Are these deadly follow-up mistakes keeping you from closing?

You have a perfectly matching prospective client, ran a rock-solid call and personalized the presentation to meet their exact needs. How could they possibly walk away after that? Are you checking your phone for messages and emails thereafter every hour....and trying to figure out why is there no closing? If you are in sales, you have surely felt this pain some time. It’s tough. So here’s our list of deadly follow up mistakes to avoid after pitching.

1. Not breaking-up with a prospect at the right time:

Trying to make a sale just for numbers will only take a U-turn later on by getting you hard on post-sale services or cancelling soon. Instead it’s always good to politely talk to your not-so-perfect-fit prospective client that you can’t meet his needs at the moment and that you shall connect at a future date.

2. Sending a common follow-up

While you are investing a lot of your time on call and meeting the client, ensure you don’t end up sending the template follow up email you have in store to use for all the clients. Spare some time to delete some details of the company, add some personal tidings and some unique next step conversations. A different subject line will not only help your email stand out but also remind the benefit of choosing you and your company.

3. Being too aggressive

At the end of your pitch/call/meeting, did you check the mode and time of follow-up your client would prefer? If not, be ready to get in their log of missed calls and not read messages. Giving them the space they need will be more effective than hounding them for a close. Follow-up on their preferred follow up channel as per the conversation you had in your presentation with the next steps to follow and as agreed on that timeline.

4. Not Listening

It’s just a pitch you are done with and not a sale. So you cannot stop listening to your clients needs thereafter which may have objections, concerns, important cues you actually need to address to not lose that sale.

5. Refusing to take a negative response

A survey says, it takes about four follow-ups after the fist conversation to get a yes. It is good to be persistent and diligent at your follow-up but set a benchmark that works for you and your company and then shelve this client for time-being after those many trials. This will benefit you to revisit or revive this prospect at a future time if you step away from a prospect who is cold at the moment.

6. Forgetting the non-traditional ways

If you are loosing your luck on the messages, phone calls and whatsapps like most of us, try choosing to drop a message on facebook or linkedIn. Never underestimate the power of a handwritten personal note or dropping by to the clients’ home with a gift.

7. Leaving an open end

Never keep your pitch open-ended without clear next steps and preferred follow-up medium if you donot want to loose that momentum and sense of urgency you have created all the way in your sales process. This will add transparency on both the sides and shall keep you away from the guess work.

8. Not supplementing market information

Keep sending relevant market trends, blogs, real estate articles, company newsletters and/or industry information to your client curated to their specific needs. You can take help of the marketing department of your company for the same or browse through google to create something that fits your bill and your clients’ interest.

9. Taking it personally

Is every client going to close with you? 100% no. You have got to learn from the rest and celebrate from the ones who signs with you! When the client doesn’t close with you, remember it’s not because of your company or because of you. They are actually the best teachers to make you learn and improvise on your next prospects!

If you want better numbers month-by-month, tick on all of the above from here and be surprised. Focus more on the details and treat every client as unique!