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Follow-up: how to remember who to call and when

Most sales aren't lost to a "no" but to silence. The customer asked for a quote, said "I'll think about it", and nobody ever called again. They didn't say no. They bought from whoever came back.

Following up means coming back to the customer at the right moment, with a good reason. It isn't pushiness, it's organisation.

Why we don't follow up

• We forget. With 30 customers in progress, "I'll call next week" is forgotten by Tuesday.
• It feels awkward. It seems like we're bothering them. In reality most customers are busy, not uninterested.
• We don't know what to say. "Just checking in" adds nothing new, so we put it off.
• We stop too early. Many salespeople give up after the first or second unanswered message, even though many sales close only after several follow-ups.

The ground rule: every conversation ends with a next step

Before you hang up or hit send, agree what happens next and when:

• "I'll send the quote today and call you on Thursday at 11 to go through it."
• "You'll talk to your partner and I'll ring you on Monday morning."

Then put the step in the calendar, with a date and time, right away. Ideally the date is agreed with the customer: an expected call never bothers anyone.

A rhythm after the quote

An example that works for many business-to-business sales:

1. Day 1–2: confirm. "Did you get the quote? Any first questions?" Short, by phone or message.
2. Day 4–5: something useful. An example of similar work, an answer to an objection you heard, a detail about timing.
3. Day 10: the call. Ask directly what is still unclear and who else is deciding.
4. Day 20: close the file. "I don't want to crowd your inbox. If now isn't the time, I'll close the quote and check back in three months. Is that OK?" This message gets a surprising number of replies.

The exact rhythm matters less than having one, with every step written down somewhere.

What to say so it isn't just "checking in"

Every follow-up brings something:

• new information — a slot that has opened up, a price changing next month;
• an answer to a worry — "You asked about the warranty: here's how it works";
• proof — a similar customer, a photo of finished work, a review;
• a simple question that takes one word to answer: "Shall I call tomorrow or Thursday?"

Who to call first

When you have more customers than time:

• those who were active recently — a customer who opened your quote today is closer to deciding than one who has been silent for a month;
• high-value deals with a close date coming up;
• stale ones — a sale with no movement for two weeks gets colder every day.

How to run it in Intrawebix CRM

• Activities with a due date. On the customer's record, click Task, Call or Meeting and set Due / start. In Activities, the Due filter has Today and Overdue: start the day with the first and finish it with the second.
• The reminder. 15 minutes before the due time you get a notification in the CRM and, with the app installed on your phone, there too.
• Your own calendar. Connected in My profile, Google Calendar or Outlook shows your CRM activities next to your other meetings.
• Calls from your phone. Call from the CRM using your own SIM, and when you come back the CRM asks how the call went and saves it on the record.
• Email at the right time. Send later schedules the email for the next morning, not Friday at 11 pm.
• Email sequences. For the rhythm above: email and task steps at set intervals that stop on their own when the customer replies.
• Lead scoring puts active leads first, and Days until stale in the pipeline flags forgotten sales.

Existing customers

Following up doesn't stop at the sale. A happy customer buys again or recommends you, but only if they remember you:

• a task one month after delivery: "Is everything working well?";
• a check-in at 6 or 12 months, when a renewal, a service or a new order is due;
• birthday wishes by SMS, sent automatically.

When to stop

When the customer clearly says "no", note the reason and close the sale as lost. It isn't a failure, it's information. Only set a task a few months out if their situation might change. A clear "no" beats a deal that sits in the pipeline for a year.

Activities, reminders and the calendar are included in every plan (see pricing); try them in the free 30-day trial.

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