How to Create Follow-ups that Close Deals: Tips to Success
In fact, a successful product demo is only the first step in the sales cycle, while the events after the demo determine the fate of the deal. Follow-ups turn out to be effective for gaining momentum and understanding prospects for a buying decision. However, traditional ways of follow-up, such as email follow-ups, usually turn out to be inefficient. This article covers how to construct effective follow-ups that will keep the conversation going and drive conversions.
The Importance of an Effectively Executed Post-Demo Follow-up
Whereas, in the post-demo, there is a need to keep the prospect interested, clear the remaining doubts, and bring him one step closer towards making a decision. However, this post-demo may turn precarious because something gets lost in communication, and the details are forgotten, or the engagement at a personal level may not work. The good follow-ups are those wherein the prospect stays interested and confident in your solution to close the deal successfully.
Why Traditional Email Follow-Ups May Not Be Enough
While email can be a common tool used to follow up a demo, some limitations do exist:
- Inbox Overload: Prospects often receive a lot of emails per day, and thus it is easy for your follow-up to get lost in the mix.
- Lack of Personal Touch: Emails will feel impersonal, which may prevail if personalization is lacking in one’s emails and if one fails to continue the rapport that was created during the presentation.
- Limited Engagement: Email formats are very static; there is hardly any interaction provided, other than reading and clicking, which can easily cause the prospect to lose interest.
- Slowness of Response: In some instances, email is very slow as a means of communication, which could lengthen decision-making processes and, in the process, may dampen the enthusiasm a prospect has.
- Lack of Visibility: Once an email is sent, there is usually a cloud regarding exactly how the prospect interacts with the content; it’s hard to know exactly how interested they are.
Strategies to Better Demo Follow-Ups
Overcome the inadequacy of mere traditional email follow-up by checking out the following strategies that will ensure your post-demo communications are effective and impactful.
1. Personalize Your Follow-up
Customize your follow-up to the particular needs and concerns of the prospect. Extract from the demo what, exactly will help you construct a personalized message that makes sense in their singular situation. This shows you understand their challenges and are committed to delivering a solution that works for them.
2. Summarize and Reinforce Key Points
Reiterate the key benefits of your product featured in this demo. This is serving as a refresher, and it’s also reinforcing the value proposition to make sure these critical points stay top-of-mind with the prospect.
3. Interact with Multimedia
Again, make your follow-up more interactive by incorporating multimedia. Videos, interactive charts, and dynamic presentations will make the follow-up more memorable and help the prospect be better able to envision the benefit your solution addresses.
4. Provide Relevant Resources
Provide additional resources that are relevant to the prospect’s industry or specific challenges. Sharing case studies, whitepapers, or testimonials can build credibility and demonstrate the effectiveness of your product in similar scenarios.
5. Quantify and Analyze Engagement
Always leverage tools that provide insight into exactly how the prospect interacts with your follow-up content. Things like Digital Sales Rooms, for example, have very detailed analytics around what clients do, which enables you to tailor your approach to what resonates with the prospect.
6. Request Next Steps
Clearly state what the next steps are: a follow-up call, deep diving into certain features, meeting with other stakeholders. This keeps the continuous sales process moving and avoids ambiguity.
7. Be Open to Questions and Feedback
Encourage the prospect to ask any questions or make comments. The quicker you can address any concerns or questions that come up, the more open it will appear and contribute towards gaining confidence since the prospect is being put at ease.
8. Shift from Emails to Interactive Digital Platforms
So, leave those traditional emails alone and transition into more engaging digital sales rooms. These enable you to create an infinitely more interactive follow-up experience where there is one place that prospects can refer back to in order to review the demos, review product details, or interact with your content in real time.
Sample Follow-up Email
While interactive platforms are highly effective, emails still have their place in the follow-up process. Here is an example of how to use email to route prospects toward a more interactive follow-up experience:
Subject: Next Steps-follow-up on Our Demo
Body:
Hello, [Prospect’s Name],
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for taking some time today to explore with me how [Product Name] might be a fit for your needs. I am quite confident that our solution can add much value to specifically [specific aspect of prospect’s business], especially in [A, B, C benefits].
To make things easier for you, I have set up a dedicated space where you can access everything we discussed. Inside, you will find:
- Key takeaways from our discussion
- A recording of the demo
- Examples and case studies pertinent to your industry
You can revisit this space at your convenience. If you have any questions or need further information, feel free to reach out. I’ll be in touch soon to discuss the next steps.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Conclusion
Basically, it is effective follow-up that finally converts the prospect into a paying customer. Done properly, personalization of follow-ups, addition of relevant multimedia, offering additional resources in context, and using interactive platforms—all will keep the momentum going post-demo and closer to the deal closure. Just remember, it’s all about continuing to acknowledge and reassure the prospect that moving forward with your solution is the right one.
