In this 6-page whitepaper, we include: Email templates to be used in post-presentation follow up to maximize prospect response Comprehensive flowchart of post-presentation follow-up activities It’s preached over and over. Activity, activity, activity. It’s the key to the castle when it comes to a career in sales. You must stay active. Sales is a marathon and not a sprint. As a salesperson, it should be your mantra. “What I do today will determine what I reap tomorrow.” That’s why it’s so important to follow up with existing opportunities diligently and meticulously. As salespeople, it’s easy to become enamored with the new, juicy opportunities that make their way into your funnel, but be careful not to forget those that have already been through some part of your sales process already.

1. Be a Follow-
Up All-Star-
THE 1-2-3 METHOD
Be a Follow-
Up All-Star-Up All-Star-
THE 1-2-3 METHOD

2. INTRODUCTION
It’s preached over and over. Activity, activity, activity. It’s the keys to the castle when it comes to a career in
sales. You must stay active. Sales is a marathon and not a sprint. As a salesperson, it should be your mantra.
“What I do today will determine what I reap tomorrow.” That’s why it’s so important to follow up with existing
opportunities diligently and meticulously. As salespeople, it’s easy to become enamored with the new, juicy
opportunities that make their way into your funnel, but be careful not to forget those that have already been
through some part of your sales process already.
Now there are all different kinds of follow up throughout the sales process:
• Contacting inbound leads (hand-raisers/suspects) that aren’t quite ready for a sales appointment
• Following up with prospects who have seen your presentation and need some time to decide on a
course of action
In this discussion, we’ll be referring to the latter. Specifically, what do you do once the prospect has seen your
product or service presentation?
In this Sales Follow-Up whitepaper, you’ll find:
• Discussion of the objective of follow-up
• Introduction to the 1-2-3 Method
• Email templates for use with the 1-2-3 Method
• Follow-up flowchart
THE OBJECTIVE OF
POST-PRESENTATION FOLLOW UP
How do you make the most of our follow up activity level? How do you make sure that your follow up activity
is achieving the objective? Before answering those questions, we need to determine what exactly IS the
objective of following up with prospects.
The primary objective, obviously, is to advance deals to the next stage of the sales process. But if you take a
step back and look at what that means, you’ll reveal a stark reality.
The actual objective is to “clear the playing field.”
It would be great if the only prospects that salespeople spoke with were the ones who would eventually buy…
but that’s not the real world. The reality is that 80% or more of the sales prospects that go through a sales
presentation WILL NOT BUY – some are not ready yet and won’t be for a while, and some will never buy. So
rather than spending time and resources chasing those that won’t buy, the key is to weed out those who will.
This might come as a shocker, but the “No” answer is okay when it comes to post-presentation follow up. “No”
clears the air. “No” lets prospects sit down and reveal those still standing. Keep reading to find the best way to
weed out the buyers from the non-buyers in a diplomatic and effective manner.

3. THE 1-2-3 METHOD
A method that works well for getting to the prospects that are most likely to buy is the 1-2-3 method. This
technique is essentially a series of three emails aimed at verifying a prospect’s continued interest in your
product or service. The messages within the emails are deft and tactful and give the prospect an opportunity
to say no.
As salespeople, it’s inevitable that you’ll have sales prospects who are gung ho about your offering and what it
can do for them, but then a week later… radio silence, nothing, crickets. These emails will help authenticate
their interest (or lack thereof). In fact, it is highly likely that this soft prod will help revive prospects that have
gone silent.
The basic flow is as follows:
TEMPLATES
The actual message in each email is very simple and conversational. No need to inundate the prospect with a
ton of information unnecessarily. Below you’ll find the templates used in the 1-2-3 Method:
1. Feedback
Hello [NAME],
Any feedback regarding the information we sent you regarding our services you want to provide via
email, or should we hold a time open on our calendars this week or next to discuss?
Thanks,
John Smith
Initial Follow-Up Email
Email #1 Email #2 Email #3
FEEDBACK
SOFT
TAKEAWAY
HARD
TAKEAWAY
Initial Follow-Up Email
Email #1 Email #2
SOFT
Email #3
HARD

4. Hello [NAME],
I've not heard back from you and it may be that you got busy and meant to come back to this.
Would it make sense for us to set aside a time to talk later this week or should I be contacting you
next month?
Regards,
John Smith
Hello [NAME],
Since I’ve not heard back from you, I will assume you’ve elected to go another route for
[PRODUCT/SERVICE]. Should your needs change and a [PRODUCT/SERVICE] make sense, please
keep us in mind.
Regards,
John Smith
Sales Psychology:
You are softly opening the door for further discussion. Not only that, but you are also providing a timeframe
for the prospect. The typical responses to this call-to-action question might be:
1. Yes. Let’s schedule a time to talk.
2. Now is not the right time. Follow up with me in a month.
3. Silence
If the prospect opts for #3 and does not respond, then wait a specified period of time and send the Soft
Takeaway.
2. Soft Takeaway
Sales Psychology:
In the Soft Takeaway, you exercise some tact in pointing out that the prospect has failed to respond. In fact,
you’ve built in a non-confrontational excuse for them. No guilt tactics, no aggression – just plain and
professional. The call-to-action question gives the prospect an opportunity to meet or designate themselves as
a longer-term follow up. It may seem counterintuitive to give the prospect an out, but remember, the objective
is to weed out the buyers from the non-buyers. The typical responses might be:
1. Sorry for not responding sooner. Actually the timing is right. Let’s meet soon.
2. I think a month would be good to follow up.
3. We are no longer interested.
4. Silence
If the prospect opts for #4 and does not respond, then wait a specified period of time and send the Hard
Takeaway.
3. Hard Takeaway

5. Sales Psychology:
In the Hard Takeaway, we are simply removing the prospect from our sales funnel and politely letting the
prospect know as such. You would be surprised at how often a prospect will revive after receiving the Hard
Takeaway. Typical responses might be:
1. No wait. Sorry for my slow response. Let’s meet.
2. Thanks for your follow up, but we are not interested. You should contact me in six months.
3. Silence
Marketing Qualified Leads /
Sales Appointments
Presentation
Initial Follow-Up Email
FEEDBACK
RESPONSE
SOFT TAKEAWAY
HARD TAKEAWAY
Qualified?
No Proposal
Answer
Not
Advancing
NO
YES
Advancing
Answer
Answer
Answer
No Proposal
Answer
Answer
Answer
Advancing
NO
YES
Advancing
Answer
Drop-Out
Long-Term
Follow-Ups
Continuing in
the Sales
Process
Marketing Qualified Leads /
Presentation
Initial Follow-Up Email
FEEDBACK
SOFT TAKEAWAY
HARD TAKEAWAY
Qualified?
RESPONSE

6. CONTACT US
Find out if SalesStaff's pay-per-performance demand
creation program is the right outsourced solution for
your business development plan.
Contact us by phone, chat or through our web form to
learn more about how we can grow your sales.
SalesStaff, LLC
10701 Corporate Drive
Suite 340
Stafford, TX 77477 (Houston Metropolitan Area)
Phone: 888-591-8022, EXT. 333
Fax: 281-596-4476
Email: info@salesstaff-it.com
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