The sales cycle can take you through quite a few steps before you achieve your goal: a successful outcome in which you’ve made the sale AND you’ve added a new customer to your roster of clients. Oftentimes, however, I see people skipping steps that are critical. After reaching one of the late stages in the cycle—perhaps post-quote…or presale…or post-sale…or you’re asking for referrals from the new, satisfied customer—now what? Don’t skip the all-important follow-up. In today’s post, I’d like to focus on this late-stage step.
The start of the sales cycle in many companies looks something like this:
Marketing is done > Lead comes in > Lead is qualified > Information is gathered > Quote is sent
The sales cycle can now follow two distinct paths depending on whether the quote was accepted or rejected, and there are two potential outcomes if the quote is rejected.
Accepted > Quote is approved > Sale is made > Invoice is sent > Goods are delivered
Or
Rejected > Quote is rejected > Revised quote is offered > Quote is approved > Sale is made > Invoice is sent > Goods are delivered
Or
Quote is rejected > No revised quote is offered > Deal is abandoned
Let’s talk about the successful outcome, the kind in which the quote or revised quote is approved, and the sale is completed. The customer was satisfied with the order. Now what about the post-sale follow-up? This is the last critical step that turns the process into an actual cycle. (Think of a washing machine turning around and around and around.) In a cycle, once the process is completed, it starts all over again. But for it to start over, you need another lead. Maybe that lead involves the same customer coming back to you with additional needs, which is a great outcome because you then get to skip ahead to the information-gathering and quoting steps. How can you get the cycle to begin again? That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? It certainly helps if the customer feels as if the entire experience was a positive interaction. Perhaps it was a problem-free process from start to finish. But even if a problem had developed at some point, the end result may have turned out positive because you resolved the problem to the customer’s satisfaction. This problem-confronted/problem-solved scenario may lead to the best outcome of all, better even than one in which things went without a hitch, because now the customer trusts you, knowing that in the future, you’ll have his or her back. The relationship has gone beyond the professional; it has become personal. You have earned the customer’s loyalty, and now you’re in a position to discuss other products/services you offer. You can make the ask and say, “If there’s anything I can do for you or your colleagues or friends in the future, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Refer me to others in your circle, and I promise I will provide them the same level of service and attention that I gave you.”
Over and over, I have been amazed at how few people do this kind of follow-up. But this ask works wonders (particularly when you have provided the kind of quality service that turns one-time customers into loyal, repeat-business clients). Two organizations—Business Network International (BNI) and the business networking group LeTip—are great champions of the follow-up. BNI uses the mantra “Giver’s Gain,” which I like to think of as business karma. In essence, both the business and leads you give to others as well as the positive service experiences you provide come full circle, rewarding you by growing your own business. Giving referrals ultimately benefits you. You gain. Having been in BNI for about 5 years and having served as interim chapter president during part of my final year, I really adopted and incorporated that mantra into my business life, and it has grown my business tremendously time and time again. I am a firm believer in belonging to structured networking groups, but I’m an even bigger advocate of taking those networking group’s philosophies on business and customer referrals and applying them to all of my sales interactions. I make an effort to let everyone in my network know (apologies in advance for the masculine pronoun) that “I have a guy for that.” Need life insurance? Business insurance? A financial planner? A plumber? Electrician? Dentist? Chiropractor? Contractor? Handyman? Ford car salesperson? Mechanic? HVAC tech? Phone system installer? It doesn’t matter what service I’m in need of. I almost always have someone I can call, and I make certain to let those professionals know I’ve referred them. I don’t ask for commissions from any of them, even though many have offered to pay me for what I’ve done. The long-term relationships are much more valuable than a one-time check. When I need somebody and it’s urgent, I have those referrals in my back pocket, and they are all people who want to help me quickly and solve my problem. Now it may seem as if I’ve gotten off topic. But in my line of work (printing/marketing), every single one of those people has marketing and printing needs. And now that I’ve used their services and referred them, I can approach them and ask for their business in return as well as the business of their friends and colleagues. Quid pro quo. And guess what the best part is? My approach to business means I’ve skipped two steps in the sales cycle—lead generation and lead quality—because I already have a preexisting relationship with those people. As a result, the sales process and lead generation part of the process cost me less, and as long as I provide what I offer at a price that isn’t exorbitant, they will use my services, and they will be happy to do so. Finally, because I haven’t nickel and dimed them about their prices, it would be difficult for them to do so when invoicing me.
So, what does this all mean? Well, a few things:
- Follow-up post-sale is critical for building your future sales pipeline.
- Joining a structured networking group can help you hone your sales skills and make you feel comfortable making “the ask”
- Most sales organizations miss this piece of the pie. Don’t believe me? Read this book, Todd Cohen’s Everyone’s in Sales. His sales philosophy focuses on customer satisfaction and relationship building, which is the core of being able to make the ask for referrals
- We can spend tons of money to generate the first lead, but we really need to treat that lead as a seed that can grow into a plant, one that can eventually be harvested. OR it can be partially harvested, dropping seeds and producing many new plants that provide nourishment for your business for many years to come.
Will you follow up and make “the ask”?