[Guest Post: David Wachs]
Following up with prospects is one of the most challenging parts of the sales process. You need to know what to say and find the right time to say it. You want to keep your prospects engaged, but you don’t want to annoy them either. How can you reach customers in a way that they will respond?
We believe that personalization is the key to success, but it’s not just about sending a customized email or text message. It’s about making sure every interaction with your customers feels personal and human. It allows you to connect with your prospects on a deeper level and make them feel valued and important to your business.
It’s time for you to take this new approach to your sales strategy.
1. Start personalizing your emails for better engagement
Are you using email personalization as a chance to engage with your customers? If not, start. If you’re writing emails that are meant to catch a prospect’s attention, they will be more likely to respond. When you personalize your email marketing strategies, you bring value to each customer.
Here are the best tips to help you get started personalizing your emails today.
Personalizing subject lines
If you’re not taking the time to create subject lines that have a human touch, you’re not showing your customers that you’re interested in their questions or concerns. Personalizing emails will motivate your customers to go out of their way to hear more from you which can have a huge impact on your sales process. If your customers immediately understand why you are reaching out to them, they will be more likely to open the email.
By personalizing your subject lines, you’re sending a message to your audience that you have useful and relevant information to share that’s aligned with their specific wants and needs. You’ll create a stronger relationship with your customers which may result in increased sales.
When writing your subject line don’t forget to:
- Use your prospect’s name
- Include personal details to create a connection
- Make it attention-grabbing
- Keep it short and direct
Personalizing the body of the email
By personalizing the body of the email, you can create custom-made offers or special discounts based on the interests or needs of your customers. It will show them you understand their pain points and can provide solutions they can benefit from.
With personalization email, you’re showing prospects that you care about them and that they’re not just another number in your spreadsheet. When your customers make a real connection with you, you’ll get them much closer to the bottom of the sales funnel.
Personalizing the call-to-action
All of your emails should have a call-to-action. The call-to-action must be clear, easy to understand and personal to your audience. When you personalize your CTA, your audience responds well to your messages. They’re eager to engage and get what you’re offering.
2. Calling back fast is the best way to close a sale
One thing is clear, the customer’s time is precious. They need a company that can solve their problems quickly and efficiently. You should call customers the second you receive a response from them to your initial email or telephone call.
The first thing you want to do is to see how the customer feels after you have talked to them and enquired about their needs. If they seem to be okay, and they say that they are interested in your offer, then it’s time for you to discuss in detail any of the doubts or problems they might have had. They will have your undivided attention and that will make them feel special.
It will help you establish credibility and gain their trust to close a sale.
Looking the part of a reliable and credible salesperson goes beyond what you wear and say. How you write makes a lasting impression as well. Ensure that your email has flawless grammar and spelling – errors can make a great email look unprofessional. Use a high-quality grammar checker to catch the mistakes you might miss.
A follow-up call is an excellent opportunity to:
- Explain how your company operates and what your business aims to achieve
- How your company is different from similar companies
- Talk about the differences in product or service between your company and your competitors
- What are your secret strengths, which your customers can use for their benefit
3. Customize your texts so they get noticed
Customers are used to receiving impersonal, generic messages from brands so they have become more selective about which ones they want to engage with. They want something more personal and tailored for them. Personalized text messages can help you stand out among your competitors and create a better relationship with your customers.
You’ve sent an email requesting a response, but you’re not sure if your prospect has even seen it. A simple text message can be the perfect nudge to get your prospect to take action. It’s also the easiest way to reach your prospect when they may not be checking email regularly.
When writing your text message:
- Start with their name
- Remind them of your previous conversation or the email you’ve sent
- Don’t be overly formal; try to maintain a friendly tone
- Be precise and direct
- Don’t respond too quickly, it will make you look desperate
- Invite them to talk on the phone or meet in person
4. Maximize the impact of your conversations with meeting notes
When you’re in a sales meeting, you have to be on your best game. You need to know everything about your prospect’s business and show that you are an expert in your field. More importantly, you also need to follow up after the meeting. It is where most sales reps lose out, as they don’t know what to say or do.
Follow-up after the meeting is a crucial step for closing deals and making revenue.
- Before you end the meeting take a moment to discuss your next steps
- Recap your discussion with meeting notes and send them to your client
- Thank your client for their time
- Summarize the key points from your discussion
- Send an action plan including deadlines
- Link any relevant resources regarding your products or services
- Leave your contact information for any questions
SPOTIO is a perfect tool to track, manage and optimize your sales process
Are you searching for a better way to track your sales performance? Look no further.
SPOTIO is a unique field sales engagement and performance management software that lets you easily manage your sales pipeline, capture leads faster and track your resources. You can use SPOTIO to manage your field sales team, their door-to-door canvassing and daily routes. Monitor all of your actions in real-time and get instant insights into how your sales activities are performing.
Do you spend hours manually entering customer data into your CRM? SPOTIO reduces your workload and helps you focus on closing deals. It’s simple to use and enables you to easily collect data on your mobile phone. It automatically timestamps new leads and syncs changes with the backend database in real-time.
It also offers an appointment calendar to schedule and track meetings with key prospects allowing you to add notes and other relevant information that’s useful for the entire team. You can also track all calls, emails and texts, and automate your correspondence with your customers, increase the number of leads you collect and appointments you set and improve your close rate by having all the information you need at your fingertips.
SPOTIO helps you to identify and reach your sales potential. You can use it to manage and track leads, forecast revenue, create territory maps, assign leads to territories, send automated emails and more! SPOTIO boosts sales team productivity by 46%!
Do you need a simple way to organize your sales team? You can easily see who is doing well and who is not. You can reward top performers with bonuses, promotions, or other perks. It helps you manage all aspects of your sales process from prospecting to closing deals.
SPOTIO is available on a per-user per month subscription basis. Request a demo today and find out more about this unique field sales engagement platform.
5. Send thank-you notes that deliver a personal touch
Finding a way to stand out from the competition and create an emotional connection with your clientele is a challenge for many businesses.
Handwritten “thank you” notes are the perfect way to show your clients that you care about them and that you are invested in maintaining the relationship. It’s a simple gesture that can have a lasting impact on your business.
Here are some tips on creating the best handwritten message:
- Design your message carefully
- Define the tone of the message
- Add any personal elements about the client
- Don’t include any promotions or incentives
- Show gratitude
- Sign your note
Sending handwritten cards to each of your clients manually can be a time-consuming process. You have the will, but you just don’t have the time. With Handwrytten, you can send handwritten “thank you” notes to all of your clients, without having to lift a pen!
This handwritten letter service makes it easy for you to create, send, and track your handwritten notes online or by using iOS and Android apps. Delight your customers and create professional-looking handwritten cards in minutes:
- Be authentic. Be yourself. Have your handwriting and signatures personalized in different styles. With Handwrytten, you’ll always have the perfect handwritten note for any occasion.
- Easily send handwritten notes to your customers with a few clicks. It is just as simple to upload your spreadsheet and send hundreds, or even thousands of cards at once.
- Save time and never worry about forgetting your customer again. You can use templates and other great features to speed up the process.
- Schedule your handwritten thank you notes for future delivery and never miss an opportunity again.
- Designing your card online is the simplest way to get the right look. You can choose from a variety of graphics, colors, and fonts to make your card unique. Create the perfect card for your customer, all without having to leave your desk.
6. Say “thank you” with a personalized video
You have a list of prospects or clients you want to reach out to, but don’t know what to say. You want to be respectful and not send the same generic message. You want to be careful not to waste their time with a message that doesn’t show you care about them.
A personalized video will not only motivate your client to respond, but will also create a sense of urgency and interest in what you are offering. Send it when you want to:
- Summarize what you discussed after the call
- Check-in and encourage a response
- Reschedule a missed meeting
A thank you video is a more personal way to connect with prospects and clients and show your gratitude for their time and interest in your offer. It’s simple and effective. It also shows that you take the relationship seriously and are willing to go the extra mile.
7. Make personalized reports
Your customers won’t tell you what they think of your product or services unless you ask them directly. A customer survey can be a valuable tool for increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. You can get honest responses that will help you improve your sales activity. An after-sales survey will give you the answers to these questions. You can find out what they think of your products, your service and your business as a whole and offer personalized feedback based on survey results.
Creating personalized reports can be fun. Decide what data you need to include to keep you and your customers on the same page and help them make informed decisions.
Play with text, formulas, graphs and images to create a customized pdf that will interpret and visualize your information based on your clients’ answers.
Work continuously on improving your customer experience
Your customers receive information and messages all day long. They’re busy, distracted, and overwhelmed. Intelligent personalization is a way to make your sales more effective by leveraging the right technology, tactics, and strategy to support all your efforts.
Create a unique personal experience throughout the customer’s journey and increase your sales.
Author bio:
David Wachs is a serial entrepreneur, David’s latest venture, Handwrytten, is bringing back the lost art of letter writing through scalable, robot-based solutions that write your notes in pen. Developed as a platform, Handwrytten lets you send notes from your CRM system, such as Salesforce, the web site, apps, or through custom integration.
Used by major meal boxes, eCommerce giants, nonprofits and professionals, Handwrytten is changing the way brands and people connect.
