After qualifying prospects, salespeople should follow up. It is the most difficult thing to do. You have qualified a lead and they have expressed an interest in your product. The next steps are crucial to ensure success. These are some tips to help you follow up on qualified leads.
What do you do after you have qualified a lead? If the answer is no, you may need to rethink your approach. Qualifying leads is only one step to generating revenue for your company. If done correctly, it can result in more sales and higher conversion rates.
Salespeople should follow up after they have qualified prospects. This blog post will explain how salespeople can follow up on qualified prospects.
Qualify a Prospect: Step-by-Step Guide
Your business cards are ready. To the sales call, you’re dressed in a suit. Before you meet with a prospect to discuss your offer, do you know what qualification questions you should ask them? It is most likely that you don’t.
New salespeople make the common mistake of taking every opportunity they get, even if it is a good fit.
This can hurt your business. Instead of focusing on qualified prospects interested in what you offer, you spend too much time dealing with unqualified customers.
Step 1: Verify Identity
This is an important step in the qualification process. You will often find that prospects calling themselves “John Smith” have a different credit card number or are using a company’s name instead of their own.
Ask for the individual’s license to operate a business and check it with the Chamber of Commerce. It is important to find out if the person in question has the authority to purchase your product or services.
You can reach your prospect by email, phone, or fax if you are unable to reach them.
This is where you can avoid wasting your time with unqualified prospects. Also, make sure that you are speaking with someone who has the authority to make the purchase decision.
Step 2: Understand Their Needs
After verifying the identity of the prospect, it is time to start asking questions about their needs. You can do this in many ways, including online surveys, in person, or by phone.
To get people talking, ask open-ended questions to find out their needs. People will often know what they want, but may not be able to communicate it.
The right questions can help you to understand their business goals and the best way your product or service could help them achieve them.
Once you have a good understanding of the prospect’s needs you can ask them additional questions such as what kind of company they work for, how long they have been in business and any other relevant questions that may be pertinent to your product or services.
Step 3: Position Your Product or Services
After you have gathered as much information as possible from your prospect, you can now position your product or services to meet their needs.
Don’t be too self-serving when you do this. They will be put on the defensive, and likely close their minds to any future offers.
Your prospects will be more likely to buy from you if they can see the value in your product or service. Demonstrate to them how your company is different and how you can solve the problem.
Step 4: Get them to commit
After you have answered all their questions and explained the benefits of your product/service to them, it is time to convince them to buy.
You can do this in many ways, including through a proposal or contract. This is where you want to get their approval so that they can proceed to the next stage of the qualification process.
This can sometimes be hard, especially if they aren’t familiar with your product. It is important to remind them about the benefits that they will get by purchasing from you.
After Qualifying Prospects, Salespeople Should Do These Things
Once you have qualified your leads, it is time to think about the next steps. There are many things that you can do to close the sale, depending on the business you run and the service or product you provide.
These are some ideas:
1. Send a proposal/estimate – Once you have all the information from the lead send a proposal/estimate outlining the benefits they can expect from your product/service.
They will be able to make a decision and have something to refer back to when they are making their final decision.
2. You can follow up by calling a lead – It’s a great way for a lead to contact you and answer any questions. You can also close the sale immediately by calling.
3. Set up a meeting – If you are unable to close the sale over the phone, you should set up a meeting so that you can talk things out in person.
They will be able to view your product or service in person and can ask any questions.
4. Send an email – If you are unable to reach the lead by phone, in person, or by email, send an email describing your proposal and estimate. You can let them review it, and they will get back to you if there are any questions.
Whatever you do, never forget to follow up with leads. You’ve earned their interest and you want to close the sale.
After Qualifying Prospects, Salespeople Should Follow Up. But how?
After qualifying prospects, salespeople should follow up. It is important to follow up, but it can be easy to lose business.
1.) Send a “Thank you” email
Although this may seem obvious, many companies don’t automatically send one after receiving an inbound request. It is as easy as:
Subject line: We are grateful that you reached out to us!
Dear Mandy
It was great to talk with you about your current needs at ABC Corp. Thank you for taking the time to complete our inbound inquiry form. This helps us to provide better service in the future. When we have more information, we will contact you within a month.
You can also visit our new website at www.xyz.com. You will find new content and tools that can help you grow your business!
Best, Joe Smith Lead Strategist XYZ Company
2.) Send an email with a “How May We Aid You” Email
Even if you have an automatic thank-you at the end of a conversation it is still a good idea for someone to check in 30-60 days later.
This is a great way for qualified leads to inquiring about products/services no longer relevant to them. This is how an email might look.
Subject line: How can we help?
Hi Mandy,
It was a pleasure to speak with you about your current needs at ABC Corp. Do you still want to use our services? If you are not interested, let us know so that we can remove your name from our mailing list.
Thank you for your time!
Best, Joe Smith Lead Strategist XYZ Company
3.) Use a CRM for lead follow-up
You should now be using a CRM for managing your leads.
A CRM automates many tasks associated with following up on qualified leads. This includes sending reminders via email or text, and tracking when and what was said. This will ensure that no opportunity is missed.
4.) Use a Lead Scoring System
You’re missing a great way to qualify leads if you don’t use a lead score system. Lead scoring systems assign points to leads based on their interactions with your company (e.g. Filling out a form, visiting the website, opening an email, or clicking on a link.
Once a lead has reached a certain threshold, they are considered qualified leads and can be passed on to sales for follow-up.
5.) Use automated conversation bots
Chatbots can be used to follow up on qualified leads. They can answer questions about your products/services and send reminders about missed calls. Chatfuel is a great tool for this.
6.) Instead of emailing leads, call them
Email communication is still the most preferred method of communication for business today. However, calling leads can significantly increase your chances of following up.
Although you won’t be in a position to reach everyone, it’s possible to send a quick email listing the times they will be available for chat (e.g. between 9 am and 11 am) and leave voicemail messages if they don’t pick up.
It is nice to call someone who has already spent time filling out forms or completing activities that show interest in your work.
7.) Give your emails a personal touch
Subject line: Re: Your inquiry about ABC Company!
Dear Mandy
We are grateful that you reached out to us at XYZ Company. For years, we have been helping businesses like yours. We would love to begin this process with you. Let me know if I can help you make your business more successful. You can reach me at 123-456-789.
Best, Joe Smith Lead Strategist XYZ Company
In one sentence, it can help you build rapport with leads by including your name in an email.
Don’t forget to ask your coworkers if they’d like to be included in the email. “).
8.) Set up auto follow-up after 10 days
Set up reminder emails for 10-14 days after speaking with a lead.
These emails could include helpful reference materials that were not discussed previously and link to webinars or FAQs. This is what an email might look like:
Subject: 10-Day Follow-Up Email!
Hi Mandy,
Thank you for talking to me about ABC Company. I wanted to make sure that you had an opportunity to visit our website to see if anything catches your attention. I’m available to answer any questions or provide additional information if you have any. In 10 more days, I will be in touch!
Best, Joe Smith Lead Strategist XYZ Company
9.) Use social networks to reach leads
Social media is a great way for leads to get in touch with others who may not be ready to commit to a meeting or call.
You can reach them via Twitter or LinkedIn or Facebook by sending a personalized message referencing something you have discussed during the conversation.
Subject : Re: Hey Dave! Thanks again for your time!
Hello Dave,
I hope you are well. I also hope the weather is kind to you these days. This Forbes article about Social Selling caught my eye and I thought it was worth reading. It shows how ABC Company is doing social selling differently.
Best, Joe Smith Lead Strategist XYZ Company
10.) Ask leads if updates are desired after they have been qualified.
Last, but not least, ask your leads if you would like to update them after they have been qualified. Some people may not wish to have any contact at all, others may prefer a limited amount of contact while others may want regular updates. You can offer different types of updates, such as weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
Subject: Do you need updates?
Hi Mandy,
Thank you for your interest in ABC Company. After speaking with you, I wanted you to have the option to receive updates from us. Would you like me to send you updates every week, month, or quarterly? Let me know, and I’ll get going!
Best, Joe Smith Lead Strategist XYZ Company
