Question
The follow-up after the sale is a vitally important activity, during which long-term
client relationships are built on integrity and effective after-sales service. The sales
follow-up is not necessary for all transactions, such as retail transactions, but is
essential for those transactions where a great deal of money is involved and where
future sales may be made, or where the use of the product is complicated.
Sales Management
20
There are several follow-up procedures that must be executed the moment the
prospect signs the purchasing contract. The salesperson must confirm the client’s
choice, complete the paperwork, thank the client for the business, and deliver
exceptional service to start a relationship. The follow-up may be divided into three
categories, namely after-sale action, customer relationship and self-evaluation:
■ After-sale action – The salesperson must execute the promises made when the sales
transaction took place during the after-sale action and should see to it that the
product is delivered in a perfect condition and on time. The after-sale actions
involve controlling the delivery date, informing the customer about any changes
that may occur, and contacting the client after the delivery of the product or
service to make sure that everything is in order and that they are satisfied. This is
also a good opportunity to ask whether there is any other service that you can assist
the client with. The salesperson must thank the client for the business, contact
new customers regularly and handle any complaints promptly.
■ Customer relationship – Excellent service to customers leads to long-term
relationships and retaining customers for life. Customer service is all those
activities that support the sale and use of a product, and includes all after-sale
actions that lead to the development and maintenance of a satisfied customer
base. It involves forming and maintaining good relationships with colleagues and
outside contractors who deliver and install the product, delivering spare parts and
giving warranties, sending out invoices, obtaining credit, handling complaints and
maintaining continuous contact with clients. Salespeople are expected to maintain
good customer relationships and build long-term business friendships over and
above the after-sale action. Customer service is the speedy and fair handling of
complaints, keeping in touch with the client, servicing the client and building a
professional reputation. Salespeople are using technology to an increasing extent to
track the increasingly complex combinations of buyer–seller interaction, because
customer relationships are formed over time through multiple interactions in
which the seller wants to win the trust of the buyer.
■ Self-evaluation – This is the process through which the sales representative evaluates
their own performance and methods on a regular basis and in an honest manner
by asking questions such as:
▼ Did I reach the planned sales objectives?
▼ What could I have done better?
▼ What did I learn from this that could contribute to my success in the future?
▼ Do I follow up on each sales transaction to establish what the client’s perception
of the purchase is?
▼ Do I keep the client informed of the latest developments?
Any sales representative who can provide positive answers to the above questions has
a customer service programme.
The salesperson must do follow-up work even if the prospect does not give a
commitment. In that case, the salesperson should perform one of two activities:
Chapter 1 – Sales careers and the selling process
21
evaluate all possible reasons or withdraw quietly. The salesperson must try to discover
the reasons, even if it is a painful process, by going through the visit step-by-step,
checking what went wrong and what went right, and how the client reacted to each
of their actions.
Salespeople use software packages on laptops during the after-sale action to
make and keep contact with the client database. These software packages supply
information about appointments for follow-up visits or telephone calls that must be
made to keep in touch with the client. Using the telephone is a fast and effective
method of doing a follow-up.
To be successful in follow-ups, the salesperson should bear in mind that they must
address every step before and after follow-ups; plan ahead and execute as they go; a
follow-up for sales isn’t the same as an email campaign and every missed follow-up
opportunity is a loss equivalent to the ticket size of your sale. When dealing with
hundreds of qualified leads and hundreds of follow-ups, it’s inevitable that you may
miss a couple of follow-up opportunities.
Thankfully, you don’t have to. There are three applications that can be used
successfully in the selling process and especially in the follow-up process. They are
Evernote, Google Drive and DropBox:
■ Evernote – If you are the kind of person who loves to tap out information from
websites directly, you can use Evernote to help you keep all this information in
a single place. As you browse, use Evernote’s web clipper to pull in information
from websites. Maintain clearly marked notebooks and notes to help you organise
your data.
■ Google Drive – When you use Gmail as your primary email, you make Google
Drive indispensable as a part of your workflow. Store marketing material, invoices,
sales data, product information and pretty much anything else you need for
prospecting.
■ Dropbox – Often, Google Drive will need you to set up permissions for accessing
files and documents. While Gmail is almost universal and it can allow you to
share or view documents when you need to, it might not always be the case. Use
Dropbox for an almost universal access to files and documents on the move to
check your progress with the follow-up process.
To be able to be successful in follow-ups, the salesperson should adhere to the
following: A follow-up for sales isn’t the same as an email campaign. Missing
follow-up opportunities is leaving money on the table
paraphrase into one sentence and simplest english and make it short
client relationships are built on integrity and effective after-sales service. The sales
follow-up is not necessary for all transactions, such as retail transactions, but is
essential for those transactions where a great deal of money is involved and where
future sales may be made, or where the use of the product is complicated.
Sales Management
20
There are several follow-up procedures that must be executed the moment the
prospect signs the purchasing contract. The salesperson must confirm the client’s
choice, complete the paperwork, thank the client for the business, and deliver
exceptional service to start a relationship. The follow-up may be divided into three
categories, namely after-sale action, customer relationship and self-evaluation:
■ After-sale action – The salesperson must execute the promises made when the sales
transaction took place during the after-sale action and should see to it that the
product is delivered in a perfect condition and on time. The after-sale actions
involve controlling the delivery date, informing the customer about any changes
that may occur, and contacting the client after the delivery of the product or
service to make sure that everything is in order and that they are satisfied. This is
also a good opportunity to ask whether there is any other service that you can assist
the client with. The salesperson must thank the client for the business, contact
new customers regularly and handle any complaints promptly.
■ Customer relationship – Excellent service to customers leads to long-term
relationships and retaining customers for life. Customer service is all those
activities that support the sale and use of a product, and includes all after-sale
actions that lead to the development and maintenance of a satisfied customer
base. It involves forming and maintaining good relationships with colleagues and
outside contractors who deliver and install the product, delivering spare parts and
giving warranties, sending out invoices, obtaining credit, handling complaints and
maintaining continuous contact with clients. Salespeople are expected to maintain
good customer relationships and build long-term business friendships over and
above the after-sale action. Customer service is the speedy and fair handling of
complaints, keeping in touch with the client, servicing the client and building a
professional reputation. Salespeople are using technology to an increasing extent to
track the increasingly complex combinations of buyer–seller interaction, because
customer relationships are formed over time through multiple interactions in
which the seller wants to win the trust of the buyer.
■ Self-evaluation – This is the process through which the sales representative evaluates
their own performance and methods on a regular basis and in an honest manner
by asking questions such as:
▼ Did I reach the planned sales objectives?
▼ What could I have done better?
▼ What did I learn from this that could contribute to my success in the future?
▼ Do I follow up on each sales transaction to establish what the client’s perception
of the purchase is?
▼ Do I keep the client informed of the latest developments?
Any sales representative who can provide positive answers to the above questions has
a customer service programme.
The salesperson must do follow-up work even if the prospect does not give a
commitment. In that case, the salesperson should perform one of two activities:
Chapter 1 – Sales careers and the selling process
21
evaluate all possible reasons or withdraw quietly. The salesperson must try to discover
the reasons, even if it is a painful process, by going through the visit step-by-step,
checking what went wrong and what went right, and how the client reacted to each
of their actions.
Salespeople use software packages on laptops during the after-sale action to
make and keep contact with the client database. These software packages supply
information about appointments for follow-up visits or telephone calls that must be
made to keep in touch with the client. Using the telephone is a fast and effective
method of doing a follow-up.
To be successful in follow-ups, the salesperson should bear in mind that they must
address every step before and after follow-ups; plan ahead and execute as they go; a
follow-up for sales isn’t the same as an email campaign and every missed follow-up
opportunity is a loss equivalent to the ticket size of your sale. When dealing with
hundreds of qualified leads and hundreds of follow-ups, it’s inevitable that you may
miss a couple of follow-up opportunities.
Thankfully, you don’t have to. There are three applications that can be used
successfully in the selling process and especially in the follow-up process. They are
Evernote, Google Drive and DropBox:
■ Evernote – If you are the kind of person who loves to tap out information from
websites directly, you can use Evernote to help you keep all this information in
a single place. As you browse, use Evernote’s web clipper to pull in information
from websites. Maintain clearly marked notebooks and notes to help you organise
your data.
■ Google Drive – When you use Gmail as your primary email, you make Google
Drive indispensable as a part of your workflow. Store marketing material, invoices,
sales data, product information and pretty much anything else you need for
prospecting.
■ Dropbox – Often, Google Drive will need you to set up permissions for accessing
files and documents. While Gmail is almost universal and it can allow you to
share or view documents when you need to, it might not always be the case. Use
Dropbox for an almost universal access to files and documents on the move to
check your progress with the follow-up process.
To be able to be successful in follow-ups, the salesperson should adhere to the
following: A follow-up for sales isn’t the same as an email campaign. Missing
follow-up opportunities is leaving money on the table
paraphrase into one sentence and simplest english and make it short
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Follow-up after a sale is crucial for building long-term client relationships, especially for significant or complex purchases, and involves confirming the sale, ensuring delivery, maintaining customer connections, and evaluating personal performance.