Would you like to know one of the fastest ways to damage your credibility? When you tell a customer that you will follow up on a question and then you don’t! Know that with all certainty in the world that your customer didn’t forget about the question that they asked you. They remember and they are expecting an answer, and one in a timely manner. When you tell a customer that you will follow up on something, then do it! Take the time to write down their question so that you get it right. Then read it back to the customer and have them confirm that you got it right. Then follow up in a timely manner- it shows a sense of urgency in getting back to them. By writing down the question and having them confirm, you are building more trust and credibility. Your customer is seeing how serious you are taking them. You are a professional salesperson ensuring that you want to get things right. This adds value.
Another best practice: at the conclusion of your meeting with the client, if there were a handful of follow up items that you need to follow up on, a great way of closing the meeting is by repeating each of the items that you owe the customer a response back on (which you wrote down in the meeting). Trust me, your customer will be impressed that you didn’t miss a beat and that you were paying close attention.
Why is this really important? When a client is about to sign your contract or cut you a check, they want to know one thing. They want to know if they can trust you and that you and your product are the best for them. By doing these little things, these little best practices, you are building trust throughout the sales cycle. And why is this important? Because the more you do this, the more trust that the customer will have in you. As a result, they will buy from you sooner, and they will buy more happily and more confidently!
I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed salespeople say that they would follow up and then would fail to do so. Whenever I saw this happening, as a sales manager, I would chime in and take the lead. I would recap the follow-up items we owed the customer and then see to it that we got back to the client in a timely manner. As a top-selling sales pro, your manager should not have to do this for you. Follow up on your follow-ups!
-Happy Selling!