Following up with prospects and leads has become an art form but is still a vastly underused practice in sales and marketing.  Inbound marketing strategy revolves around drawing customers in, but direct outreach is still important.  There are many situations that require prompt and continuous follow up.  In addition, there are more ways than ever to reach out to your potential clients.  Here we explore several common follow up situations you’ll come across with your prospects as well as how and when to reach out to them.

After A Content Download

A simple email outreach or placement into a nurturing email workflow will help guide those that download your content further through the funnel.  If the content they download happens to be a case study, they are clearly interest in your product, which may warrant a phone call.

After An Email Click

A phone call to prospects that click on your email will help to identify their level of interest and open up direct communications.  For email campaigns aimed at top of the funnel prospects, placement in an email workflow to receive additional content may work best. 

After A Social Media Action

If a prospect likes one of your social posts, try to connect with them on that platform.  If they comment, like and reply to the comment and send them a connection request with a personalized invite message.  This will bring them into your network and get the conversation started.

After A Contact Us Form Is Filled Out

If a prospect is showing enough interest where they’re requesting you to reach out to them, it is a must you follow up.  Generally, an email can get the ball rolling and then once their intentions are made clear, you can follow up with them using their preferred means.

After A Sales Call

After the completion of a sales call a recap email detailing the meeting notes, providing any promised materials and guidance on next steps will ensure sales opportunities don’t slip through the cracks.  If there is no additional communication within a few days, send another follow up email.

After A Contract Is Sent

If a lead has made it as far as agreeing to look over a contract and the sale is about to be made, the importance of following up becomes that much greater.  While you want to give them time to review and discuss the contract with their team, if a few days go by you should email them to ask if they have any questions.

After A Purchase Is Made

Nurturing your current customers is one of the best ways to drive sales without the cost of discovering and marketing to new prospects.  This can come in the form of email workflows with the occasional live touch.  Ensuring their satisfaction and continuing to build the relationship can lead to more sales from them as well as referrals. 

A follow up for every situation is an integral piece of any inbound marketing strategy and will help to deliver higher quality leads, more sales and loyal customers.