It never ceases to amaze me how few salespeople take the time to follow-up after they’ve made initial contact with a prospect or customer.

In the last few months, I can think of at least eight different situations in my own life when this happened. These included a landscaper who designed plans for our property, two different people who spoke to me about creating a promotional piece for my business, a sales rep for a pool company and a men’s fashion salesman who was asked to send information. In each case, I was very interested in the product or service.

This got me wondering…why don’t people follow-up? I think there are several reasons.

They don’t want to appear pushy.

Following up too frequently may come across as being pushy. However, very few salespeople ever come close to crossing this line. I can recall one time I did feel a salesperson was being pushy, but it was more because of his tone, rather than fact he actually followed up.

As a sales professional, I believe it’s our responsibility to keep following up with our prospects until we know for certain if they want to do business. However, I also strongly believe that we can cross the line by making too many calls in a short period of time. So where’s the happy balance?

Well, it depends on your business. A weekly call is more than enough to keep in touch, but make sure it’s short and to the point. Don’t waste your prospect’s time by droning on and on. Also, if possible, provide some additional value during your follow-up call. This may give your prospect a reason to choose you over a competitor.

They forget.

It’s easy to forget things, considering how busy most of us are. We may have every intention of calling our prospect, but we get caught up in our business. Unexpected problems occur, we spend too much time in meetings or stuck in traffic – and because we didn’t schedule the follow-up, it doesn’t get done. The solution: Consider any follow-up as a scheduled appointment.

They make false assumptions.

I once submitted a proposal to a company and told them I would follow-up on a certain day and time. Unfortunately, I was sick that particular day and it was several days before I recuperated. I then wrestled with whether or not I should call him. I was concerned that he would question why I didn’t call. In the end, a simple apology was enough to rectify the situation and move the sales process forward.

When someone doesn’t immediately return our phone call or e-mail message, we usually assume the worst – even if that assumption is not verified.

I’ve learned from experience that a lack of response may simply be that the other person is just too busy to respond or doesn’t have an immediate answer for you.

They think that the customer or prospect will contact them.

I think this is one of the most common myths that salespeople fall prey to. They think that if they do a good job, the customer will automatically call back – i.e. we don’t need to follow-up.

Unfortunately, we can’t rely on this if we want to achieve our sales goals. People get busy, they forget or procrastinate and the more time that slips by, the less important your product or service may seem to them.

They have never been taught.

Many people have never received formal sales training and therefore have not learned why they should follow-up and how to make this happen. This is relatively easy to remedy.

Start by asking or telling your prospect that you’ll follow-up on a specific day or time. Tell them how you will follow-up (telephone, e-mail, face-to-face) and record this in your day planner or time management system. I use Outlook and now include a reminder so I don’t forget to follow-up.

Follow-up should also be completed after the sale is completed. A quick telephone call after your product or service has been delivered confirms their decision to buy from you. I make an effort to send every client a handwritten “thank you” card once the sale has been confirmed, and again when the services they requested have been delivered.

Here’s the bottom line: You can easily differentiate yourself from your competition by making the effort to follow-up with your prospects and customers. Don’t take it for granted that they’ll call you. Be proactive and contact them.