Cement the Deal with an After-Sale Strategy

The best part of every salesperson's job comes when he or she hears those magic words from a prospect: “We’ve got a deal. We’re going with you.” Congratulations. You have just closed an order and your prospect has become a customer or client. Nothing could go wrong at this point…right?

Unfortunately, there are things that can happen between the time you shake hands with a prospect and when you receive a signed agreement — things that you don’t want to happen. You don’t want your calls for the client to return a signed contract to go unreturned. Similarly, you don’t want to get back to your office and have a voice mail telling you your new client or customer has changed his mind. Having a simple conversation with your prospect after you’ve agreed on a deal will help prevent those scenarios.

After striking a deal, your first reaction may be that the best thing you could do now is to take the order, shut up and leave quickly. Sales reps have been taught that for years. That’s because the sale process probably included dog-and-pony shows, enthusiastic antics and probably some sort of a slam-dunk close. The idea is to get out of there before the prospect regains her senses.

But the after-sale strategy of having a conversation about the deal with your new customer can prevent buyer’s remorse — the sense of regret that can come after making any buy decision. This step is a simple matter of making sure the sale is locked up by deliberately giving your prospect a chance to back out. This accomplishes two things. If the customer expresses reservations or backs out while you’re still in front of him or her, you can address those concerns. In effect, if there is a “crack” in the sale, you can patch it up on the spot. The after-sale conversation also allows you to address the kinds of issues that your customer may think of at 2 a.m., or when talking about the deal with a colleague or another vendor. You have the chance to influence those conversations by addressing the issues straightforwardly with your new customer.

Here is what you can do:

After you shake hands, set a start or delivery date and have your office begin the process of getting a contract out (you may have agreed to some terms that need to be altered in your standard agreement.) Do whatever you need for an official “order.”

Then, thank your prospect for the order. “Steve, I appreciate the business, and you can be assured that the things we discussed and agreed upon will get my undivided attention.”

After that, deliberately bring up a negotiating point or some detail about the sale. For example, if the client happens to be switching to you from another vendor, supplier or professional, you need to address the issue of change. “Steve, I’m a little bit worried about something. When you go to your current vendor and tell them you are planning to make a change, how do you usually handle that?” This is important, because the old vendor is not going to take this lying down. You need to help prepare the new client to deal with this challenge. The previous vendor will probably offer some special considerations, maybe even a discount, to keep a customer.