Effective Follow Up Techniques

I would venture the say that good follow up techniques will make or break a salesperson. Quite frankly, you can do a terrible job at it and still get some repeat and referral business but you can do a fantastic job at it and sell a ton of cars.

Here are some observations and techniques that I have garnered on the subject of follow up.

There are many ways to follow up with customers but I will focus on the most important--those being the phone, email and mail. If I were to order those three in order of importance, here is how I would do it.

1) Email: Everybody reads their email now a days--especially if they are from someone they know and if they don't have attachments on them.

2) Phone: In my opinion, a phone call is only good if you get a chance to talk to your customer. Quite frankly, I never answer my phone unless I'm expecting a call--I hate speaking on the phone. I will, though, always read my email.

3) Mail: People get bombarded with mail--I get about 2-10 pieces of "junk mail" a day and mostly throw it in the garbage BUT I have hooked up time and time again (like 0% on a credit card, etc.) I have learned that mail sent in a business sized envelope is pretty much never read but if you send postcards, your response rate will be a million times higher. Post cards are easy to read and don't involve opening an envelope, etc.

OK--my follow up system.

Day 0: When someone buys a card, they get a post card from me thanking them for their business. I send that immediately and it is colorful, etc.

Day 1: I call them to thank them and to see if they have any questions about their car. I let them know that they will be getting some "stuff" in the mail about their car and to make sure they read it.

Day 7: I send them a letter telling them more about the dealership--who to see for service, who to call with questions about their paperwork, our hours, etc.

Day 14: I send them a letter telling them about the CSI survey they are going to get.

Day 20: I call them and ask if they got the survey. I ask them to make sure they put "completely satisfied" and to make sure they send it in.

Day 28: I send them one last letter with a couple of business cards in it asking them for referrals.

I also send out a post card or newsletter once every month, or so, with special deals, recipes, etc.

By the way, all of this can be scheduled and done in an easy way with my Car Sales Assistant 2008 software package.

OK--other follow up in detail.

Emails: Always have a good subject line that will relate to them personally or their vehicle. This will improve the chance of them reading your email.

Do not have attachments. Most people hate attachments--they are so informal and can sometimes contain viruses.

Mail: once again, post cards are the most effective. Use a color printer and have something colorful but straight to the point. Use my software to print return addresses and customer addresses on the other side.

If you need to send a letter, use an envelope that is a weird size or shape so it doesn't look like credit card junk mail. Hand write the customer address--do not use labels.

Phone: If you leave a message, send your customer a letter with a business card telling them that it was you who left the message (especially if it was an orphan owner.) People easily delete answering machine messages and may remember you if you send a letter and a business card. How many messages have you heard on your machine? Jim--this is Joe Blow from XYZ cell phone service (delete)... "Uh--Martha--who was that cell phone guy who left that message?"

If you leave a message, have it be something like this. "Jim--I have some great news! Call me as soon as you get this."

Well, home at lunch--have to get back to work. So--enough for this afternoon. Good luck using these techniques!