6 Best Sales Follow Up Techniques

Whether you’re a manufacturer or a wholesaler, no doubt you’re always striving to get your latest products into retail outlets. You’ve crafted amazing emails, engaged in enthusiastic phone calls with procurement officers and everything has been positive. Yet, following those initial promising interactions, you’ve heard nothing but crickets since.

Sales in any form is an ongoing, step-by-step process, which is why it’s crucial to follow up after those first conversations. With this in mind, this article focuses on the best sales follow up techniques you can employ to get your products into shops across Australia or New Zealand.

Do you understand your customers?

Before delving into the best follow up sales techniques, it’s important to know the person or business you want to collaborate with. To establish a mutually beneficial relationship, you must understand your customer so you can build that all-important customer rapport.

Take time to research their business model so you have a firm grasp of what they do, their key challenges in the retail market, and their pressure points. When you know your customers intimately, you increase your chances of success exponentially.

1. Be persistent

When you hear nothing but dead silence after a sales call, email or meeting, some people are put off, but don’t let this deter you. Sales success rarely comes without persistence. As the cliche goes, “the squeaky wheel gets the oil”. Persistence, combined with belief in your product, is what gets most sales people across the line eventually.

2. Reiterate the value of your product

When you do follow up with your potential customers via email, by phone or an in-person meeting, refrain from using slick sales talk. Instead, address their specific pain points and highlight how your product addresses them, and reiterate the value of the product or products you’re offering and the service you will provide.

Better yet, if you have any success stories, share those with the purchasing officer or store manager. Success stories demonstrate your product’s value, and how it provides solutions to problems in real-world examples. This is far more powerful than a glossy sales pitch.

3. Focus on your client’s communication preferences

Not everyone prefers to communicate in the same manner. For some, email is the better option, as it allows the individual to read your follow up letter at their leisure, rather than feeling pressured by a phone call. Email also works well for people who are busy throughout the workday and don’t always have time to take phone calls.

For others, they may prefer phone calls and more direct communication. There are some folks who simply don’t like reading and prefer to talk instead.

Another option is crafting a personalised video message as a follow up to your initial interaction. Like the email option, this gives the buyer the opportunity to view the video in their own time. Video also works well for people who don’t have a passion for reading.  Bonjoro.com is a great tool for doing this, and integrates with many CRM apps.

When it comes to communicating with your customers, it’s best to find out beforehand how they prefer to communicate with you. This demonstrates your willingness to engage with them on their terms and showcases your dedication and flexibility.

4. Keep your follow ups brief

People working in the retail sector are often very busy, so when you do follow up via email, a phone call or a personal meeting, keep your interactions brief and on point. You’re far more likely to get a positive response if they see you’re showing respect for their time constraints.

5. Clearly define the next steps

When you do follow up with a prospect, it’s vital that you clearly define the next steps. For example, if the purchasing officer needs time to discuss your products and offers with others on the team, agree to follow up again in a week or two. Likewise, if you’ve held a product demonstration and the prospect expresses interest but won’t yet commit, arrange a follow up within a certain time period.

The same applies when they agree to take your product on board. Don’t just leave them hanging once you’ve got the green light. Map out the next steps in the process so you can get your product into their shop before they have a chance to cool off.

6. Create a sense of urgency

Creating a sense of urgency in your sales follow ups is one of the most effective methods you can employ to get people to take action. However, when dealing with the retail sector, it’s important to do this gently, as you don’t want to come across as sounding like you’re husling them into a deal.

Some ways you can create a more subtle sense of urgency is to mention things like upcoming promotions, limited-time offers, or any industry trends that highlight the benefits of making a decision on your product sooner rather than later. These methods can nudge them towards taking action, and also show that you’re invested in their immediate success.

Time sensitivity and scarcity are two tactics that create a sense of urgency and motivate people to take action.

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