In the world of business, effectively following up on inquiries is crucial for converting them into actual orders. Here are some useful tips on how to handle inquiry follow-ups to encourage customers to place orders promptly.
I. Inquiry Follow-up Skills
1. Attitude towards Inquiry Follow-up
- Treat Each Inquiry Carefully: Handle every inquiry with dedication. Use an inquiring question-and-answer style to communicate with customers. That means asking more questions to gradually understand their interests, habits, and needs.
- Focus on Customer Benefits: Always keep the customer’s interests in mind and show genuine concern for them. Approach the follow-up with a focused and serious attitude.
2. Priority of Inquiry Handling
- High-priority Inquiries: Prioritize replying to inquiries that have specific product requirements and come from buyers in your target market. Try to respond to all inquiries on the same day. If you can’t reply immediately, inform the buyer that you’ve received the inquiry and explain the reason like you’re calculating the price. Also, let them know when you’ll get back to them.
- Details of High Priority: Inquiries with a salutation to your company (not mass inquiries), those asking about relevant products (showing interest), and ones briefly introducing their company background (showing sincerity) are of high priority. Since the customers are serious about inquiring with your company, you should respond seriously too.
- Medium-priority Inquiries: Inquiries without a salutation or product name, just stating interest in your company, or asking for quotations and samples right away might be from those casting a wide net or simply wanting samples. Reply with a few open-ended questions to test their sincerity. Or send them your company profile and main products and ask for a reply.
- Low-priority (Spam) Inquiries: Inquiries that are irrelevant to your company’s products, maybe pranks or just random questions, are spam. Politely decline them, for example, by saying “I’m busy”. If they keep harassing, add them to the blacklist.
3. Best Time for Inquiry Reply
- It’s recommended to send follow-up emails from Tuesday to Friday. Avoid doing so on Saturday and Sunday, especially for proactive business development emails. On Monday, customers usually have their inboxes full of work emails and might not have the time or patience to read business development emails carefully, reducing the chances of success.
4. Keeping Immediate Contact with Buyers
- Regularly or irregularly follow up with interested customers via phone, email, or instant messaging tools. But be careful not to overdo it as it might annoy them. If you don’t follow up, they might forget about you. In short, seize every inquiry and don’t easily give up any cooperation opportunity.
II. Basic Qualities in Inquiry Follow-up
1. Professional Knowledge
Having a good understanding of your products and the industry is essential. It helps you answer customers’ questions accurately and build trust.
2. Industry Ethics
Adhere to ethical standards in the business to maintain a good reputation and long-term relationships with customers.
3. Focus on Win-Win Situations
Aim for outcomes that benefit both you and the customer, which makes the cooperation more sustainable.
4. Customer First
Always put the customer’s needs and satisfaction at the forefront in your communication and decision-making.
5. Care about and Understand the Customer
Show genuine care for the customer’s situation and try to understand their perspective to better serve them.
6. Put Yourself in the Customer’s Shoes
Think from the customer’s point of view when dealing with inquiries and proposing solutions.
7. Try to Be Friends First, Then Do Business
Just like making friends, build a good relationship with customers first. With sincerity and understanding, they’ll trust you more and be more likely to place orders.
Following these tips and embodying these qualities in inquiry follow-up can significantly increase the chances of turning inquiries into orders. Now it’s time to put these strategies into action and boost your business success by converting more inquiries into actual orders.
