What Makes the Sales Follow-Up Email Special? Here are six reasons why you shouldn't skip out on sending follow-up emails.
By Syed Balkhi
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
A sales follow-up email is for more than just confirming an order: It's a powerful sales tool that can turn customers into lifelong supporters. After all, it's not your product that turns customers into supporters and fans. It's the relationship you develop with customers that does it. The follow-up email keeps the lines of communication open when you're not busy trying to sell.
So, why do so few companies send out regular follow-up emails? They have the software to do it, since most email marketing tools come with email automation built-in. They just often don't think about it because they're too busy searching for new customers. But, according to Profitwell, the cost of acquiring new customers has increased by over 50 percent in the last five years, you have to try something new at some point.
Why not go back to the sales follow-up email? If you use it right, you can generate new sales, improve engagement, and get meaningful customer feedback about your products.
Here are a few ways why the follow-up email is special and how it can help your company.
1. Follow-up emails create connections with customers.
Follow-up emails strengthen the connection between you and your customers. It costs less to keep the customers you have than to find new ones, so you should do everything you can to keep them.
Related: The Art of the Follow-Up
2. They build customer trust.
Sending regular follow-up emails after a sale will make your brand credible, accountable and trustworthy in the eyes of customers. They'll see that they didn't throw away their money and that you're doing what you said you'd do.
Bonus points if you send the follow-up from a real person at your company instead of an email alias like "info@yourcompanyname.com."
3. They turn customers into loyal supporters.
There's more to email marketing than selling to customers. They don't want an endless stream of sales pitches — especially if you're in the B2B space. People want their favorite brands to engage and build relationships with them.
Turn these people into loyal supporters by sending educational and valuable content regularly. For instance, a link to a video for the product they just bought, demonstrating how other customers use it, or a blog post about a trending topic in the industry. They'll see that you care about helping them be succeed and will talk about that with their network.
4. They continue the customer conversation.
A follow-up email is a perfect place for customers to send you feedback, questions, reviews, and more. After responding to any questions, you can use the content to create new sales and marketing content, saving your business time and money. Plus, customer reviews and testimonials often speak a lot louder than paid advertising: According to Trustpulse, 83 percent of people trust testimonials over brand messaging.
Related: The Simple Email Trick That Makes Following Up Effective
5. They help you improve.
As you continue the customer conversation, you're opening your brand up to feedback. After all, not all responses are going to be positive ones. When you send that follow-up email from a real address, many customers will take the opportunity to tell you exactly what they think of your product.
Sending the email soon after the sale is the best way to gather feedback. The experience buyers have with your sales and onboarding processes is fresh, so it's a prime opportunity to find out what's working for them and what isn't. Use their comments to rejig your processes and products to make them more valuable to future customers.
6. They help inspire referrals.
If it's been a while since you've reached out to your customers, a follow-up email can spark action. More specifically, it can spark a referral. Give them a reason to want to refer you, such as fantastic service, efficient support or an amazing product.
They'll probably need a little motivation to do it, so offer an incentive, such as a credit, physical gift or monetary reward. Referrals are another easy way to gain new customers, which can cost a lot of time and money, so be sure to provide something equally valuable as a reward.
Most companies only send one post-sale email, right after the conclusion of the sale. But they're missing out on a host of benefits they could provide customers (and a few things that'll help them in the future too.) Craft a compelling after-sale follow-up strategy to improve your customers' experience and create a loyal customer base that'll buy more from you.
