How to follow up with long-term sales

This article was included in the June 14th, 2016 issue of the LACRM Newsletter.

In certain industries, a single sale can take a year or more to complete, and Estelle and Stephen Cockcroft, owners of Catamaran Guru, are in one such industry. Brokering the sale of a catamaran takes time and the last thing they want is to lose track of a sale halfway through:

“A sale for us can sometimes take anywhere from two to three years to close, so it’s very important that we maintain our relationships with our leads over this period of time. Even if we are not directly communicating with them, we keep in touch and continue to nurture this relationship through email marketing materials.”

-Estelle & Stephen Cockcroft, Owners of Catamaran Guru

How can a CRM help?

CRMs help you track processes from start to finish, regardless of how long this process takes. But when one sale can close within months and another in years, you want to be sure you are staying on top of all of them while prioritizing them sensibly. As Estelle and Stephen point out, some customers like to be in frequent, direct contact with you during the sales process while others prefer to only reach out if they have a pressing issue. The CRM can help you keep track of what each customer needs.

Tips to try: Create an additional status in your pipeline to keep your leads in long-term sales separate from your other leads. This way, you know that they are still a part of the process, but need to be followed-up with on a different schedule. Make use of our integration with MailChimp and create email marketing campaigns to touch base with these leads to remind them that you are still dedicated to providing quality service! Click here for a tutorial on how you can use these tips to keep up with long-term sales.

Sales that span a few months or years require diligent follow-ups to succeed, and a CRM helps you know how and when you should communicate with each of your leads. We hope these tips are helpful and just contact us if you have absolutely any questions!

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