Whether B2B or B2C: Follow-ups are to sales as the sand is to the beach and the water is to the sea; in private life, online shopping reminds you that the shopping cart is still full. With the shop's friendly reminder that there is only one step left to complete the order, you try to close the deal. As Sales Reps, you sit on the other side of your day-to-day work. You consider whether you should pick up the phone again and call the potential customer or how to phrase a follow-up email most charmingly.
Why should you bother with Follow-Ups?
Good question, and first a short answer, which we will get to in a moment: Follow-ups are incredibly important for a successful sales process! And because this insight is unfortunately still paid far too little attention to, we want to go into it.
Analyses have shown that carelessness in the follow-ups makes a successful deal less and less likely. So carelessness costs you money at this point. Only in 2% of successfully closed deals did a Follow Ups already lead to business success - the success rate increases with the continuation of Follow Ups. Thus, 10% of all deals won required at least four Follow Ups. The biggest leap, the success threshold, is reached with 5 Follow Ups. More than a quarter of the business won, 80% to be exact, could only be won after 5 Follow Ups and more. This means that salespeople who give up after the first, second, third or fourth attempt do not have an 80% chance of success. However, only about 8% of salespeople perform a fourth Follow Up.
Why do 44% of Sales Reps give up after the 1st Follow Up?
Two of the main reasons why they give up already at the beginning of the Follow Up race are:
1. Sales Reps feel uncomfortable with multiple Follow Ups.
Most Sales Reps still feel comfortable following up after an initial sales call about a Follow-up. It is a different story regarding a second or third Follow-Up. The more often you contact a person without getting any feedback, the stronger the feeling of annoying the other side becomes. This situation, usually fraught with negative emotions, leads to the psychologically understandable decision not to carry out any further Follow Ups.
Surely you know this feeling, and perhaps you have already given up. Dare to take one or two more steps in the future and keep at it! Keep your eye on the target, and do not forget that negligence in Follow Ups costs money.
2. Follow-ups are lost sight of or simply not done
The second reason brings us back to one of the biggest problems in everyday sales: there is always more to do, but less and less time. Follow-ups are easily forgotten or considered unnecessary. Of course, you should avoid this at all costs in order to be successful. For continuous Follow Ups, the saying "order is half the battle" applies, which most people surely know. Successful Follow-Ups should therefore be embedded in good task management.
Follow-ups and task management: How to do it right.
Unfortunately, we cannot relieve you of the feeling of discomfort. But we can tell you that it will be worth it to leave your comfort zone and continue with the Follow Ups. What do you have to lose here?
The theory with follow-ups and task management sounds relatively simple, doesn't it? Set Follow-Ups as tasks, structure them well and then really follow through. But what sounds simple in theory leads to problems in practice. It is important that both areas are coordinated.
In our Sales Coffee last week, we asked salespeople how they plan their to-dos. The participants in the survey named 24 different tools, of which only 1/5 were related to the CRM system. The good old notepad was not mentioned but can also be found on most salespeople's desks.
The diverse listing of tools clearly shows two things:
1. there is a lack of central sales-oriented tools
2. systems are predominantly used that are detached from the CRM and thus from the other data.
So what does an effective solution for sales look like?
An all-in-one solution is needed that combines task management and follow-up in sales in a meaningful and effective way. This should make it possible to keep deal-related data, tasks and follow-ups together in one central location. Benefits include time savings and less loss of information and context.
Now you might think that a CRM provides such a solution. CRM systems offer a wide range of functions, but most are not geared towards sales. That's why salespeople rarely/never use or are very reluctant to use them, as we described in detail in our last article. Poor data maintenance leads, among other things, to the fact that follow-up management is not possible or only possible with enormous effort.
Dealcode offers you a centralised and sales-oriented place for Follow-Ups and task management. With the Smart ToDo Manager, you can quickly and easily define tasks and follow-ups for each deal. The AI supports you and makes suggestions tailored to the deal, which activity you should use in the next step for a successful close. Your pending tasks are prepared and displayed daily, so you do not have to waste time searching for and compiling them. Of course, if you fail to complete a task, Dealcode will remind you. Our tool also provides a clear overview of the status of your pipeline and other functions that make your everyday sales life easier.
Take a look at Dealcode yourself and see for yourself. And most importantly, do not give up on your follow-ups and optimise your task management.
