Need More Customers Fast? Your Fortune Lies in Follow-Ups

All the high-performing sales reps know that getting customers from the first interaction rarely happens. Propper follow-ups are the key to getting customers. This is one of the most unrealized opportunities within the logistics community because many sales reps give up after the first no, which is a big mistake. In the article below, we will share the most advanced follow-up model, which will help you or your organization speed up new business development activities.

The Power of Follow-ups

Follow-ups are more than just a polite gesture or a routine task; they are a critical component of the sales process. When a potential customer expresses interest in your product or service, that interest is often just the beginning of a longer journey toward a purchase. The reality is that most customers don’t make a purchase after their first interaction with a brand. They need time to consider their options, weigh the benefits, and make a decision. This is where follow-ups come into play.

Research shows that 80% of sales require five follow-up calls after the initial contact. However, a staggering 44% of salespeople give up after just one follow-up. This statistic underscores a significant gap between potential and realized sales. By not following up, businesses are leaving a substantial amount of money on the table. Multiple follow-ups keep your brand at the forefront of a customer’s mind, remind them of the value you offer, and can nudge them toward making a purchase.

The Cost of Neglecting Follow-Ups

Neglecting follow-ups can be costly in more ways than one. First, there’s the direct financial loss. Every lead that isn’t followed up on represents potential revenue your business misses out on. If your lead generation efforts are successful but you’re not converting those leads into customers, you’re essentially wasting your budget.

Second, there’s the opportunity cost. While your competitors nurture their leads and turn them into paying customers, your business could fall behind. In a competitive market, staying top-of-mind is crucial; follow-ups are vital to maintain that visibility.

Finally, neglecting follow-ups can damage your brand’s reputation. Customers who feel forgotten or unimportant may take their business elsewhere, not just now but in the future as well. On the other hand, consistent, thoughtful follow-ups can build trust and strengthen relationships, leading to repeat business and customer loyalty.

How ADs, AI, and Social Media are changing Follow-ups

We live in an era where consumers are bombarded with generic marketing messages. Studies show that we hear and see around 5000 thousand various sales messages daily. Add to this the AI, which makes the content creation process even faster, increasing the count of multiple sales messages even further. All the things mentioned above nowadays have increased the follow-up counts tremendously.? Those reps who wan’t to succeed today in getting the attention of prospects now need to increase the follow-up count and use a multi-channel approach. Those organizations that wan’t to help their sales reps to get better results also need to incorporate digital informational touches into their sales development activities.

The Best Follow-Up Model for the Fastest Results

We will share the best follow-up model that should be used by organizations aiming for the fastest results. For this model to be effective, your organization needs to have the following tools:

• CRM: Today, CRMs have evolved beyond just being a place to store data. Modern CRMs can help your organization score leads, automate follow-up messages, and perform many other valuable tasks.
• LinkedIn Page: Having a LinkedIn page, posting valuable information, and growing the page should be top priorities for a logistics company that wants to increase revenues faster. This serves as an additional touch point for your potential and existing customers.
• Newsletter: A newsletter on your owned channels (website, LinkedIn) can dramatically improve an organization's business development activities. With this tool, logistics organizations can educate customers on why they should do business with them and boost professional brand awareness. Additionally, it’s an incredible scoring tool because, with the help of a CRM, you can track prospects who are actively reading your blog and clicking certain links on your webpage.
• Email and Physical Sequences: To enhance your sales development efforts, create automated email sequences and physical follow-up tasks (by phone, in person, LinkedIn messages, and other LinkedIn activities) within your CRM and email automation systems to target prospects who scored higher than others or took other important actions.

We could add other marketing tactics, like targeted LinkedIn ads and events, to the tools mentioned above, which could further warm up your prospects and yield even better results. However, for today, let’s focus on the tools mentioned above. Sign up for the logistics newsletter to avoid missing other tips and advice.

How Does This Model Work in Real Life?

Some adjustments may be needed depending on where you get your leads and the initial connection point. However, let’s analyze the most frequent situations within logistics services business development activities.

Got the Contacts via Cold Call

The most common situation is when a sales rep calls an organization, connects with the decision-maker right away, and then is brushed off with the usual phrase: "We are all set" or "Send more details over email". However, they still get the contact name and email.

The rep's next step is to connect with the decision-maker on LinkedIn and invite the prospect to follow the company page. If the company has a LinkedIn newsletter, this prospect will be invited to subscribe immediately. All the data must also be entered into the CRM. What happens next is that the prospect is warmed up with your content, and with the help of the CRM, you track all interactions while your sales reps perform physical follow-ups, trying to secure a meeting.

The Prospect Has Chosen Another Provider

Another common situation is when a sales representative has moved a prospect further in the sales process and participated in a tender. Still, unfortunately, the prospect has chosen another service provider. In such cases, the above steps must be repeated to help you stay top-of-mind with your customers for future tenders. To make the warming process even more effective, you should consider creating content aligned with your customer's needs (educational, problem-oriented, goal-oriented). Again, your sales reps must seek person-to-person conversations to prepare for upcoming tenders continuously.

We’ve touched on two of the most frequent situations, but there are many more. Follow our company page for more information and invitations to free training sessions in order to get more insights.

Summary

To sum up, new business development activities have become more challenging recently, and we believe they will not become more effortless in the future. Therefore, companies that want to scale faster must use many more channels and a multi-touchpoint approach to achieve better results. Please get in touch with us if you are looking for someone who can build and execute such an advanced new business development system at your organization. We work with logistics businesses worldwide, helping them acquire more customers faster. Press the link below and choose a convenient time to talk.

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About the Author:

Thomas Ananjevas?is a seasoned supply chain professional with 15 years of experience in purchasing and selling logistics services and building supply chains from the ground up. He founded a consulting, training, and marketing services company dedicated to the logistics industry. Thomas specializes in helping logistics companies implement necessary changes to ensure business growth and continuity. You can schedule a conversation with Thomas by clicking?here.