postcard, keeping prospects on track and current with your action items closes deals. The best salespeople communicate action items and next steps their prospects. They then track dates in their CRM for next actions and steps to be completed. Salespeople who don’t follow this methodology are putting the responsibly of restarting the conversation on the prospect.
The best salespeople incorporate these tips in to their everyday sales toolbox and find ways to streamline the process. Inkit can automate postcard follow ups from inside the HubSpot CRM.
