Made the sale? Don’t say goodbye
We’re often surprised by the way companies miss out on the opportunity to gain extra sales, by failing to follow up.
But, it’s so much more than that.
It’s also a chance to deliver a great customer experience, and make any tweaks to improve your service.
Let’s unpick this in more detail…
If you sell online you should:
Thank your customer for the sale with a follow up email
Send a copy of the receipt
Tell your customer when to expect the goods
Tell your customer the goods are now on the way
Ask your customer if they have received the goods, and if they were happy
Follow up with an invitation to rate both the goods, and the experience of doing business with you
Make follow up suggestions of other products that complement an existing purchase, or that other customers have made with a similar purchase history
Send ideas and tips of how to get best use from their purchase
Most of these ideas cost little or no additional money to implement. Many of them can be set up as automated messages ready to go out at key intervals during the purchase process.
You should also set up trigger points so if your customer gives poor feedback or a bad review you follow up straight away and offer to rectify the problem.
Of course, if you sell a service, following up on the sale is not as straight forward
But, here’s some ideas about what you could do:
Write to thank your customer for choosing to work with you – you can do this by email, but we think a handwritten card is a lovely way to do this
Send a follow up email explaining what they should expect – there may be work for you to do behind the scenes before they see any action, or information you need from them
Try to send them something as soon as possible showing what you are doing – this could be a headline analysis of their business (for example, if you are in HR, law or accountancy)
Send them a nice presentation folder with hard copy terms and conditions, an introduction to doing business with you, some handy hints and tips, a case study from a happy client
Send a small gift like a pen or a cleaning cloth for tablets/glasses etc – be creative but useful here
Speak to them regularly – there is no substitute for the phone here, or even face to face. Email can be very impersonal, and you can’t always judge if someone is concerned
Make sure you respond quickly to any emails you receive from your customer. When they are new to your business they will understandably be anxious, and you don’t want them worried they have made the wrong decision.
Whilst you are delivering the service your customer has bought, check it is meeting their expectations. Change anything that is not working quickly, and speak to them by phone, or meet with them face to face to apologise if something has gone wrong.
The worse thing of all is to remain silent. It appears ungrateful, as if you don’t care about the sale, and don’t appreciate your customer’s business.
Not only can you nip problems in the bud using this approach, but it gives your customer that nice warm glow. They believe you genuinely care about them – and that’s likely to foster recommendations and referrals. And that’s something we all appreciate.
