The importance of follow-up

Following up leads (sales enquiries) is one of those self storage tasks that often gets left to the bottom of the ‘to-do list’. It takes time and some of your staff may not feel comfortable calling back out of the blue – but it’s also one of the most important aspects of the sales process; now-so more than ever.

In today’s fast-paced online world, people expect answers quickly – if not immediately. If we look at the average* storer, they generally…

• start making enquiries 1 month prior to requiring storage (35%)
• find their storage facility online (51%)
• do so using a Google search (75%)
• contact facilities of interest by telephone (51%)
• expect to see unit availability and pricing online (75%)

From these statistics, we can see that time is of the essence, you need a good website and if it doesn’t provide at least some idea of availability and pricing online, then you definitely need to get back to any enquiries quickly.  If you delay this process & let your competitors get in first, you’ll could lose out altogether.

Enquiries are generally best followed-up quickly by telephone, with an email chaser shortly after (you can easily setup the email template in Storman). In the email, detail:

• what you discussed (including pricing)
• include any relevant deal sweeteners such as discounts for long-term stays, if you offer this
• use a short, bulleted list to state why they should choose your business and keep it to the point
• include a testimonial or two at the end, and then link the reader off to the testimonials page on your website so they can read more if they wish

Last of all, don’t be afraid to ask for the business on the phone or in the email. After all, if it’s genuinely a good fit for your customer, then there’s less chance they’re say ‘no’.

If you or your staff don’t feel comfortable asking for the business, give this post a try; Top 10 (Easy) Ways to Ask for the Business. It features some great tips on how to do so, without sounding pushy. Got any other sales tips? Let us know in the comments below.

Free stuff! Looking for more ideas to help you promote your business? How about a ready made pre-sales email template you can use with Storman? Simply download our free eBook; “8 ways to Build & Promote your Business for free“.

* Statistics sourced from the Self Storage Association of Australasia’s 2010 Demand Study.