Follow up sales calls can be as important, if not more important, than the initial cold call. This is the point where you know that the prospect is genuinely interested in your product. This is the point where the lead nurturing campaign begins as you start to build a relationship and move the prospect through each stage of the sales cycle.  

Here are 4 tips for more successful follow up sales calls.

Ask for a Date

A big mistake that a lot of sales reps make during the first call is not getting a concrete date and time for a follow up call.

Instead, they settle for vague or ambiguous timeslots like the middle of next week or in a few days. This tends to result in a lot of missed calls, voicemails or the prospect being unavailable; which only drags out the whole sales process for both sides.

The simple solution to this is to ask for or suggest a time and date for your follow up call. If the time or date doesn’t suit the prospect, get them to give you a time. Just make sure you get something concrete. Having a specific time set means that you’re not just calling the office in the hopes that the prospect is free; they will be aware that you’re calling and what it’s about and, as a result, will be more willing to accept it.

Send a Reminder

Once you’ve finished the initial call, send the prospect a short email giving a brief overview of the call and set the date for your follow up telephone appointment. This helps to remind the prospect that you’ll be calling and gives them the opportunity to make a note of the appointment, or make any amendments to the day or time prior to your call.

Likewise, a day or two before your call send an email to the prospect confirming the date and time and a brief outline of what you’ll be discussing. If there are any schedule conflicts or problems with the date, it gives the prospect a chance to inform you of any changes and reschedule.

P.S. Add Some Value

The P.S. line at the end of an email can be very powerful so use it to add a little extra value to your email. At the bottom of your email, add a P.S. line with a link to an article, blog post or eBook that is useful to the prospect and relates in some way to what you discussed.

It could be as simple as linking to a post on your blog that’s relevant to the prospect’s market, industry or business. This will help to demonstrate that you understood the needs of your prospect and took the time to be useful and give them something extra; which should help impress the prospect and give them another good reason to take your call.

Be Punctual

You wouldn’t show up late for a face-to-face meeting with a prospect, so why should a phone appointment be any different? Not only does a late call reflect badly on you and your company, it can also jeopardise your chance of reaching the prospect or rescheduling any future follow up sales calls.

If you schedule a follow up sales call for 3pm then call at 3pm, not 2:05 or 2:10. You should treat the call as you would any meeting; be punctual and respectful of the prospect’s time because they have better things to do than sit by the phone waiting for your call.