It demonstrates care for the customer beyond the transaction. Define what ongoing communication beyond the sale should look like:
- When might you follow up?
- How often?
- What channels will you use to reach them?
- What channels are best for them to reach you, depending on the issues they face? For example, when or why to call vs. email.
Personalize your follow-up, whether it’s through an in-person meeting, a call, or an email. An automated follow-up merely meets expectations; it is the bare minimum. A real, human, and personal follow-up is increasingly rare and will truly leave an impression on your customers.
The last time a manager personally called me to follow up on a purchase (not to ask me to fill out a survey) was back in 2011! I had bought a new handbag from Coach for my girlfriend (now my wife), and the store manager personally called to check if she liked the gift. As you can tell, that simple personal touch left a lasting impression (or I wouldn’t be writing about it). It was rare back in 2011 for retail to follow up with a personal call like that, and it’s even rarer now.
When you follow up, do so sincerely to check in with them, not for your own benefit. It’s okay and a smart thing to follow up to get feedback or ask for reviews, but have that as your secondary objective. While you already have their attention, here are a few other ways to make the most out of the interaction:
Review Performance
Assess whether your solution is delivering on its promises. If possible, quantify and measure the progress or improvements since they started using your offering. Compare these results with the benchmarked metrics you may have obtained while quantifying value during the ASSESSMENT phase.
Readjust Expectations
If anything has deviated from what was promised or isn’t going to plan, work together with your customer to adjust the proverbial “expectation bar”. Educate or explain why it has moved or was set higher than it should be. Tempering expectations helps curb disappointment when their real experience falls short, while also making it easier for you to surpass that bar and delight them.
Get Feedback to Improve the Buyer’s Experience, But Avoid
Using surveys with “Did our SDR do X?” type closed-ended questions. They feel highly scripted, presume that a good experience requires that exchange to have happened, and are impersonal.
Nor should you ask “Anything you would like to add?” or overly general “How was your purchase experience?” type questions, as customers will typically respond with “nothing” or “good”.
Open-ended questions are good for feedback, but they need to be framed so that the receiver understands what type of feedback to focus on. They should convey that you’re sincerely trying to improve and aren’t merely going through the motions to be polite.
For instance, I’ve lost count of the number of times a restaurant server has asked, “How is everything?” only to hear someone reply, “Good” and then immediately go back to badmouthing the meal or experience once the server is out of earshot.
Better ways to communicate sincerity in the solicitation could be:
“We’re testing a new menu/recipe and would really love some honest and unfiltered feedback. How was your butter chicken?”
“We’re looking to improve our store’s experience by implementing new training for our servers. Was there anything your server could have done better?”
Of course, not every customer appreciates being interrupted during their meal or even afterward to talk. People also often default to being “nice” and are reluctant to provide harsh comments, especially in public. You can make it easier and more comfortable for them to voice their feedback by offering an email for them to write to. Doing this, instead of giving them a link or QR code to fill out a survey, helps maintain that personal touch. The personal solicitation also communicates sincerity better than a paper slip left on the table for feedback.
Ask for Reviews, Testimonials, or Referrals.
Now is as good a time as any to ask. They’ve likely achieved that positive milestone and are often willing to reciprocate if they are having a good experience so far.