The opening eBook of the Sales and Leads category. It is written for owners who feel uneasy about the word selling, and it shows you how to turn interested strangers into paying customers using calm, structured conversations rather than scripts, pressure or charm.
Members ebook·7 chapters· 30 minute read
Chapter 7
Following Up on the Maybes
Most small business sales close on the second or third contact, not the first. A simple follow-up routine that respects the customer and saves the deals you would otherwise lose.
Most small business sales do not close on the first conversation. They close on the second. Sometimes the third. The customer needs time to talk it over with their partner, look at the household budget, finish the project they are currently in or just sit with the decision for a few days. None of that is a no. It is the normal rhythm of a thoughtful purchase, and the owners who lose those sales are the ones who do nothing between the first call and the moment the customer goes cold.
A follow-up routine fixes this. Not the kind that hammers the customer with three emails a week, which is just nagging in a smarter font. The kind that touches in at the right moments, with the right tone, and quietly reminds the customer that you are still here and the offer still stands. Done well, your conversion rate from enquiry to customer can double without you taking a single extra call.
This chapter gives you that routine. By the end you will have a three-touch follow-up rhythm, the wording for each touch and a clear rule for when to stop and move on.
The full chapter walks through the three-touch sequence, the timing windows that work, the wording for each message, the way to stop without burning the relationship and the small habit that makes follow-up actually happen instead of slipping off the to-do list.
The three-touch sequence
Touch one is within twenty-four hours of the call. A short message that summarises what you discussed, confirms the price and the next step and offers a simple way to say yes. Email or message, depending on how you have been speaking. Three sentences. The point is not to re-sell, it is to make the decision easy by writing down what was already agreed verbally.
Touch two is between three and seven days later, depending on how urgent the customer's situation is. A check-in that asks if they have had a chance to think it over and offers to answer any questions that have come up. Two sentences. Friendly, undemanding.
Touch three is between two and four weeks after the original call. A final message that says you are about to close the file but wanted to give them one last chance to come back, and that the offer still stands if anything has changed. This message often surprises owners by how often it converts. The customer's situation has shifted, they meant to come back to you but life got in the way and your message reminded them at the right moment.
Worked wording
Touch one - thanks for the call yesterday, just to confirm what we discussed: a small wedding bouquet package at three hundred and fifty pounds for the date in May, deposit of one hundred to hold the date. Whenever you are ready, just reply yes and I will send the deposit link. Any questions, send them across. Touch two - hi Jess, just checking in, have you had a chance to talk it over. Happy to answer anything that has come up. Touch three - hi Jess, I am about to close my enquiries for May so wanted to check one last time before I take the date offline. If the timing is not right, no problem at all - and if anything changes down the line, do come back to me.
Follow-up rules that protect the relationship
Three touches, then stop.
Each message shorter than the last.
Never make them feel bad for not replying.
Always make it easy to say yes - or to politely say no.
If they ask you to stop, stop immediately and warmly.
Making follow-up actually happen
The reason most owners do not follow up is not laziness. It is that the next-step never gets out of their head and into a system. Use the simplest possible system - a column on a spreadsheet, a recurring entry in your calendar or a note on your phone. The companion eBook Simple Customer List Systems goes deep on this. The point for this chapter is just that the routine has to live somewhere outside your memory or it will stop happening within a week.
When to stop
After touch three, stop. The customer either becomes a buyer at touch three, comes back of their own accord later, or quietly closes the door. All three are acceptable outcomes. What is not acceptable is the fourth, fifth and sixth message that turns a thoughtful follow-up into a nagging one. The customers you would most want as long-term clients are exactly the ones who will write you off if you cross that line.
What to do this week
Look at the last ten enquiries you took that did not convert. Decide which of them are still in the live window for a touch two or three, and send the right message to the right ones today. Three or four of them will reopen the conversation, and one or two of those will become customers. That alone will pay for this eBook several times over.
From here, the next eBook in the series Lead Generation looks at where the enquiries are coming from in the first place, and the eBook after that, Lead Capture and Follow-Up, gives you the tighter system that makes sure these conversations get booked at all. Together those three eBooks form the spine of how small businesses turn strangers into customers without burning out or selling their soul.
The rest of this chapter walks through the practical steps, the templates and the checklists you need to put it into action. It includes worked examples, copy frameworks and the small decisions that make the difference between a plan that sits in a drive and one that gets used.
Inside you'll find a step-by-step playbook, a downloadable template, a checklist you can run this week and a short list of common mistakes to avoid before you start.
The full action plan, broken into weekly steps.
Ready-to-use scripts, templates and checklists.
Worked examples for different sized businesses.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them.
Members-only chapter
Become a member to read the full chapter
Members get the complete chapter, the step-by-step plan, the templates and the checklists. Cancel anytime.
