Follow Up Strategies for B2B Sales Leads

Following up with both B2B sales leads is essential if you have a long sales cycle. Once you've acquired a lead, you'll need to contact him or her to make a sale. But it takes more than just a short 5-minute phone call to convert a prospect into a paying client. Check out these follow-up call strategies to improve your conversion rates.

Use a Follow-Up Schedule 

If you haven't done so already, create a follow-up schedule for your industrial prospects in which you call them on specific dates and times. Trying to “wing it” usually turns out bad, as you may unintentionally call the same prospect multiple times per week. And when a prospective client is constantly seeing your name pop up on their caller ID, it may hurt their perception of your business. So to maintain a high level of satisfaction with prospects, create and use a follow-up schedule with your calls spread out. Using a CRM, such as Salesforce or Zoho can really help avoid this problem.

Help, Dont Sell!

When making follow-up calls to prospects, focus on helping your prospect make the best decision for their given situation; not your commision check. A good salesperson will explain the different products that he or she offers, how those products work, and why they are a good fit for the prospective client. If you appear to have a personal agenda, that will hurt your rapport with that prospect. Be proactive in your follow-up calls and really go the extra mile to make the sale.

Keep Trying

Not every prospects is going to answer his or her phone the first time you call. Rather than throwing in the towel and giving up, you should continue to follow up with additional calls. According to a study published on Velocify, calling three times yields an 81% chance of making contact with a prospect, whereas calling six times yields a 93% chance. Calling just once, however, yields a 48% of making contact. Keep in mind that the more times you attempt to make contact, the less likely the prospect is to convert. You can also try other forms of commucation as well, like email, socail media, or even a mailed hard copy brochure.

Call During the Weekdays

Follow-up calls tend to have a greater impact when performed during the weekdays, with Wednesday and Thursday being the most effective. Take a quick look at our infographic to learn about the optimum times to follow up with your sales leads.

Share Success Stories

Nobody wants to feel as if they are the first to do something; there is risk in that. If you share testimonials, whitepapers, case studies, you can often nurture you leads. If one of your clients recently experienced a 20% revenue increase after purchasing new equipment from your business, let other prospects know. Hearing these success stories reveals the first-hand benefits of purchasing your products, which should have a positive impact on your follow-up conversions.

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