7 Essential Practices To Make Follow-up Calls in Sales

Sales reps are no strangers to the highs and lows of the sales journey. While there's nothing more rewarding than converting a lead to a customer, they often have to navigate through a maze of calls (both video and audio) and emails.      

We get it. It's frustrating. No wonder 44% of sales reps give up after the first conversation. But, you see, research indicates most successful sales require at least 5 to 8 follow-ups.

And it makes sense. You can't expect the prospect to purchase your product right in the first call. This is where persistent follow-up calls come in.

In this blog, we'll disclose why follow-up sales calls are important and equip you with 7 killer tips to nail them.

What Is a Follow-up Call?

A follow-up call in sales is simply reaching out to a prospect after an initial interaction. This could be a meeting, a phone call, or an email. It helps you build trust, nurture the relationship, and ultimately move them closer to closing the deal.

Think of a follow-up sales call as a bridge between where your prospect is in their buying journey and the destination, i.e., making the purchase. It helps you keep the conversation going while gently nudging the prospect toward a favorable decision.

Why Follow-up Sales Calls Are Important?

Follow-up sales calls are more than just reconnecting with the potential customer. They are strategic moves that can make or break your sales efforts.

Just a few follow-up call attempts can boost your conversion rate by up to 70%. Here's why they should be an essential part of your sales calling strategy:

• Create Urgency

Prospects often delay decision-making. Plus, with their busy schedules, they might forget about you if you don't reach out to them again. 

Follow-up calls help you stay on top of their minds. They create a sense of urgency by reminding them of the values and benefits they stand to gain. This helps you maintain the momentum of your conversation and ensure your solution doesn't fade into oblivion.

• Handle Potential Objections

Your prospects are bound to have some objections about your solution. These could be related to the pricing, features, competitors, or their goals. Follow-up calls help you address them and provide reassurance, making them more likely to convert.

Kevin Deldjoui, a senior account executive, prioritizes calls over emails when following up, especially for this purpose. He says they allow him to handle objections and concerns immediately to ensure the prospect doesn't lose interest.

• Build Better Relationships

Gone are the days of impersonal, heavily scripted sales calls. Today, it's all about building a strong relationship with the prospect by personalizing your customer interactions and showing that you genuinely care about their needs. 

Follow-up calls come through to serve this purpose. By continuously interacting with the potential customer, you can understand their pain points and tailor your pitch to meet their requirements. This helps you build trust over time, making them more likely to become loyal customers.

How to Make a Follow-up Call for Sales?

As any seasoned sales professional would agree, a successful follow-up sales call is not a mere dial-and-pray approach. It's a well-thought-out strategy that combines persuasion and timing. Let's look at the nitty-gritty of what makes your follow-up calls successful.

1. Prepare for Follow-up Sales Calls

Your initial call with the prospect isn't just a one-time conversation; it's a treasure trove of knowledge that can guide your follow-up calls. Therefore, it's crucial to revisit the conversation and prepare before you dial their number again. In fact, 76% of top reps research the prospect before reaching out to them.

Did the prospect share their pain points and goals? Use this information for personalized follow-up calls to show that you value their input.

Did they raise an objection that wasn't completely addressed? Get back to them with a well-prepared and persuasive response. 

These insights will help you tailor your solution to align with what the prospect is looking for. This positions you as a convincing and credible source, increasing your chance of success.

2. Select an Ideal Time for Your Calls

Selecting the best time to call with your prospect can be the difference between a successful conversation and a missed opportunity. So, propose a time that works for both of you for a productive conversation. 

Make sure you consider their schedule and time zone to be respectful. Avoid pushing for a time that may inconvenience them.

Research suggests the best time to call your prospects is between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. You must also avoid Mondays (when they are usually the busiest) and post-lunch hours on Fridays (when they're already looking forward to the weekend).

It is also a good practice to drop a reminder email to the prospect before the follow-up call to confirm their availability and reiterate the topics of discussion.

3. Initiate Your Call With a Summary

Your prospects are busy. They might be juggling multiple meetings, projects, and calls daily. Therefore, before you dive into the details of your follow-up call, walk them through the previous interaction. 

Think of it as a rewind button that brings them up to speed and sets the stage for a productive conversation. Plus, it allows the prospect to clarify any concerns they might have.

4. Ask Relevant Questions

Your follow-up phone calls are not one-sided monologues. To have a successful conversation, you need to understand what to say in a follow-up call and engage the prospect to uncover valuable insights. Asking relevant questions helps you achieve this. 

It allows you to dive deeper into the prospect's needs, pain points, and goals and tailor your solution accordingly. Well-structured questions keep the conversation flowing and invite them to actively participate in the discussion. 

You can create a list of questions with a mix of techniques like:

• Open-ended questions: For example, "How has your experience been with the current software?"
• Clarifying questions: For example, "I just want to make sure I understand correctly. Are you looking for a solution to reduce costs or improve efficiency?"
• Hypothetical questions: For example, "If you had access to [product feature], how do you think it would impact your [function] process?"

5. Handling Objections

When you're making sales calls, objections are part of the package. These could range from product features to competitors. But as your follow-up calls progress, you might find yourself facing a common hurdle: pricing. 

It's natural for prospects to scrutinize costs as they inch closer to making a decision. However, effective objection handling can help you turn these challenges into opportunities. 

Before you pick up the phone, review your last interaction with the prospect to identify potential objections that might come up. For example, common pricing objections often revolve around affordability, ROI, or the perceived value of your solution. 

Once you have a list of possible objections, it becomes easier to be prepared with a persuasive response. For example, you might offer flexibility in pricing options, different packages or payment plans, or back up your pricing with evidence like success stories or client testimonials.

6. Add a Well-defined Call to Action

Your follow-up sales calls are meaningless if you don't give them a clear purpose or direction. What do you want to achieve during the conversation? Do you wish to schedule a product demo, get additional information, or want the prospect to sign up for a free trial? Have clear objectives before making follow-up calls. 

When you're talking to the prospect, don't leave room for ambiguity. Avoid vague sentences like, “Let me know what you think." 

"Prospects don’t want to be left hanging by salespeople because honestly, they’ll just go someplace else. Or, they’ll choose to make no decision at all," says sales expert Mark Hunter.

Instead, be specific about what you want the prospect to do. For example, “Could we schedule a follow-up call for next Thursday at 2 p.m. to discuss [topic]?" 

This adds a sense of urgency and encourages the prospect to make prompt decisions. But make sure your CTA is relevant and concise to avoid overwhelming them.

7 Effective Tips for Perfect Sales Follow-up Calls

Like every other aspect of sales, you must follow certain best practices when making follow-up sales calls. This will help you transform them from routine conversations into persuasive dialogues that lead to conversions. Let's look at them in detail.

1. Set the Date and Time

Start by setting a specific date and time for your follow-up call. Remember, you're not randomly reaching out to the prospect; you're aiming for a well-structured engagement. 

It shows professionalism and respect for the prospect's time. Plus, it leaves no room for misunderstandings and uncertainties. 

2. Send a Reminder Email

In today's fast-paced world, it's easy for both you and the prospect to get caught up in a whirlwind of activities. Sending a reminder follow-up email a day or two before the scheduled follow-up call reduces the chances of no-shows, ensuring it remains on top of both your radars.

A well-timed reminder email shows professionalism and your commitment to punctual communication. Make sure to include details in the reminder email, such as the date, time, and agenda of the follow-up sales call. This eliminates any confusion and ensures everyone is on the same page. 

You can also share valuable resources that might be relevant to the call. For example, a presentation, an e-book, or a blog.

Plus, many email platforms offer calendar integration. You can use them to send a reminder email with a calendar invite, allowing the prospect to effortlessly add it to their schedule.

3. Highlight Key Points in Your Follow-up Call

A follow-up call is your opportunity to push the prospect further down the sales funnel and close the deal. To make the most of it, you need a compelling narrative that captures their attention from the start. 

Start the call with a strong, attention-grabbing statement that sets the tone for the conversation. It could be a question or a personalized greeting. Don't stick to the boring "I'm calling today to follow up on..." Instead, say something that makes you stand out, and then proceed to explain why you're calling.

This reminds the prospect of the context of your previous interaction and gives the conversation a clear purpose and direction. Towards the end of the conversation, engage them in discussing the next steps. Are you addressing specific concerns, scheduling a demo, or finalizing pricing details? Involving them in shaping the journey ahead will help you build trust. 

Finally, don't be vague. Be specific and provide examples, data, and evidence to back up your points.

4. Send an Email With the Call Summary

Summarizing the key points discussed during the call allows you to document the progress made in the conversation. This serves as a record for both you and the prospect and ensures everyone is on the same page. 

When crafting the call summary email, be concise and organized. Include all major discussion points, action items, and deadlines.

In his follow-up emails, top-performing AE, Qayam Noorani

• Summarizes the points discussed in the call.
• Highlights what the next step is. 
• Includes any resources relevant to the prospect.

5. Show Your Gratitude

Follow-up calls aren't just about closing deals; they're also about building and nurturing relationships. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by sending a thank you email right after you end the call. 

This simple gesture shows that you value their time and attention, making them more likely to engage with you in the future. For example, "Thank you for your time today, [prospect]." 

You can also personalize the email follow-up by referencing specific points from the call. This shows that you were actively engaged in the conversation and were attentive to their input.

6. Maintain Persistence, Patience, and Politeness

The B2B sales cycle can be lengthy. That's where the 3 Ps—Persistence, Patience, and Politeness—come into play. 

Be persistent when pursuing a prospect. This means you'll have to make multiple follow-up attempts by remaining respectful and considerate. Keep the momentum going, and don't be discouraged by initial non-responses or delays.

"Salespeople tend to overshoot the situation and sell too much, too quickly. This makes the prospect nervous and defensive," says sales expert Jeffrey Gitomer.

Not every prospect will be willing to engage in a conversation or make a decision right away. This is where patients come in. You need to give them the space they need without pressuring them and let the timing align with their needs.

Regardless of the prospect's response or the number of follow-up attempts, it's crucial to remain polite and respectful. Pushy or aggressive tactics can alienate the prospect, doing more harm than good. They can make the prospect feel uncomfortable, pressured, and even cornered, affecting the rapport you've built so far. 

As a result, they may view you and your company negatively, making it less likely for them to give your solution another shot down the line. However, if you build a strong rapport and still lose the deal due to other factors, chances are you'll still be on the prospect's mind for future opportunities.

7. Use Sales Call Recording Software

Sales call recording software allows you to record and store conversations with prospects. This allows you to go back and review your follow-up calls in detail. This way, you can identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement in your communication and strategy. 

With tools like Call IQ, you can record, transcribe, and analyze your conversations instantly. It allows you to skim through the conversation and identify the important aspects of each call.

With Call IQ, you can:

• Get a minute-by-minute breakdown of the conversation: It automatically transcribes all calls within minutes so you don't have to spend hours listening to entire recordings. You can simply skim through the transcript to understand what went down during the call.
• Get a list of all the questions asked during the call: Call IQ records all questions asked during the call separately. This means you don't have to sift through the whole transcript if you just want to know what objections and queries the prospect had.
• Understand the buyer's sentiments: Call IQ also records all positive and negative sentiments picked up during the call, making it easier to figure out where it's going. This helps you gauge the prospect's intent and plan your follow-ups accordingly.
• Access the 'action items' in each call: Finally, Call IQ efficiently records the "next steps" discussed during the call. You can easily refer to them for relevant and timely follow-ups.

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