How & Why Follow Up Works

 Professional Advertising is about maximizing the return on investment for your advertising dollars. You carefully target your clients, create professional ads, maximize your media presence, and get a great response. Now what happens?  

Follow Up: The Typical Response

 When a potential prospect requests information, most businesses send it out promptly. They send a brochure, or an e-mail, maybe make a phone call, or send a fax. Then they do nothing at all. The typical business does not follow up.

 They just sit back and wait.

 And wait.

 And wait.

 If a customer actually makes a purchase, most businesses will sincerely say “Thank You.” Then they do nothing at all.

 They just sit back and wait.

 And wait.

 And wait.

Follow Up With Prospects

 People have many reasons for not immediately making a desired purchase, or giving you the response you want. They may be shopping around, or procrastinating. They may be very busy, or distracted, or broke, or tired. They may have just forgotten, or misplaced your information. They may not be ready, or maybe they’re just not comfortable trusting you yet.

 Lot’s of things can go wrong in the purchase process.

 It's your job to follow up with these customers. If your company gives the typical response, and will just follow up a single time with prospective clients, then your advertising return on investment is not even close to being maximized.

 And how do prospects respond when you follow up again? This is about human nature. People respect a company that is organized enough to follow up in a planned fashion. It shows that you are interested in customer service and customer satisfaction. Because so many companies don’t follow up, you stand out from the crowd. You follow up, and you win customers.

 You never know where a prospect is in the sales process unless you stay in contact long enough to find out. And with each contact follow up you make, you increase the odds that a client will act on your offer.

Follow Up With Existing Customers

 Surprisingly, few businesses actively follow up with their existing clients. This is a mistake. Your existing customers produce more sales at a lower cost to you. They already know and trust you.

 Harvard Business Review reported that companies could increase profits by up to 85% simply by decreasing customer defections by 5%. Customer retention is about the most important thing your company can do. It's all about follow up.

 If you follow up, it will help you to identify problems that customers had but didn’t complain about. This will allow you to resolve those problems and keep those customers. You are providing excellent customer service, and you will generate positive and ongoing word of mouth advertising about your company. A little follow up goes a long way. Please read Word of Mouth Advertising for more on this subject.

 Marketers tell us that it costs 5 - 8 times the amount of money to get a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer satisfied. Well, it’s true. Think of customer retention as pebbles rolling down a mountainside. Happy customers spread the word, and soon you can have an avalanche on your hands. Follow up is the key.  

 Follow up works to build customer loyalty. It’s how you tell your customers that they are important. Research shows that 68% of customers that don’t return to a company say that the company never contacted them, was indifferent, or had a poor attitude. Sending your customers follow up letters is the solution.

 And of course your competition is trying to win your customers. But you can beat them.  A follow-up personal note is more powerful that a full page ad in the New York Times. If you invest in your customers, they will keep bringing – and sending – you business for life. No competitor will be able to win them away if you stay in contact and follow up with your customers.

Creating A Follow-Up Program

 The first thing to do is to decide how many times you want to follow up. The more difficult your products are to understand, and the more expensive they are, the greater number of times you will want to follow up.

 Decide how often you want to contact your customer. Give them enough time to consider your offer, but not enough time to forget about you. What is the average purchase decision time for your customers? Consider asking existing clients about what they consider appropriate follow up times to be.

 Your follow-up letters or conversations should be crafted as carefully as your initial offer. Tell your prospects that you are making sure they are well informed. Remind them that they had previously requested information. Give additional information if possible, and offer to answer questions.

 Consider adding extra benefits in your follow-up letter. Always thank them for considering your products, and ask for the sale. And you might ask permission to follow up again later. If they decline, you will save a little money, and maybe lessen any negative feedback.

 Clearly identify your final follow-up letter. This one should be constructed the same as the other letters, but lets them know that you will be removing them from your mailing list unless they contact you. If they are interested, they will pay attention.

 The key is to craft a series of strong, sales-oriented follow up letters. Or write out a phone script so that it's easy to make a follow up phone call. Have them ready to go, and use them.

 Create a tracking system and stick to it. There are many time management/scheduling computer programs available. You probably already own one or two. Set them up to remind you to send your follow-up letters. If your letter or e-mail is prewritten, it will be easy to stay on track.

 If you really want to maximize your return on advertising investment, start a follow-up system for your prospects and customers. Your advertising brought them in. Now it’s your job to close the sale. Follow up is a powerful way to win ongoing new and repeat business.

Follow Up: Ask For Help

 As always, Professional Advertising is here for you. We recommend that you run your work past a marketing professional for assistance or a second opinion. It’s a cheap investment for something you are going to send out repeatedly. Please contact Professional Advertising for additional help.

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