Marketing department in an organization uses 4P [Product, Price, Promotion, Place] to plan and execute its marketing strategies. And its aim is to create a market for their company’s products and services, if it is a new product or a service. If it is not a new product / service, then their aim is to create a market share for their company. Their job does not end with acquiring leads and passing them on to Sales. They need to validate the leads and qualify them as well. But that’s not all. They need to evaluate their campaign effectiveness, understand which channel delivers the maximum bang for the buck spent, analyze how the market responds to various campaigns and accordingly fine tune their campaign strategy in future.

Sales gets the leads from Marketing plus they also generate their own leads. Sales get references from their existing clientele. Due to word of mouth, sales people get calls from prospects that are hot.

Sales puts all the leads together and starts managing them. They need a good lead management tool [that is part of a CRM] to make their job easier.

While the leads are qualified as either hot or cold, there is a need to classify them as warm as well. In my experience, I have found that I had a competitive advantage over my competitors when I handled such warm leads very well over a long period of time.

Let us now take a look at things to remember during a follow-up call:

  1. Don’t say you are just following up.
  2. Don’t say you are checking in or just wanted to touch base.
  3. Say things that will arouse his/her interest in your products/services.
  4. Highlight the benefits of your products or service.
  5. Repeat the value your product or service delivers or the USP. Let it remain etched in his/her memory.
  6. With every touch, learn something new about the prospect and record it in your CRM.
  7. If you say something that resonates with the prospect, the deal will close faster than you think.
  8. Don’t educate the prospect on your product / service during a follow-up call. Unless, he asks you to.
  9. But definitely add value – give him information on your recent client acquisition or share news from your industry or the prospects industry.
  10. Ask the prospect, if this proposal is still in their high priority list.
  11. If it is still in the high priority list, ask when is it going to be taken up and what is it waiting for and how can you help.
  12. Get commitment from the prospect on the next date and expected progress from his side by that date else you commit to get back with some important information on a certain date.

Happy Selling !!