How many times have you had a sales call that you walk away from feeling great then turn into the customer going silent on you?
We’ve all had that issue, and the typical way salespeople handle this is by thinking if they just send a great follow-up note immediately after the meeting, everything will be fine.
Problem is the note does nothing beyond recapping what happened. It doesn’t have its own call to action and way to engage the customer. Key is to not rehash in writing what was said verbally, but to also engage the customer with another question.
Check out this 69-second video where I talk more about this:
When you pose another question in the follow-up, you’re inviting the customer to remain engaged with you. The beauty of their response is you now have another reason to communicate with them again.
Not every customer will respond, but you can be assured the ones who do are those you want to pay attention to the most. I use this approach to provide me with guidance as to which prospects are the best.
We can’t assume just because a prospect does not respond that they are not interested. No, they may not have responded simply due to a lack of time. What this means is I can’t dismiss those who don’t respond, but I certainly can use it as an indication that the prospect may not offer as much potential as I originally thought.
Another way this strategy helps you is it gives you one more item on which to follow up again. Your questions and their responses allow you to keep them engaged in a way that they will see you as an asset. The reason they’ll view you as an asset is because you’re showing them you value their opinion and insight.
When you use this strategy effectively, you’ll have fewer customers who go silent on you and you’ll find yourself uncovering more information that allows you to close the sale faster.
Copyright 2017, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.
