Don't Sell and Run

One of the most important steps in a sales cycle comes after the sale is completed. Following up on your customers after the sale will ensure the long term success of your sales career. The vast majority of salespeople out there don't even look in their rear view mirror after making a sale. They just move on to the next victim... I mean customer. When you don't care about your post sale responsibilities, customers can feel like victims of a hit and run. The worst part is that most sales people don't realize the customer feels that way. They walk into the same account four years later expecting to get the next sale and the customer has moved on. People like follow up. They like to know that the sales person actually cares about the post sale relationship.

Many sales people put everything into building the relationship and getting the sale but once it's over it's over. It is like building a friendship in order to get something from someone and then walking away. It may not seem that way to the average sales person but it does to the average customer. Continuing relationships means life long customers. Even when a sales person switches jobs. If a great relationship has been built it can span your whole sales career no matter what you are selling at the time.

A great example (real life experience) comes from a local nursing home in New Brunswick. The executive director at the nursing home has used many of the same sales people over her 30 year career and those sales people have changed companies a number of times over that period. The loyalty the buyer feels toward those sales people comes from great follow up and well developed relationships.

Sales is about cultivating relationships as much as it is about making the sale. Repeat business and referral business are keys to long term sales consistency and those things do not happen without proper post sale care. Take time to follow up. It will vastly increase your customer loyalty and your bottom line.

Good Selling,

Eric