One of the biggest challenges in sales is effective follow-ups.

And no wonder—we're dealing with human beings.

One of my clients referred me to their client who had shown interest in my sales training. After my client made an email introduction, I reached out to the prospect.

No response.

I followed up with another email a week later.

Still no response.

Will I give up? Hell no!

I sent him a LinkedIn connection request and set a reminder in my CRM to call them in the new year.

Research shows that 50% of salespeople give up after the first contact, even though statistics show it can take 7-8 touchpoints to close a deal. If you’re stopping early because of fear of bothering or some other reason, you’re leaving immense opportunities on the table.

This mindset shift is crucial.

When you understand that following up isn't about pestering prospects but about providing value and helping them succeed, your entire approach changes. You move from a place of hesitation to one of confident service.

Think about it: if you truly believe your product or service can help someone, isn't it your responsibility to ensure they have every opportunity to benefit from it?

A well-defined Sales Statement of Intent fuels every successful follow-up. When you approach sales with the intention of truly helping your clients succeed, fear of rejection fades away. Your focus shifts from “bothering” the prospect to building meaningful solutions for their needs.

This guide will walk you through five sales follow-up strategies that are designed to help you nurture leads and close deals efficiently—while staying persistent, professional, and personable.

💪Here's an example: After sending my third email to a former boss asking for help with a new opportunity—despite him being the CEO of a global hardware vendor with a packed schedule—I finally got a response. A mix of humour and persistence was the key!

The Power of Timing in Follow-Ups

Timing plays a crucial role in the sales process. Follow up too late, and you risk losing a warm lead to a competitor. Push too soon, and it could come across as desperate or bothersome.

When Should You Follow Up?

Here are some research-backed insights to guide your timing decisions:

• After Initial Contact/Meeting: Follow up within 24-48 hours after your first conversation. It keeps the relationship fresh in the prospect's mind.

• After Presenting a Proposal: in my experience, I recommend following up no later than 3 days after delivering a proposal quote.

• Post-Event or Webinar: If you connected during an event or webinar, reach out within 3-5 days to keep the momentum going.

Pro Tip

Use scheduling tools to plan emails and optimize response timing. For instance, CRM platforms allow you to monitor email opens and clicks so you can adjust timing for future follow-ups.

Case study from Shopify: At a retail chain, employees started following up with customers 24 hours after purchase with a simple "Thank you" SMS and personalised offers. This alone resulted in a 40% increase in retention!

Remember, promptness conveys professionalism—but give the prospect enough room to breathe. It's about finding the sweet spot where your persistence aligns with their availability.

Key Takeaway: Follow up quickly, but always allow your prospect enough space to respond.

Personalisation and Relationship Building

At its core, sales is about relationships. Follow-ups that feel transactional rarely lead to success. Instead, personalising your outreach shows genuine interest and builds trust.

How to Personalise Your Follow-Ups

1. Refer Back to Your Conversations

Use specifics to show you’re listening.

2. Leverage Social Media

Social platforms, especially LinkedIn, are goldmines for insights. If the prospect recently posted content or announced a milestone, reference it in your follow-up message.

3. Use Referrals

If a mutual contact introduced you, bring it up to strengthen your position. Send a LinkedIn DM or text.

4. Strengthen relationships outside the office

The holiday season is perfect for building rapport in an informal setting.

If you have a prospect who recently accepted your LinkedIn connection, this is the perfect time to invite them to your Christmas event or year-end gathering. It's not just about business—it's about fostering trust and collaboration.

Pro Tip

I love using early January as an opportunity to connect with clients. One of my favorite ways to do this is by inviting them to the Auckland Open Tennis. It’s a relaxed, enjoyable event that fosters shared experiences beyond the usual work conversations. (Fun fact: Serena and Venus Williams have played there before!)

Spending six hours with key decision-makers is a valuable opportunity. Use this time wisely by building relationships and learning more about your clients outside the office. Don't talk about business unless they bring it up—people naturally prefer doing business with those they like, so keep it casual and enjoy the moment.

One of the clients we invited ended up engaging us for several projects. Though the sales cycle took time, we secured our first $700K contract with them, and they've since grown into a major account.

Leveraging Technology for Efficiency

Managing multiple sales leads at once? Automation and CRM tools can save you from follow-up fatigue.

Tools to Make Your Follow-Ups Smarter

• CRM Systems: Track conversations, set reminders, and log notes so you’re always prepared.

• Email Automation: These tools allow you to sequence messages, ensuring your follow-ups never fall through the cracks.

• Digital Sales Rooms: Digital Sales Rooms are online spaces that streamline the sales process by centralizing resources, documents, and real-time communication. They boost transparency and efficiency, helping deals move faster, especially in complex sales cycles. I have been using Aligned for major clients.

Balancing Automation with a Human Touch

Automation is a blessing, but it’s critical to add human layers to avoid sounding robotic. Always review templates before sending them, ensuring personalisation even in automated sequences.

Tip: Review your automation workflows every month.

Key Takeaway: Use technology to work smarter, but never at the cost of authenticity.

Adding Value in Every Interaction

Why should a prospect answer your follow-up if it offers nothing?

Make it about them, not you.

Ways to Add Value

1. Share Helpful Resources

Send blog articles, eBooks, or whitepapers relevant to their business challenges. For example, "I came across this case study on optimizing lead generation; it reminded me of what we discussed during our last meeting."

2. Propose Solutions to Their Challenges, this is your Business Case Hypothesis

Reflect on their pain points and follow up with a direct way your solution can help.

Example: "You mentioned you’ve been struggling with team collaboration metrics. If you're open to it, I'd love to demo our platform's KPI dashboard."

3. Celebrate Milestones

Birthdays, anniversaries, promotions—recognizing these makes your follow-up feel less transactional.

Key Takeaway: Every follow-up should leave the prospect thinking, “This was worth my time.”

Persistence Without Annoyance

Balancing persistence and patience is tricky but essential.

How to Stay Persistent (Without Being Overbearing)

1. Formalise your Cadence

Have a systematic approach for following up with prospects. Start with a 7-touch-point process combining LinkedIn, email, calls, and text messages.

Here's a suggested 7-touch-point outreach cadence:

• Day 1: LinkedIn connection request with personalised note

• Day 3: Initial email with specific insights about their business

• Day 5: Phone call

• Day 7: LinkedIn message with relevant content or case study

• Day 10: Second email with additional value proposition

• Day 12: Text message for a quick check-in

• Day 14: Final Phone call and email combination

Iterate as you go. Track what's working and what's not working. Every business is unique.

2. Change the Medium

Stagnant email? Try a LinkedIn message or a quick phone call to keep things fresh.

3. Know When to Stop

If someone clearly states they’re not interested, recognize the “red light.”

Key Takeaway: Stay top-of-mind, not at the expense of your prospect’s patience.

Analyzing Metrics for Continuous Improvement

Tracking effectiveness is a must for any follow-up strategy.

What Metrics Should You Track?

1. Result not Response Rate

Indicates how engaging your outreach is.

2. Time Between Responses

Helps optimize timing for follow-ups.

3. Closing Ratios

Shows how many leads become actual customers.

Use analytics tools like Google Sheets+Zapier, HubSpot, Apollo to measure these metrics. Consistently review what’s working and refine your strategy.

Key Takeaway: Data doesn’t lie. Use it to perfect your process.

To recap:

• Follow-ups require mindset, not just checklists

• Each interaction is a chance to support and solve problems

• Focus on service over transactions to reduce rejection fears

• Deliver consistent value to build stronger relationships

• Play the long game

Which sales follow-up strategy resonates with you? Hit "Reply" and share your thoughts—I'd love to hear what you're working on.

Thanks for being here! See you next week for our final newsletter of 2024—🎁I’ve got a little surprise in store for you.

Ren

PS:

I'm excited to announce a new cohort of my course: "Elite Sales: How to Win High-Value Enterprise Deals." The cohort runs April 2-19,2025, with an optional pre-kickoff session on March 28. Plus 12 months of monthly group coaching. How cool is that!😎

Take advantage of the early bird pricing at $600 USD—50% off the regular price—until January 24, 2024.