Follow Up When Conducting Business Online
Follow Up When Conducting Business Online
Following up with people when conducting business online is a crucial aspect of maintaining and enhancing relationships. It's not just about ticking off an item on your to-do list, but about understanding the person you're communicating with and their needs. This involves packing your follow-up emails with relevant information that speaks to their wants and needs. In this digital age, where spam calls, texts, and emails are rampant, it's easy for your legitimate communications to get lost in the noise. Therefore, it's essential to ensure that your follow-ups are unique, considerate of the recipient's time, and organized.
Following up helps to improve a customer's or client's experience.
The importance of following up cannot be overstated. When you follow up with customers and ask them about their experiences or reach out to them for positive and negative reviews, you are telling the customer you care about them. This genuine interest in them will bring them back because it's rare to find a company that shows this level of interest. Following up also allows you to thank customers for their business and let them know you appreciate their feedback. If the customer had a negative experience, following up allows you to apologize and make things right. Either way, following up helps to improve a customer's or client's experience.
One Follow-up Email = 22% Higher Response Rate
According to research conducted by Woodpecker, sending just one follow-up email could increase your response rate by 22 percent. It was also shown that the first follow-up email is the most effective with a 40 percent higher response rate than the initial email which sits at around a six percent response rate. This shows the immense potential of follow-up emails in enhancing customer engagement and improving business outcomes.
However, it's important to note that the CAN-SPAM Act applies only to commercial email, whether sent individually or in bulk. It doesn't apply to non-commercial bulk email. While some businesses still use spam, many view it as unethical. Spam email can also be a malicious attempt to gain access to your computer. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that your follow-up emails are not perceived as spam by the recipients.
Revenue is Being Left on the Table
In the realm of sales, following up is a critical skill. According to a study by Brevet, 80% of sales require an average of five follow-ups in order to close the deal. However, 44% of sales reps follow up with a prospect only once before giving up. After four follow-ups, 94% of salespeople have given up. This shows that many potential sales are never being closed, and potential revenue is being left on the table due to inadequate follow-up.
When crafting follow-up emails, it's important to provide value with each follow-up. This could involve including a link to a relevant article, blog post, or video in your follow-up email. The content must relate strongly to the prospect and the problems they’ve told you they are facing. By providing them with useful content, you prove that you are interested in a mutually beneficial relationship as opposed to a quick sale.
Don't Be Aggressive or Pushy when Following Up
Finally, it's important to know when to stop following up. At a certain point, it becomes aggressive, pushy, or just pointless. Some marketers recommend following up endlessly until you receive a definitive response. However, a lack of response after a certain number of attempts can be taken as a 'no'. It's essential to respect the recipient's time and decision, and move on to other prospects.
Top ten ways your calls, texts, and emails can be blocked when trying to communicate with people.
- Your communications can be marked as spam if they contain certain keywords or phrases associated with spam messages.
- If your emails are sent from a suspicious or unrecognized email address, they may be automatically filtered into the spam folder.
- If you send too many emails in a short period of time, your email service provider may temporarily block your account.
- If your emails contain attachments or links that are flagged as potentially harmful, they may be blocked.
- If the recipient has set up specific filters or rules in their email settings, your emails may be automatically moved to a different folder or deleted.
- If you make too many calls to a number in a short period of time, your number may be blocked by the recipient's phone service provider.
- If your texts contain certain keywords or phrases associated with spam messages, they may be automatically blocked.
- If the recipient has installed a call or text blocking app on their phone, your calls or texts may be blocked.
- If your number is not in the recipient's contact list, your calls or texts may be automatically blocked or sent to voicemail.
- If the recipient has reported your number as spam or unwanted, your calls or texts may be blocked by their phone service provider.
Citations:
- https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business
- https://www.ignitionapp.com/blog/follow-up-emails-after-no-response-from-client
- https://woodpecker.co/blog/how-to-send-a-follow-up-email-after-no-response/
- https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/follow-up-email
- https://postaga.com/why-follow-up-emails-are-important/
- https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/customer-follow-up#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20most%20common,even%20make%20a%20phone%20call.
- https://blog.gobonafide.com/blog/bid/154497/10-tips-for-following-up-with-clients-without-being-annoying
- https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2015/08/candid-answers-can-spam-questions#:~:text=CHRISTOPHER%3A%20The%20CAN%2DSPAM%20Act%20applies%20only%20to%20commercial%20email,protected%20under%20the%20First%20Amendment
- https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/customer-follow-up
- https://myoperator.com/blog/importance-of-follow-up-with-customers
- https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-follow-up-infographic
- https://www.hubspot.com/sales/sales-follow-up-email#:~:text=Show%20them%20you%20understand%20they,to%20their%20wants%20and%20needs.
- https://www.activecampaign.com/glossary/follow-up
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/9-reasons-why-following-up-customers-matters-sanee-sunny-shinde
- https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2015/08/candid-answers-can-spam-questions
- https://hiverhq.com/blog/effective-follow-up-potential-clients
- https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/email-security/what-is-spam.html#:~:text=Often%2C%20spam%20email%20is%20sent,gain%20access%20to%20your%20computer.
- https://keap.com/business-success-blog/customer-service/customer-experience/customer-service-follow-up
