Sales Coaching - How To Successfully Follow Up

When I accompany sales people on their appointments in my capacity as a sales coach, I very rarely see the follow up used as a sales tool. However, I have witnessed two extremes of sales follow up technique that left me cold.

The first was immediately after the sales person had finished the presentation of the price and received a polite, Well have to think about that, it is more than we anticipated paying. The negotiation was based on discount which still was not bringing the price down to the customers expected price level.

The sales person then packed his things and stated that he had to call his manager to tell him how the appointment had finished. You can see it coming the manager then wanted to talk to the customer and, blow me down with a feather, more discount was offered to close the sale. This technique actually turned the customer off so much that I could see the anger in their face. Something the sales person missed!

What a shame that the only selling skills available was based on discount rather than understanding the customers perceived idea of value for this particular product.

The other extreme of follow up was used by a sales person selling kitchens and, at the end of the fruitless presentation, told the customer that he would call in a few days having given them time for thought about the purchase.

What made it worse was the statement, I have to follow up every call or my manager has a go at me and after a certain period the system takes the lead back and I get nothing. I dont know if this was the sympathy sale close technique!

The follow up call was made a few days later with this, less than effective, telephone call. Hello, this is from (names withdraw). Have you thought about the price any further, or what other thoughts have you had. Im not sure I need to comment on the quality and substance of this follow up call because it is so similar to many I have witnessed in the past.

Here are some tips on how to make sales follow up calls more effective.

• Make an appointment with the customer for the follow up; what day, morning or afternoon, what phone number.
• Agree what the subject of the call will be about; not just asking about if the customer has thought more about the purchase.
• Have another reason for the customer to buy; but ensure this reason has a customer based benefit, not just the offer of another discount.
• Have a progression plan for what happens after the follow up call; many sales people just continually use follow up calls as their method of keeping a sales prospect live.

During my Follow Up Workshops the delegates discover different ideas on how to make their calls more effective. Many find that creating a rough script helps to put some structure to the calls. Delegates also coach each other in how the call sounds from a customers point of view. Many have reported an up-lift in conversion ratios after implementing a properly thought through sales follow up process.

Telephone communication for follow up and sales prospecting is a science and I am amazed at how many call centre and sales operations get it so badly wrong. Many subtle messages can be delivered through a well planned, non-visual conversation but this needs to be set up well in advance even at the point of first contact with the prospective customer.

Ian Ludlow has a successful lifetime career in the commercial and domestic sales environments. His passion has always been with selling direct to the public and developing sales processes to match the needs and wants of customers with a variety of products and services. He is a Master Practitioner of NLP (neuro-Linguistic Programming), having learned this subtle and powerful mind altering technique from the Co-Founder, Richard Bandler. As an international trainer and sales management coach he has helped many companies change their techniques and processes with great effect.

You can contact Ian through SIGNPOST - http://www.sales-and-management-training.com His business improves the sales ratios of individuals, sales teams and managers that sell their products and services direct to the public.

Sales Skills Sickness
What sales skills sickness might actually boost your sales strengths and minimize yours weaknesses? I know this sentence may ...

Sales Lead Management
Sales lead management is one of the key foundations of good sales. If you are a business owner, it is essential for you to ha...

Send Me in Coach!
At one time there was a long-standing belief in many sales organizations that coaching of sales representatives was a fundame...

A Sales Process Must be Certified to be Successful
If you were required to certify your sales process to be listed as a sales manager, could you? If you are like me, you have f...

Strategies For Leading A Sales Force
You must take the responsibility of being the facilitator of learning. Sales people do expect you to be able coach and train ...

Superior Sales Management Coaching The Successful Blending of Process and Content
Executive OverviewLong before coaching became a recognized niche of and by itself, there was a long-standing belief in many s...

The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Sales Manager
Sales Management is one of the highest paid occupations in the Western world. It is also full of risk, complexity, opportunit...

Sales Coaching… Fact or Fiction?
The old adage in selling has always been, Find out what they want, then, give it to them. The fundamentals of selling are cle...

Top 5 Reasons Why Your Sales Team Is Unproductive
Sales are a challenging task for any company, and running and managing and effective sales team is vital for your companys bo...

Being a Good Coach
Every sales manager or director knows that they have to spend some time training and working with their staff so they continu...

Automate Sales and Start a Revolution
Sales Management can learn by example from Henry Ford. Almost a hundred years ago Henry Ford revolutionized an industry. This...

Opening A Dollar Store - Watch Out For Sales Changes!
Being an entrepreneur includes many challenges. Opening a dollar store is no exception. One of the challenges is in being so ...

Is Anyone Really Managing Sales in Your Organization?
Or, are your salespeople pretty much on their own to meet the companys sales and gross margin objectives?In too many companie...

Differentiation - The Key To People Remembering You And Your Game
What exactly are you selling? What is your product or service? How do you differentiate yourself from everyone else? Are yo...

Game, Set and Match
There is one question I want to ask you today, does your current customer and prospect list qualify to be on your customer li...

Mistakes Keeping You From Getting An Interview
It has been a couple days you and you have sent out many resumes and wonder why employers are not calling? Have you asked you...

The Evolution of Sales — Review
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is a huge difference.Lone Wolf Lead Wolf --...

Which is Better Hire a Salesperson or Invest in a Sales Assistant?
What does it cost to hire a good salesperson? Many companies spend about one fourth the annual salary of a salesperson on job...

7 Common Resume Cliches To Avoid
Writing a rsum isnt easy. To your reader this one piece of paper is you, and he or she is going to give it about 20 seconds o...

Great Sales Managers Make Less than all their Sales People
Are you a great sales manager? Well if you really are a great sales manager then every single one of the sales people under y...