You had a great meeting with a prospective client. You’re excited about the potential project, and can’t wait to start working with this client.
Now a week has passed, and you still have not heard back from them.
What should you do? Start writing a follow up email to this prospective client.
But, how do you write a kick-ass follow up email to increase your chances of a reply?
First, let’s talk about some of the most important secrets to a kick-ass follow up email. These principals might completely change how you view follow-up emails. So, keep reading. . .
1) Don’t Send Just a Follow Up Email
Every connection that you have with your prospective clients is another opportunity to reinforce your value, and for them to get to know you better. So, do not waste your follow up email to “just follow up” without providing any value. Use every email as an opportunity to build trust.
2) Remember the 7-Contact Rule
It usually takes a minimum of 7 contacts before you can close a deal.
Seven might seem like a big number.
Think about it this way, when you choose someone to work with, how many times would you need to hear from that person to build sufficient trust?
Knowing that it takes 7 contacts to close a deal also gives you a more relaxed perspective on sales.
Without knowing the 7-contact rule:
- people often give up after one or 2 attempts with their prospective clients.
- you might be selling too early. When people think that they only have one chance to sell, they tend to come off too pushy.
So, when writing a follow up message, take your time and map out an engagement roadmap to build trust through a series of emails.
3) Make it short and succinct
Keep your message short and succinct.
You are selling to decision makers and they have very busy schedules.
So, keep your message short and easy to understand.
4) Make it personal
When I write a follow-up email, I like to start it with “I came across this and thought about you.”
Focus on using simple words that make the emails personal and casual.
Even though you might be selling to decision makers in large companies, sales is still about personal connections.
Using simple and casual words will also help you seem less pushy.
Check out my simple and natural sales scripts.
You’ll be surprised how simple some scripts are, but that’s how sales should be done.
Sales should be organic, a natural process.
5) Provide value
On tip #3, I talked about making your message short and succinct.
While the message should be short, the value you provide in every single message should be big and impactful.
Here are some examples to include:
- Recent industry news you saw that might interest them
- Your latest blogs or success stories
- A connection to whom you could introduce them
When thinking about how to provide additional value, try CRP – Connection or Clients, Resources or Publicity.
- Connections: Can you offer useful connections to your prospects? For example, hosting a round-table discussion with your prospective clients.
- Resources: Can you provide useful resources that might be helpful to them? For example, offer your most recent blog post to your prospects.
- Publicity: Can you give them more publicity?
6) Be passionate, yet respectful
I am a person that believes that all my prospects will “eventually” buy from me.
It’s only a matter of time until they will.
Because of this belief, I never stop following up until they ask me to stop contacting them.
And, over my 15 years in sales, I have rarely had people ask me to stop contacting them, period.
But, after following up with prospects over and over again, how do you avoid seeming desperate?
Let’s face it, none of us want our prospects to think that we are desperate.
So, here’s what I say,
“The reason I continue to follow up with you is that I truly believe that I can help your organization in ____. I am excited about the possibility!”
Be passionate about what you do and people are going to appreciate it.
So, are you ready to start writing your next kick-ass follow-up email?
Don’t forget to download my Ultimate Non-Sales B2B Sales Scripts.
Click here to download.
Let me know how it goes.
Were you able to get a reply from your big clients?
Got more questions? Send me an email and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Recent Comments