PrintEmail

"Look, can I think about it?"

That one sentence spoken by a prospect can strike fear into any sales person. But as buyers ourselves, we all know that sometimes we really do want time to mull over our options.

Yet, you must admit that conversation is often last we have had with the sales person. So many sales people are poor at following up with their prospects. And isn’t it also true that those sales people that consistently, but politely, follow up are usually more likely to clinch the deal?

Well, email could be the hidden tool to make even your

most "time challenged" sales person become a follow up "super-hero". What’s more, it could all work on auto-pilot!

Let me explain.
For this system to work, you need to have a sales cycle of some reasonable length to let it work its magic. If your prospects frequently "think about it" for a couple of days, then you're out of luck. You need a few weeks or more.

Frequently, however, prospects take time to make their decision, especially if those decisions are complex or of a high value. In these cases, weeks can turn into months as prospects go through all the available options. These situations are ideal for email to be put to task.

To start, let me show you how the autopilot system could work. Then I’ll give you some examples of the content your follow-up messages could contain.

Automating your email
To make this all work, you will need a special type of email application. Called an "auto-responder", this tool allows you to send out pre-written messages to a list of contacts over a specified time interval. There are many available and Permission can help you choose the right one for your needs.

What do you put in your messages?
Once you have chosen the correct tool, you will need to design your ideal prospect follow-up program. Your content needs to focus on what your prospects may be "thinking about" as they mull over their options.

Maybe you could reassure them through third party testimonials that they are not the first customer of their type looking for a similar solution.

Or you could send them information that helps reaffirm your capability and what differentiates you from your competitors.

Each of your messages should build on the content described in the sales presentation with a slight twist to push them into making a decision your way. Nobody wants to receive messages that just repeatedly ask for the order!

An email follow-up system could deliver a message each week for a month or so, perhaps supplemented with the occasional phone call. Do this and your sales people will be on track to help those "thinking" into those buying.

So next time your sales people ask for the order and get, "Can I think about it" as the reply, why not let them counter this with: "Do you mind if I follow up with you via email?"

Once back at the office, they can dive onto the Internet, add their new lead to the follow- up auto-responder system and va va voom – they are transformed into follow-up superheros.