Small businesses are often terrible at follow-up, a problem compounded by their success.

More work is created on the path to success, which can make your sales team too busy to follow up on quality leads. That is a high-class problem, but a problem nonetheless.

Email outreach to hot leads is a common and efficient practice. But it’s also common for those leads to ignore your emails; people already receive 121 emails per day , on average, according to The Small Business Blog. Making matters worse, it’s not uncommon for some salespeople to not even follow up at all, by email or any other means. Businesses are losing out on potential sales to their ideal clients by relying too much on hope and old habits instead of new processes and enhanced engagement.

One way to solve that problem is to hire more salespeople, but hiring and training are complex and cut into profit margins. Another possibility is that you personally could work longer hours, cutting into your personal life, but that’s not ideal or even sustainable. If you don’t find a solution to this high-class problem, then you’ll miss revenue opportunities.

Robert owns a Saratoga, N.Y., company specializing in helping small family businesses prepare the next generation for ownership responsibilities. Being national in scope, Robert’s company does much more marketing than his regional peers. According to benchmark studies, Robert has been pulling in as many clients as his best-performing national colleagues and competitors.

Sales were going so well for Robert’s company that his salespeople didn’t have enough time to follow up with even the finest prospects. Sounds like a good problem to have, right?

Wrong.

The sales team met with many non-ideal prospects, and they knew they had to fix that. The company did a great job fixing it by initiating a better onboarding sequence for prospects. To do that, Robert had to determine which leads were qualified and which were not. By doing so, advertising dollars generated a better return on investment by reaching ideal prospective clients. This had the additional benefit of reducing the number of time-wasting initial meetings, freeing up the salespeople’s time.

How to identify quality leads and avoid wasting salespeople’s time

Determining which leads were qualified and which were not was painstaking, but only because it was thorough. The company had already done an excellent job noting lead sources in its customer relationship management (CRM) software; it identified and eliminated two sources where the preponderance of leads were time-wasters. However, other sources were more mixed. The solution was to go through the notes of each unclosed sale and make a qualitative judgment as to the quality of the lead. As time passed, Robert’s team got better at ranking the leads as they came in.

With this new information about past leads, the marketing team could identify the best places to advertise and the most targeted messaging for those high-quality leads. That was Robert’s goal from the start. But they found something else, too — scores of red-hot leads had fallen through the cracks. Those prospects were interested in Robert’s services, trusted the company, and were willing and capable of buying. Still, other than the lead being added to the weekly email blast, they never received any follow-up from the salesperson after their first meeting.

Want to make more sales? Follow up.

It is critical for a salesperson to follow up after that initial meeting with the prospect. When it comes to sophisticated products or services, only 2 percent of sales occur at the first meeting, according to MTD Sales Training Specialists.

That means 98 percent of all initial sales contacts require a follow-up. Actually, they need multiple follow-ups. According to Salesforce, 80 percent of the deal request six to eight follow-ups to close. But only 8 percent of salespeople follow up five or more times.

Hubspot states that the average number of follow-up attempts is two; 44 percent of salespeople give up after the first follow-up. In other words, after just two follow-ups, the salesperson categorizes that lead as dead. But is the lead really dead? No.

Help your prospects make the purchasing decision

Don’t assume people don’t want to talk to you. You provide massive value, and what you offer is essential. Your prospect recognizes that, but “essential” is not always the same as “urgent.” Your prospect, like you, has a busy life full of work, errands, and obligations, and by the time they have a moment to consider your offering, they might want to turn off their brain and relax instead. It’s not a rejection from them; it’s being overwhelmed with life. If you really want to help them, develop a process that concentrates on how people make purchasing decisions.

To learn and improve, Robert asked the salespeople, in a non-confrontational way, why the leads slipped through the cracks. Part of the reason was that they were busy with bad leads, an area where sales and marketing needed better communication. Another reason was that the team thought those good leads were so good that they’d just call back and ask for the paperwork; sales data prove that to be wishful thinking.

But the biggest problem for Robert’s company was that there wasn’t a documented process to follow up with leads. Closing deals requires salespeople to follow up quickly, identify your prospect’s pain points, and explain your solution. Business owners can’t assume salespeople will do this without their support.

A process for sales follow-ups

Robert created a written process to share with his team. Suppose a prospect reached out via email or through Robert’s website. In that case, the lead receives an immediate auto-generated email reply with a pre-recorded video letting them know a salesperson will call soon to schedule an initial meeting. That quick response is vital because salespeople who follow up with a lead within five minutes are nine times more likely to convert them, according to IRC Sales Solutions. Simultaneously, a salesperson is prompted to call the lead and schedule a meeting.

At the conclusion of an initial meeting with a prospect, the next engagement is scheduled. And after that initial meeting, a workflow including three calls, three emails, and two texts begins. These are personalized follow-ups by the salesperson prompted by the CRM.

Immediately following the initial meeting, the salesperson emails the prospect a conversation summary. In this email, there is an explanation of what will happen in the next meeting, with an invitation to add to the agenda. If the next meeting is scheduled, the salesperson reminds them of the date and time and lets them know they’ll receive a text message reminding them 24 hours before the call. The text medium is more effective because text messages have an open rate of 98 percent, compared to 20 percent for emails.

After the second meeting, the salesperson follows the same summary and next-meeting explanation workflow.

If a meeting was not scheduled after the initial meeting, the salesperson still immediately emails the prospect. The same summary and explanation of the next meeting are included. The salesperson addresses the hurdle that kept the prospect from scheduling the next appointment (example, they are going on vacation). A web link is included for the prospect to set the next meeting. The salesperson says they’ll call in a couple of days (after the hurdle) to help with a more customized meeting time if the prospect needs help finding a convenient time on the online calendar.

Use automation to help close deals

Suppose the prospect doesn’t set that first or second meeting, and you cannot connect via telephone or email. In that case, a workflow in Robert’s CRM triggers an automated email sequence. These emails are sent regardless of meeting status because they’re helpful no matter what.

There are two themes in this automated email sequence. One is to accommodate the prospect with the ease of an online scheduler to help set the next appointment. The other is to remind them of the value they see in Robert’s service. The emails should educate the prospect during the sales cycle, build trust through the authority of skill, and keep your company top of mind. There should be four to seven of these educational emails in the first few weeks, and they should be technology-enabled, systematic, and scheduled.

Emails are an effective way to automate nudges and engagement. However, written emails are becoming antiquated. Robert has been successful with emailed videos to connect with clients. But clients open emails, prospects do not. Sending three or more purposeful texts to a prospect after an initial meeting increases conversion rates by 328 percent, according to Velocify. It’s important to note that texts are only useful for follow-ups. The conversion rate drops significantly if the salesperson’s first outreach is via text or email instead of a phone call. It’s crucial to send text messages only during work hours and use professional language and punctuation. Be brief, and for goodness’ sake, skip the emojis.

Following up with leads is a crucial part of the sales process, and it doesn’t have to take up all of your salespeople’s time. But they need your support to do it right. Work with your team to identify the cracks your hot leads are falling through and develop clear and easy-to-follow solutions. In Robert’s case, this was a set of workflows in his company’s CRM paired with video messages, automated emails and texts, and phone follow-ups. Different communication methods work best for your prospects. Having a workflow that drives your salespeople to engage (and keep engaging) is vital.

This article first appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on August 16, 2023.