3 Reasons Why Following Up on Each Sales Lead is Essential
We’re all busy, all the time. Now, more than ever, our daily lives are filled with both useful activities and distractions. It’s somewhere between difficult and impossible to keep track of everything that needs to be done without some helpful reminders. That goes for opportunities for growth, too, both yours and that of each sales lead. Though alerted to the possibility of a mutually beneficial business arrangement, a prospective customer may soon forget about the pitch in the shuffle of all their other responsibilities. The answer to this problem is to follow up. Let’s look at three reasons why.
1: It Breaks Through Barriers
In the first place, only rarely will an agent successfully contact a target sales lead on the very first attempt. Most cold calls are still either unanswered or go to voicemail, and the trend on both has been upward. Nothing short of dogged persistence will overcome this first obstacle. Calling on different days, at different times, and reaching out via email and social media are all key to making that first contact. Without this, there is no conversation.
Even with all those necessary efforts, it’s still common that an agent will first have to speak with a gatekeeper before being allowed to contact their target. Follow-up is key here, too, as you’ll have to find a way around or through them.
“No matter how good your message is, you may not get a chance to deliver it without consistent, persistent follow-up.” — M. Russell Ballard
2: It Keeps Your Message Top-of-Mind
Once you do get the chance to speak with your prospect, a single conversation is never enough. Too much is at stake in any business deal to base a decision off of one contact alone. A single contact also won’t keep up the momentum of a relationship versus the many other considerations sales leads have to deal with all the time. It’s important for both sides to always make and keep a follow-up commitment after that first call or email. This is true whether the prospect is highly enthusiastic and wants to talk again tomorrow, or even if they’re not interested right now but might be in a different position next year. Either scenario should result in a calendar appointment.
When the time comes, following up will remind the prospect of the previous conversation, and allow the potential deal to progress.
3: It Shows That You Care
Following up shows that you’re organized. It shows that keeping your word matters to you and your company. It shows that you’re not just thinking about yourself, but willing to do the hard work that makes lives better on both sides of the deal. Each sales lead deserves your dedication to solving their problems. That’s the only way to get anything worthwhile done. One call and one conversation are never enough.
Boomsourcing applies this principle in all the ways we serve our customers. We know that good service is all about good follow-up. The members of our SDR team do it when they take the burden of cold-calling off our clients’ shoulders. Same thing with the customer service agents who listen to your potential customers and send you all the information you need to be able to help them before your competitors do. Contact us today and we’ll follow up to help your organization scale and reach your goals.
