When I accompany sales people on their appointments in my capacity as a sales coach, I very rarely see the follow up used as a sales tool. However, I have witnessed two extremes of sales follow up technique that left me cold.

The first was immediately after the sales person had finished the presentation of the price and received a polite, "We'll have to think about that, it is more than we anticipated paying." The negotiation was based on discount which still was not bringing the price down to the customer's expected price level.

The sales person then packed his things and stated that he had to call his manager to tell him how the appointment had finished. You can see it coming ... the manager then wanted to talk to the customer and, blow me down with a feather, more discount was offered to close the sale. This technique actually turned the customer off so much that I could see the anger in their face. Something the sales person missed!

What a shame that the only selling skills available was based on discount rather than understanding the customer's perceived idea of value for this particular product.

The other extreme of follow up was used by a sales person selling kitchens and, at the end of the fruitless presentation, told the customer that he would call in a few days having given them time for thought about the purchase.

What made it worse was the statement, "I have to follow up every call or my manager has a go at me and after a certain period the system takes the lead back and I get nothing." I don't know if this was the "sympathy sale" close technique!

The follow up call was made a few days later with this, less than effective, telephone call. "Hello, this is ... from ... (names withdraw). Have you thought about the price any further, or what other thoughts have you had." I'm not sure I need to comment on the quality and substance of this follow up call because it is so similar to many I have witnessed in the past.

Here are some tips on how to make sales follow up calls more effective.