Sales follow up: 7 Tried & tested strategies [8 templates inside] 

When you send an excellent email, have a great meeting, or conduct a cool demo? That’s just the start.   

What counts is what you do next – that’s your sales follow up.  

Here’s an insight: sticking with it and following up more can make a big difference. But many of us need to follow up more.    

This study by Brevet found that most sales require about five follow-ups to finally get a yes. But guess what?   

Almost half of sales folks give up after just trying once. And by the fourth try, about 94% have already given up.  

So, we will discuss how to keep that conversation going and turn those almosts into definites. 

It’s all about keeping in touch in an excellent way that makes the person on the other end look forward to hearing from you.   

Let’s deep dive into what sales follow up is and why it is important for every business.  

We’ll also include templates and strategies to make your follow-up efforts more effective, ensuring your prospects look forward to hearing from you and ultimately helping you close more deals. 

What is sales follow up? 

Sales follow up is a process that salespeople use to reconnect with potential clients after their initial meeting or conversation. 

It can involve sending emails, making phone calls, or texting to remind the prospects about the last conversation and see if they have any more questions or if they’re ready to make a purchase.  

The main goal is to keep the conversation going and gradually assist the prospect in purchasing.   

It’s a method for salespeople to demonstrate their care and readiness to help, thereby increasing the prospect’s likelihood of choosing their product.  

A good follow up involves understanding the prospect’s needs and offering the right solutions at the right time. 

Types of sales follow up 

Below are the 7 types of sales follow up, including emails, calls, and in-person meetings.  

Each type helps maintain communication with prospects, address their needs, and effectively guide them through the sales process. 

1. Sales email follow ups 

Email follow ups act as friendly nudges in sales that keep the conversation alive.   

They’re crucial for maintaining contact with prospects and guiding them toward purchasing.  

Sales reps can effectively nurture leads by crafting personalized emails tailored to prospects’ interests and pain points.   

Using sales follow up email templates and attention-grabbing subject lines helps ensure that emails get noticed and acted upon promptly.   

It consistently shows the effectiveness of email follow ups in moving prospects through the sales funnel.   

It’s a vital part of the sales follow up process, allowing reps to provide valuable information and build relationships over time. 

Check out: 27+ best sales email templates 

2. Follow up calls 

Follow up calls are another essential aspect of sales follow up strategies, offering a more personal and direct form of communication with prospects.    

Unlike emails, follow up calls allow sales reps to engage in real-time conversations, address concerns, and overcome objections effectively.  

By leveraging their sales pitch and building rapport over the phone, reps can guide prospects through the sales funnel and move closer to closing deals.  

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3. Automated follow up 

Automation has transformed how sales reps follow up with prospects, making the process more efficient and scalable.   

With automated sales follow up systems, reps can schedule and automatically send follow up emails, calls, and messages.   

This ensures consistent engagement with leads without the need for manual intervention.   

By leveraging the best sales follow up software, reps can track interactions and adjust their follow up strategies based on prospect engagement.  

Automated sales follow up streamlines the process, allowing reps to focus their time and energy on high-priority tasks. 

4. Post sales follow up 

The sales process continues once a deal is closed; post sales follow-up is equally crucial for fostering customer satisfaction and loyalty.   

Sales reps demonstrate their commitment to customer success and satisfaction by reaching out to customers after a purchase.   

Post-sales follow up may involve sending thank you email, conducting satisfaction surveys, or offering additional support and resources.  

By nurturing relationships with existing customers, reps can increase customer retention and generate referrals, ultimately driving long-term business growth. 

5. Sales SMS and texting follow ups 

In addition to emails and calls, SMS and texting follow ups offer another effective channel for engaging with prospects.  

With the prevalence of smartphones, text messages provide a convenient and immediate way to communicate with leads.  

Sales reps can use text follow ups to send quick reminders, share updates, or follow up on specific actions or inquiries.  

By incorporating texting into their follow up strategies, reps can reach prospects where they are and increase their chances of eliciting a response. 

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6. Social media follow up 

Social media platforms offer another avenue for sales follow up, allowing reps to engage with prospects more casually and interactively.   

Reps can share valuable content, participate in discussions, and build relationships over time by connecting with prospects on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.   

Social media adds a personal touch to the sales follow up process, helping reps to stand out and establish themselves as trusted advisors in their industry. 

7. In-Person follow up 

Despite the growth of digital communication methods, in-person follow up remains a powerful tool for building rapport and closing deals.   

Whether through meetings, networking events, or product demonstrations, face-to-face interactions allow reps to connect with prospects on a deeper level and more effectively address their needs.   

In-person follow up demonstrates a commitment to the prospect’s success and provides opportunities for reps to showcase the value of their product or service firsthand.    

By incorporating in-person follow up into their sales strategies, reps can differentiate themselves from competitors and leave a lasting impression on prospects. 

Why sales follow up is important? 

When working in sales, you must keep reaching out to potential prospects.   

This is where sales follow up comes into play. It gently reminds someone that you have the solution they need. 

Here are eight reasons why sales follow up is essential: 

1. Building relationships 

Effective sales follow ups are not merely transactional interactions but pivotal moments to foster meaningful connections with prospective customers.   

By consistently reaching out through follow up emails, calls, or text messages, a sales rep demonstrates a genuine interest in addressing the prospect’s pain points and needs beyond just securing a sale.   

This consistent engagement helps build trust and reliability, distinguishing you as a thoughtful and attentive partner rather than just another vendor.   

Personalizing your communication based on previous interactions or gathered insights can further solidify this relationship, making each prospective client feel valued and understood.

2. Increasing conversion rates 

The majority of sales require multiple touchpoints before a deal is closed.   

Implementing a robust sales follow up process—meticulously planning out the follow up sequence, employing sales follow up emails, and making strategic follow up calls—significantly amplifies the likelihood of conversion.   

This persistence is crucial; it’s about nurturing leads through the sales cycle, providing them with the necessary information, reassurance, and incentives at the correct times to make an informed decision.   

Each follow up offers an opportunity to overcome objections, clarify doubts, and advance prospective clients to a favorable decision. 

3. Automating the process

Integrating sales follow up software into the sales follow up process introduces a level of efficiency and consistency that is unattainable manually.   

Automation allows for scheduling sales follow up emails and calls at optimal times, ensuring that no lead falls through the cracks due to human error or oversight.   

Moreover, the best sales follow up tools offer analytics and insights, enabling sales reps to refine their strategies based on what works best.   

This ensures a systematic approach to follow ups and frees up valuable time for sales reps to focus on personalizing interactions and closing deals. 

4. Personalization at scale 

Personalized follow ups make a significant difference in engaging prospective clients.   

Utilizing sales follow up software doesn’t have to mean sacrificing personal touch.   

On the contrary, advanced tools allow for the customization of follow up emails or messages, enabling sales reps to tailor their communication to resonate with each lead’s individual needs and interests.   

This level of personalization at scale helps make each prospective client feel seen and heard, increasing the effectiveness of the follow up efforts and fostering a closer connection to the product or service offered. 

5. Stand out and outshine competitors 

In a competitive landscape, following up in sales distinguishes your brand and ensures your message is heard above the noise.  

Creative follow up techniques, such as sending valuable content, sharing industry insights, or crafting engaging subject lines, can capture the attention of prospects more effectively than competitors.  

Standing out is not just about frequency but also about the quality and relevance of the communication, making your follow up memorable and more likely to elicit a positive response. 

6. Get a “Yes” where at first you got a “No” 

Persistence pays off in sales follow ups. Initial rejections are not always final; they might signify “not now” rather than “never.”   

Through thoughtful follow up, sales reps can revisit these prospects at a more opportune time, providing additional information or adjustments to the offer that could turn a “no” into a “yes.”   

This approach requires initially understanding the prospect’s feedback and objections and then addressing these concerns in subsequent follow ups to shift their perspective slowly. 

7. Reach more people 

A well-structured sales follow up process nurtures existing leads and expands your reach.   

By employing multiple channels for follow up—from emails and phone calls to SMS messages and social media engagements—sales reps can cast a wider net and engage with a broader audience.   

This multi-channel approach ensures that you connect with prospects on their preferred platforms, increasing the chances of engagement and response. 

8. The ultimate goal 

The ultimate goal of sales follow ups is to close more deals and build a base of satisfied and loyal customers who will return and refer others.   

This long-term vision for sales follow up emphasizes the importance of relationship-building, personalized engagement, and consistent, value-driven communication.   

Achieving this goal means going beyond the immediate sale to establish a reputation for reliability, quality, and customer focus, laying the foundation for sustainable growth and success in the competitive sales world. 

Create your sales follow up process: How frequently should salespeople follow up? 

The sales follow up process is pivotal in bridging the gap between initial contact and closing deals.   

Mastering how to follow up in sales enhances relationships and significantly boosts conversion rates, underlining the importance of follow up in sales.  

A strategic approach to sales follow ups can dramatically alter sales outcomes.   

For instance, persistence is vital; it often takes multiple follow ups to close a sale, emphasizing the number of follow ups necessary for success. 

Implementing sales follow up process 

To initiate, a sales follow up schedule may include: 

• Day 1: Initial outreach via email or phone call. 
• +2 days: Follow up with additional information 
• +7 days: Another follow up, addressing pain points, or offering a product demo. 
• +14 days: Check-in email to maintain engagement, possibly using varied subject lines. 
• +30 days: A gentle reminder or offering new insights, showcasing valuable content. 

This schedule mixes emails and phone calls and provides a structured approach, allowing sales teams to maintain consistent communication with prospective clients without overwhelming them.  

For those navigating cold outreach, where there is no pre-existing relationship with the prospect, it’s recommended to limit follow ups to a maximum of six times.   

This respects the preliminary nature of the relationship and avoids the risk of being perceived as overly aggressive.   

In such cases, a final break-up email might be appropriate to conclude the outreach effort, leaving the door open for future interactions should the prospect’s situation change.  

Conversely, if there has already been some level of engagement—without a definitive rejection from the prospect—the approach can be more flexible. Follow ups can continue as needed until a clear outcome is reached. 

Many organizations leverage sales CRM to automate their sales follow up process, incorporating phone calls, emails, and text messages.  

These systems can be tailored to replicate a company’s most effective follow up strategy, adjusting over time based on feedback and results.  

Automation ensures that emails are sent according to a predetermined schedule and facilitates timely reminders for sales professionals to make follow up calls.  

These CRM systems are invaluable for tracking how sales leads respond to each follow up, offering insights that can refine and improve the follow up strategy.   

For small businesses, choosing a CRM that allows for such customization and automation can be a game-changer. It can streamline the sales follow up process and potentially boost conversion rates. 

Implementing a structured follow up schedule while adapting to each prospective client’s unique circumstances is critical to maintaining diligence and discretion in sales efforts.   

This approach underscores the importance of follow-up in sales, where consistency, personalization, and timing play critical roles in converting prospects into happy customers.    

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7 proven sales follow up strategies 

From a sales rep’s perspective, mastering the art of sales follow up is crucial for turning leads into deals.   

Here are seven proven sales follow up strategies, incorporating best practices and techniques to enhance your sales process.

1. Personalized follow up emails 

Sending a follow up email that feels personal and relevant can dramatically increase your response rate.   

Mention details from your initial conversation, refer to their company name or job function, and address pain points they’ve shared.   

Email templates are fine but customize them to make each message feel unique.  

A personalized email shows you’re paying attention and not just sending bulk messages.   

This attention to detail can set you apart and demonstrate a genuine interest in providing value to your prospects. 

2. The value of multiple follow ups 

Sales follow up statistics often highlight that it takes multiple contacts to close a sale. Don’t give up after the first or second attempt. On average, it takes eight follow up calls to reach a prospect.  

Plan for a complete follow-up schedule that spans over a few weeks or months, adjusting based on the prospect’s responses or lack thereof.   

Remember, persistence is key. Each follow up is an opportunity to remind potential prospects about your product or service, share new valuable content, or offer solutions that might have been overlooked initially.  

For example, let’s say your initial follow up has yet to be responded to.   

Two weeks later, you sent another email: “Hi [Name], I wanted to share a quick update that might interest you.   

We’ve added a new feature that [addresses a specific concern they mentioned]. Can I share more details?”   

This approach demonstrates persistence and provides new reasons for the prospect to engage. 

3. Utilizing sales follow up software 

Leverage sales follow up software to automate parts of your follow up process.   

These tools can help schedule emails, text messages, and sales calls, ensuring you take advantage of every opportunity to reach out.   

Many of these systems offer analytics to measure the effectiveness of different follow up strategies, allowing you to refine your approach over time.   

The best sales follow up software can transform your efficiency, enabling you to focus on personal interactions while it handles the scheduling. 

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4. Following up after networking events 

After meeting potential leads at a networking event, send a follow up email or call them within the next 24-48 hours.  

Reference something specific from your conversation to jog their memory and establish a connection.  

This prompt follow up keeps the momentum going and shows that you value the connection made, potentially leading to a sales opportunity. 

5. The follow up call: More than Just checking in 

A follow up sales call should be more than just asking if the prospect has made a decision.  

Use this opportunity to offer additional information, help address new concerns, and reinforce how your solution meets their needs.  

It’s also a chance to build a stronger rapport and understand their buying process better.  

Effective follow up calls are consultative and focused on the prospective client, not just the sale. 

For example, During a follow up call, instead of simply asking if they’ve made a decision, you could say, “Hi [Name], I’ve been thinking about your question on [specific question].  

I found some additional information that could help clarify things. Do you have a moment to discuss it?” This turns a check-in call into a valuable touchpoint that offers new insights. 

6. Addressing objections in follow up 

If a prospect has hesitations or objections, use your follow ups to address these points directly.  

Provide clear, concise information or solutions that tackle their concerns head-on.  

This approach shows you’re attentive and committed to helping them find the right solution, enhancing trust, and moving closer to a sale. 

7. The break up email 

If, after several follow-ups, there has been no response or prospects haven’t expressed interest, it’s time to send a breakup email.   

This message should politely acknowledge their apparent lack of interest and offer one last chance to engage while leaving the door open for future opportunities.   

Surprisingly, this type of email often receives a response, as it triggers a now-or-never decision. 

Sales follow-ups are a delicate balance between strategy and personal touch, emphasizing timely engagement, personalizing your messages, and using tools to help.  

Statistics reveal that 80% of sales require at least 5 follow-up calls. The first time you talk to a buyer is just the start.  

At Salesmate, following these tips helped us book 35% more follow-up calls, proving that it’s all about persistence and maintaining a personal approach. 

Sales follow up email templates & scripts you can use 

1. After an initial meeting 

This template is used after your first meeting with a prospect. It aims to recap the discussion, reinforce the value of your solution, and suggest the next steps.  

2. After sending a proposal 

This template is ideal for following up after you’ve sent a detailed proposal to your prospect.  

It seeks to prompt a response, offer clarification, and keep the sales process moving forward. 

3. Reminder for a scheduled follow up call 

Use this template as a courteous reminder about an upcoming follow up call you’ve scheduled with a prospect.   

It helps ensure both parties are prepared and keep the appointment in mind. 

4. Re-engaging after no response 

This template is crafted for when you have not received a response from your prospect after previous attempts.   

It’s a gentle nudge to re-engage them and get feedback on their interest or decision. 

5. The break-up email 

When all attempts to engage a prospect have been exhausted, this template offers a professional and respectful way to close the loop, leaving the door open for future opportunities. 

6. Phone call follow up script 

This script is for following up with a prospect after an initial meeting or contact.  

The goal is to re-engage them, remind them of your product’s value, and move them closer to a decision. 

7. Cold email follow up template 

This template is for reaching out to a new prospect who has yet to respond to your initial cold email.   

The aim is to capture their interest and get them to engage with you.  

8. Phone call follow up script for after sending a proposal  

This script is handy after you’ve sent a proposal and want to gauge the prospect’s interest, address any concerns, and, ideally, move towards closing the deal.  

Conclusion 

The real deal in making sales isn’t just about that first great conversation or the impressive demo you gave; it’s really about what you do afterward.   

Remember, sticking with your follow ups is key. Many of us give up too soon, even though it often takes about five follow ups to seal the deal.   

But following up is all about keeping the conversation alive in a cool way, making sure the person on the other side is looking forward to hearing from you.  

The templates and strategies provided in this article might just be what you need to improve your sales follow up.  

So, keep it accurate, personal, and most importantly, keep going. Your effort is going to pay off. 

Frequently asked question-