10 Tips for Making a Perfect Sales Follow-up Call

When done right, follow-up calls are a brilliant way to seal the deal. They play an important part in the sales process.

But why are follow-ups so effective? Proper follow-up calls help you keep your prospects engaged. You can openly communicate with them and keep the conversations going. This, in turn, increases your chances of closing a deal successfully.

However, most sales representatives (44% to be exact) give up after making the first call. But 80% of successful deals require at least five follow-ups and several calls.

This post is all about making follow-up calls. So, if you are thinking about making a follow-up sales call perfectly, explore the tips we have listed!

So, how do you set up a perfect follow-up call?

Setting up a perfect follow-up call requires some homework. Get some information about your prospect, and then try out these five strategies.

1. Prepare
2. Schedule your follow-up call
3. Practice active listening 
4. Ask questions that matter
5. Get clarifications

1. Prepare

As we said, prepare for your call beforehand. For a sales call, note down the probable questions that your prospect or client might ask and prepare the answers. The same goes for follow-up calls on an inquiry or complaint. Once you prepare the answers, the chances of fumbling are less. You sound more convincing and confident.

2. Schedule your follow-up call

Calls during busy hours can get annoying. So, to avoid calling at the wrong time, it’s always a good idea to schedule your calls. This way, you can save your time and make the most out of telephonic conversations. Also, both you and your client will be ready for the call.

3. Practice active listening 

While you might have several questions, listen first. To make your conversation meaningful, strike a balance between speaking and listening. If you don’t bother to actively listen and engage, the client will lose interest after some time. Also, provide time for the client to respond. Be comfortable with silence and let them think about their answer.

4. Ask questions that matter

The success of your follow-up call depends on the questions you ask. Go for open-ended questions and avoid leading the client’s answers. So, before that scheduled sales call back, prepare a list of questions you can ask the prospect.

5. Get clarifications

Two things keep good follow-up calls going: getting clarifications of responses and reiterating these responses to ensure that you understand the client. This removes the possibility of misunderstandings and can lead to higher client satisfaction.

So, the next time you make that follow-up courtesy call, ensure you set yourself up for the most perfect, most successful call possible first!

10 Tips for making a perfect follow up call

Stressing about how to do a follow-up is going to lead you nowhere. So, relax and apply these tried and tested tips for the perfect follow-up call.

1. Set the right expectation for follow-up calls

Sales teams must plan their follow-up call at the end of sales calls. Ask your client about the next step. Then understand their interest and suggest your action plan.

Brief them about how you will be reaching out, for instance, through the phone. If the prospect confirms the next interaction, they can fix a date and time for the call.

2. Find out how to stay connected

At the end of a call, ask your prospect how you can stay in contact with them. Get to know the best way to reach them out.

Also, list a few reasons why staying in touch with you would be beneficial. For instance, provide solution briefs and decks, industry details or competitor analysis.

3. Learn the prospect’s preferred communication mode

Understand how your prospect prefers to communicate. You don’t want to bombard them with calls when they prefer emails.

After your discovery call, ask your prospect their preferred mode of communication. This takes you a step further to working with them.

Ask them what would work the best – a call, text, or a sales follow-up email. After that, confirm when to follow the call next. 

Ask the prospect - ‘When would be the best time for a follow-up? Can you make some time within a week?’

Such questions always get you a relevant answer without sounding aggressive.

4. Decide the next step at the end of a conversation

Figure out what you are trying to achieve with the client. Jot down the steps and follow them. This way, you can prepare for your next step accordingly.

If your conversation goes well, lock in a date and time for the next follow-up call. If your client commits to taking the next step, you can be sure of re-engaging them.

5. Give a reason for the follow-up

Whether you make a follow-up call, text, or email, ensure you specify a good reason behind it.

For example, if you send a follow-up email, put in some helpful information for the client, like any relevant industry news from Google alerts. Such personalisations in follow-ups go a long way.

Similarly, tell your client why you have called when making a follow-up call. Prepare your reasons beforehand to ensure a smooth conversation.

6. Send a conversation review via email

After your call or meeting, send an email that summarizes the entire conversation. This practice has several benefits:

• It proves that you have listened to and understood the client's needs
• It stores the discussion notes (removes misunderstanding)
• It holds your client accountable (once you get their confirmation on the email)

You can use such emails as a reference in the long run. Also, it means that you really did engage your client or prospect well!

7. Don’t forget to express gratitude

A little extra effort opens up a lot of possibilities. When dealing with a prospect, make sure to send them a thank you note after every call.

‘Thank you, David, for taking out the time to speak with me. I look forward to our meeting on 18th.’ 

A short ‘thank you’ message creates a certain degree of equity, making you different from the other salespeople.

8. Send an email with a reminder and the next agenda

The day before your follow-up courtesy call, send an email to your prospect to remind them of the appointment. This email can be a reminder and should also include your next call agenda. By agenda, we mean your point of discussion in the next call. 

Remember to use a slightly casual tone (business casual) to make your prospect feel comfortable over the call.

9. Use a speech analytics software 

A speech analytics software will help you with: 

• Analysing the sales conversations between reps and prospects to find gaps and improvement areas 
• Performing quick lead scoring to distinguish the high intent prospects from the low intent prospects. This will help you learn which prospects are more valuable and apt for following-up. 
• Generating an automated sales playbook to document all your sales activities and keep the entire team informed
  To know more, book your demo. 

10. Be persistent, Be patient, and polite

Perfecting a follow-up call requires a salesperson to be persistent, patient, and polite. In short, a thorough professional.

Avoid nagging the prospect if they aren’t responding. Leave a message so that they know you had called up on time. Wait for their response for 10-15 minutes. If you do not receive any, leave another message asking them to call you back when convenient.

Final Words

A perfect follow-up can happen in a few different ways, as each salesperson can blend in their ways of interaction. However, following best practices can help you win half the battle. So, use these tips and combine them with your confidence. Nothing can stop you from getting that deal right!