What to Do After You've Sent a Sales Letter or Email?

I often receive a sales approach and then hear nothing more.

As a buyer, one touch is rarely enough to grab my interest. We all know the traditional measurement that we need is between seven and 12 touches to win a client. Recently, I have been having conversations that lead me to think that you need a lot more than this.

If you send an email or a letter make sure you follow up.

Being blunt, the average sales letter or email is not worth sending if you are not prepared to follow up. Many buyers appreciate persistence. You are more likely to stay on their radar if you keep making contact.

A salesperson rarely makes contact at the right time. So it is important to keep trying until your prospect is in buying mode. There are some people who have been subscribed to this newsletter for a year or even two years before making contact with me or purchasing a book.

Here’s the follow-up structure I use:

1. Check that they have actually received your original letter. If they haven’t, check the contact details and send the letter out again.
2. Remind the prospect of the key pain you referred to in your letter and ask a question about it to start a conversation.
3. If they are not affected by the pain you raise, ask them what you can do to interest them in your product/service.
4. If they are interested in your service or product, suggest a date for the next step forward. In this case I have suggested a meeting. The date you suggest will usually not be suitable for them, so you will also have to ask them to suggest a time.
5. If they refuse the next step, ask how you can move the discussion forward.

Remember, this doesn’t have to be a call—it can be a social media message, a text or even a series of emails.

PS Find out more ideas on how to engage with today’s buyers: download my free e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors and What To Do About Them” right now. You’ll also receive my regular “Views from the print buyer” bulletin, full of ideas on how to sell print effectively. Also, check out my book “Done For You Sales Scripts” here.