What Will You Do After You Have Sent a Sales Letter or E-mail?
I often receive a sales approach and then hear nothing more
As a buyer, one touch is rarely enough to grab my interest. We all know the traditional measurement that we need is between 7 and 12 touches to win a client. Recently, I have been having conversations that lead me to think that you need a lot more than this.
If you send an e-mail or a letter make sure you follow up
Being blunt, the average sales letter or e-mail is not worth sending if you are not prepared to follow up. Many buyers appreciate persistence. You are more likely to stay on their radar if you keep making contact.
A sales person rarely makes contact at the right time. So it is important to keep trying until your prospect is in buying mode. There are some people who have been subscribed to this newsletter for a year or even two years before making contact with me or purchasing a book.
Here’s the follow-up structure I use
- Check that they have actually received your original letter. If they haven’t, check the contact details and send the letter out again.
- Remind the prospect of the key pain you referred to in your letter and ask a question about it to start a conversation.
- If they are not affected by the pain you raise, ask them what you can do to interest them in your product/service.
- If they are interested in your service or product, suggest a date for the next step forward. In this case I have suggested a meeting. The date you suggest will usually not be suitable for them, so you will also have to ask them to suggest a time.
- If they refuse the next step, ask how you can move the discussion forward.
Remember, this doesn’t have to be a call – it can be a social media message, a text or even a series of e-mails.
PS Find out more ideas on how to engage with today’s buyers: download my free e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors and What To Do About Them” right now at http://profitableprintrelationships.com/e-book/ You’ll also receive my regular “Views from the print buyer” bulletin, full of ideas on how to sell print effectively. Also, check out my book “Done For You Sales Scripts”. Here’s the link: https://profitableprintrelationships.com/online-training-resources/done-for-you-sales-scripts/
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Many printing companies are frustrated how hard it is to engage buyers in today’s world. That’s where Matthew Parker can help. He is a gamekeeper turned poacher. Parker has bought print for more than 20 years and received over 1,400 print sales pitches. He now uses his buyer’s point of view to give practical advice to printers. He helps them engage with prospects and customers to create profitable relationships.
Download his free e-book, "Ten Common Print Selling Errors And What To Do About Them" and check out his recently launched book, "How To Succeed At Print Sales: Setting targets, planning the right activities and making sure goals are met."
