“I have sent you more than 15 emails so far. Why didn’t I receive a response yet?” Do your salespeople send follow-up emails like this to your prospects? If yes, it’s high time to understand the best interval you need to keep between your sales follow ups.

If that’s the case, then there is a long learning curve ahead for them. 

Here’s a simple question- what is common between David Ogilvy, Zig Ziglar, Mary Kay Ash, and Dale Carnegie? 

They are all salespeople? Yes. Apart from that? 

If there is one thing that all of them agree upon, it is the power of ‘sales follow-ups’.

That’s because they know that no matter how effective your pitches are if you do not follow up, the chances of getting a response are almost nil.

44% of sales reps give up after just one phone call. Marketing Donut says that more than 80% of sales require at least five follow-up calls after the meeting. 

The first call is pretty easy. There is excitement on both ends if the prospect is also looking for a solution similar to what you offer. You’ve pitched them your product and the prospect looks satisfied. They say that they will get back to you soon. So you wait for their response with a lot of hope. 

Unfortunately, that’s what most salespeople do. They do not follow up. 

Salespeople take incredibly few follow-ups because they are afraid of getting rejected or don’t want to come across as too pushy. Finding the right words and keeping the conversation extremely short is the sweet spot. If you don’t do follow-up, you are not helping your business. 

How often should you follow up?

When sending cold emails to your prospects, do not follow up with them more than 4-5 times. Anything more would be inappropriate as you are a stranger to the prospect. 

If there was some kind of interaction and the prospect didn’t say a ‘No’, then you can follow up until you get a response. 

Pro tip: If a lead has approached you, then the time you should take to respond to them should be immediate. The longer you keep a warm lead waiting, the more likely they are to forget that they reached out to you in the first place. 

What is the proper follow-up frequency?

1st follow-up: It can happen in three days when you connect with the client on the same channel that you used previously.

2nd follow-up: Give them a week if they don’t respond to your previous email. Instead of just checking back, ask if they have any other issues where your product could help or offer something of value to them.

3rd follow-up: Allow a gap of another ten days before you make the next follow-up. Do remember that the person might be busy and getting more than 100 emails a day, which is why they haven’t responded yet. 

4th follow-up: After your 3rd follow-up and for the subsequent ones, leave at least 20-30 days between each of them. At no point should you think that you are entitled to a response. 

You do not have to stick to the above gap in the number of days, there are no hard and fast rules. The above timeline is to give you an idea about the appropriate number of days you must take while following up. Your follow-up depends on the relationship, what you are trying to sell, and the number of times you have interacted with the prospect.

Best practices for effective follow-ups:

Here are some of the things that you can do to ensure that your prospects don’t forget you after the meeting:

Do not send “I am circling back” emails:

When you follow up with your emails saying that you want to circle back and see if they are still interested or you are “just touching base”, it doesn’t give them the incentive to respond to you.

Always warm up the prospects when you follow up. Make them recall the previous conversation where they mentioned their requirements. Ask them if they have any new requirements, and remind the prospect about the solution you offered in the earlier conversation.

This is exactly why salespeople are asked to take notes when on a sales call. 

Suggested Read: 10 Break-up emails that your prospect can’t resist replying

Use different channels

Reach your prospects through different channels- emails, phone calls, SMSes, social media sites, etc. Prospects might have channels that they prefer being reached out to. So, if you happen to have a rigid stance where you use only phone calls, you might end up alienating them.

Pore over the details

As a salesperson, do you think it is redundant to discuss the same details that were agreed upon in the previous interactions? You couldn’t be more wrong. Reiterating how your product will help the prospect will leave an impression on them. 

Drop off with a CTA

Every time you connect with a prospect, plan for the next step. It could be scheduling a demo, sending the payment link if they are planning to go ahead, setting up a call with the leadership team, and so on. Not only do your blogs require CTAs, but real-life sales calls also need them. 

Conclusion

The most successful salespeople are those that are persistent. If you need to maximize the impact of your sales team, then teach them the intricacies of follow-up.