Chief Revenue Officers and Chief Sales Officers Set The Pace: Consistent Follow-Up and Follow-Through Is a Force Multiplier

This is a basic concept. Some might even say old-fashioned.  But without it, explosive sales growth is very hard to achieve. 

The ultimate consequence is replayed over and over, day after day, multiplied by the number of sales people on your sales team and the number of sales leads in your CRM and the number of deals in the sales pipeline.  

Follow-up and follow-through:

We really can’t consider the impact of one without the other. Follow-through is the action that backs up your words. It’s about fulfilling your commitments, getting things done, and delivering on your promises. At some point, sales follow-up can become mute because sales people can follow-up in abundance but if they haven’t been following-through those efforts go ignored if noticed at all. 

The powers of follow-up and follow-through are not just specific to external interactions. An individual who displays these habits conveys to colleagues and teammates that they are someone who gets things done, is organized, effective, respectful, and someone who generates results. People want to work with these individuals, they want to collaborate, they want to partner, and they are exponentially more likely to act and respond in kind.  

Successful habits across sales and marketing organizations start at the top and are replayed over and over again. This is leadership. It’s not just what the Chief Revenue Officer says or even does, it’s how s/he does it. How matters.  

Imagine if your sales people routinely tell clients that they’ll send them a proposal by the end of the week. And then, they don’t follow-through. Just like that, despite perhaps weeks or months of effort and considerable investment, credibility is harmed and trust is eroded.  Both are needed to bring the deal across the finish line. This is one of the reasons why many Chief Sales Officers diligently track “Next Step” with each deal.  Right up with the core deal stats such Close date, probability, etc., should be “Next Step” which helps maintain visibility and integrate execution and the importance of follow-though in every deal review and sales pipeline meeting. 

I once heard it stated like this,”If you aren’t going to follow-up with your sales prospects, why call them in the first place.” 

Four Powerful and EASY Practices:

• Expectation Setting: In the Sandler Selling System, this is referred to as setting an Up-Front-Contract (or UFC), outside of sales, outside of business, this is just about taking a second to make sure everyone is on the same page about what needs to be done and when.
• Use The Tools: We all have calendars on which we can schedule reminders. Many also have electronic to-do lists, task lists, and perhaps collaboration platforms. Post-It-Notes might work better than memory but don’t rely on either.  Why take the risk when the tools are in place. 
• Be Proactive: Not everything goes as planned. @#$% happens and people know that.  When this happens or you encounter unexpected challenges let people know -Early and Often!  
• Chunking: Break big tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. 

 “The key is not to prioritize your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey – Follow-up should be a scheduled priority.

Fractional CROs from Treeline can help you build a profitable sales engine and implement changes that will move the needle! By leveraging Treeline’s services, companies gain access to industry-leading sales expertise that can drive quick success. 

For more about Treeline CRO services, please visit https://www.treelineinc.com/sales-recruiting/fractional-cro-service