#004: What’s Your Follow-Up Sequence?
How to follow up on proposals (without annoying your prospects)
“Diligent follow-up and follow-through will set you apart from the crowd and communicate excellence.”
~ John C. Maxwell
In an ideal world, you wouldn’t need to follow up.
The prospect agrees to your scope and price during a “live” conversation. And it’s a done deal.
All you’ve got to do now is send them your proposal. And they’ll reply immediately with their approval.
But, in many cases, instant approval isn’t realistic.
For whatever reason, your proposal must go through a review process with multiple stakeholders and decision-makers.
And this process could take a few days or a few weeks.
So, how should you follow up to improve your odds of winning the deal?
I call it the “3-2-1 Sequence,” and I break it down for you in today’s Systematic Selling Newsletter.
Preview
Welcome
Welcome to Systematic Selling with sales coach Sean Lyden, a newsletter for entrepreneurs who are still responsible for driving sales but wish to grow out of that role ASAP.
Grow
Here’s what you can expect to learn in today’s issue:
I’ll show you how to fortify the following Sales System(s):
System 6: Proposal
(Get up to speed on all 10 Sales Systems of the Systematic Selling Framework here.)
You’ll learn how to:
Avoid the follow-up mistakes that undermine trust and kill deals
Craft follow-up emails that don’t annoy prospects
Systematize your follow-up sequence to boost conversion rates
See This Week’s Assignment at the bottom of this email to put what you learn today into immediate action.
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Recent topics we’ve covered:
SSN #003: How to Say No Without Saying No (and Get More Prospects to Say Yes)
SSN #002: A Cold Email Template To Fire Up Your Sales
SSN #001: How to Solve the ‘Your Price is Too High’ Problem (and Win More Deals)
Now, let’s get started! 👇
Why Follow Up?
The prospect will choose whoever they will choose, right?
So, what’s the point of following up?
Two reasons:
1. Demonstrate your interest.
More often than not, a prospect needs help making a decision.
So, separate yourself from the competition in your prospect’s mind by demonstrating your interest with an appropriate follow-up sequence.
Your follow-ups should cause your prospect to make a compelling case (for you) to their team:
“I like them. While their price isn’t the lowest, it’s reasonable. And they’ve shown that they really want our business. Why don’t we give them a try?”
2. Close the loop.
Are you tracking “pending proposals” that have been on your list for several weeks but have no chance of closing?
Leaving these proposals on your list gives you a distorted view of your pipeline, where you believe you have deals working that are actually dead.
Instead, follow up to close the loop ASAP, where each proposal falls into one of four categories:
Yes
No
Later (“We’re interested but not ready to pull the trigger.”)
Ghost (No response. No feedback.)
The sooner you can close the loop with a clear outcome, the cleaner—and more accurate—your pending proposals list will be.
3 Follow-Up Mistakes to Avoid
How do you follow up in a way that doesn’t annoy the prospect and turn them off?
Avoid these three mistakes:
1. Repeating yourself, like “Hi! I’m following up to see you got my proposal,” over and over again.
2. Stalking the prospect by “circling back” too often.
3. Getting aggressive, like “I haven’t heard back from you. I get the sense you’re not interested. Can you tell me why?”
The 3-2-1 Follow-Up Sequence (with Email Templates)
Systematize your follow-up sequence with messaging that’s respectful, doesn’t repeat itself, and leads to closing the loop—whether that’s Yes, No, Later, or Ghost.
The follow-up system I recommend for many of my service business clients is the 3-2-1 Sequence.
3 days
2 weeks
1 month.
(Adapt the timing of your sequence to what fits your sales cycle the best.)
Let’s break it down.
(3) Days after Proposal: Confirm the Scope
If you don’t receive a decision or feedback within three days of sending your proposal, send this follow-up:
*Reply to the original email thread with your proposal.*
Hi [Prospect],
A quick email to confirm…
Does the scope in our proposal match what you’re looking for?
Or would you like us to make adjustments?
Thank you so much for the privilege of putting together this proposal for you.
Gratefully,
[Your Name]
At this stage, you’re not asking whether they’ve made a decision. You want them to confirm that you’ve priced the right project. This way, you can correct any scope discrepancies before it’s too late—and avoid over-scoping and over-pricing yourself out of the running.
(2) Weeks after Proposal: Confirm the Status
*Reply to the original email thread with your proposal.*
Hi [Prospect],
Confirming you’ve been taken care of…
Have you found someone to complete this project for you?
Or, is the decision still pending?
Either way, thank you so much for the privilege of putting together this proposal for you.
Gratefully,
[Your Name]
This template puts the prospect at ease because they don’t feel like you’re pressuring them. After all, you’ve conceded that the deal is likely lost.
But if it’s not lost, the prospect will likely reply to tell you where things stand so you’ll stay engaged.
And if they happen to select another provider, your email will make them feel more comfortable to reply and tell you the truth about their decision.
Either way, you improve your odds of gaining valuable feedback.
(1) Month after Proposal: Close the Loop
*Reply to the original email thread with your proposal.*
Hi [Prospect],
A quick email to close the loop on this proposal…
I’m assuming you’ve already selected a [contractor/ vendor/ etc.] to help you with this project.
Is that correct?
If so, thank you so much for the privilege of putting together this proposal for you.
I look forward to exploring future opportunities with you as they arise.
Gratefully,
[Your Name]
This template takes the pressure off the client, which makes them more likely to respond with honest feedback:
“Yes. We decided to stay with our current provider. The pricing was close, but we weren’t ready to change vendors yet.”
Also, if the prospect still hasn’t decided, this email re-opens the door to continue the conversation.
Now, you can find out where you stand and uncover what needs to happen to close the deal.
Caveats
The 3-2-1 Sequence is not a one-size-fits-all-businesses solution.
So give yourself the flexibility to adapt.
For example, if you know upfront that a prospect won’t be ready to proceed for a couple of months or longer, you wouldn’t send a “Closing the Loop” email after one month. So, adjust your follow-up schedule accordingly.
The key to an effective follow-up sequence is to use your discretion when setting it up and be consistent with following through.
This Week’s Assignment
1. Determine your sequence.
The 3-2-1 Follow-Up Sequence works well for me and many of my service business clients. But decide what follow-up interval is most realistic for your situation.
2. Try the templates.
Steal the email templates I gave you in this issue and tweak them to fit you. Or try them as-is.
3. Schedule follow-up reminders.
Upon submitting your next proposal/ quote, schedule the first reminder in your follow-up sequence.
Let me know how it goes!
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