How good are you at following up on the quotes and proposals you send?
Do you proactively call and make contact with potential customers?
Do you hit send and wait to see if they come back to you?
One of the gaps I come across most often when reviewing a company's sales process is the point at which they should be following up on quotes and proposals. What’s crazy about this is that you’ve spent the time and money to create and send them the quote, but then there is little or no process to follow up on it.
One of the questions I get asked most often is, how do I contact potential customers without coming across as if I’m weird and harassing them? This is a cultural concern, we hated the idea of coming across as salesy, pushy or worse, desperate. So we shy away from the idea of contacting potential customers to ask them if they want to go ahead. So we wait and see if they come back to us.
This is a mistake!
In reality potential customers really appreciate it when you get and keep in touch. It shows you care, it shows you’re interested and it shows you want to do business with them. The number of clients who have followed our sales process who report that the feedback they get is that they were the only company who kept in touch with them, that got back to them. It is also a demonstration of your service. By not following up or contacting them it basically looks like you’re not interested in their business.
Contact and keep in touch with your potential customers.
