Sales Follow-Up

Most deals are not lost to a competitor; they are lost to silence and drift. You keep live deals moving with follow-ups that are prompt, specific to the last conversation and useful to the buyer. The standard: every follow-up references what was actually said, adds something (an answer, an insight, a decision to make), asks for one clear thing, and is logged in the CRM.

When to use

• "Send a recap of today's call with Acme."
• "We sent the proposal on Monday and heard nothing."
• "The Northgate deal has gone dark for three weeks."
• "Our champion stopped replying."
• "Close out the deals that are clearly dead."

What you need

• The last interaction:
  • meeting notes, or a transcript if the call was recorded with consent;
  • the email thread from the connected mailbox (Gmail or Outlook);
  • the CRM record with stage, next step and contacts.
• Earlier context from session_search, and the owner's writing style from memory.
• What was agreed: next steps, owners, dates, anything promised by either side.
• The owner's send policy: drafts for approval (default), or a recorded standing permission.
• If you have no notes from the meeting, use clarify to ask the owner for the three things that mattered. Never write a recap from guesses.

Method

1. Identify the situation and use the matching play below. Check the CRM and inbox first: an unanswered question from the buyer, an out-of-office reply or a reply from someone else changes everything.
2. Post-meeting recap (send within 24 hours, ideally the same day):
   • Thank them in one line, then restate their problem and its impact in their words.
   • What was agreed, as a short list: next step, who owns it (name on their side and ours), date.
   • Anything you promised to send, attached or linked now, not "to follow".
   • One question you still need answered, if any.
   • If there are three or more steps to a decision, propose a mutual action plan (see references/follow-up-templates.md). Ask them to correct anything you got wrong. A recap they edit is better than one they ignore.
3. After a proposal is sent. First nudge at 2 to 3 business days, with something useful:
   • the answer to a question raised in the meeting;
   • a short note on how a similar customer phased the rollout;
   • an offer to walk the decision-maker through it. Do not ask "did you get a chance to look?"
4. Mutual action plan updates. Weekly while the deal is active: what was done, what is next, what is slipping, with dates. If a buyer-side step slips twice, raise it directly and kindly: "We're two weeks behind the date you needed to go live by. Is that date still real?"
5. Gone quiet: diagnose before you write. Use the CRM, the thread and memory to pick the most likely reason, then the matching message:
   • Priority dropped: ask whether the problem is still on their list this quarter.
   • Champion lacks power or got stuck internally: offer to help them make the case (a one-page summary for their boss, a call with their finance lead).
   • Price shock: offer options, such as a smaller first phase, rather than a discount. Discounts need the owner.
   • Competitor in play: ask what they are comparing on; offer something concrete for that criterion.
   • Wrong person: ask who else should be involved.
   • Simply busy: make the next step tiny ("Reply 1 for this month, 2 for next quarter"). Space the touches roughly 3, 5 and 7 business days apart, each with new value, then go to the close.
6. Champion silent: multi-thread.
   • Trigger: no reply from the champion to two touches over about two weeks.
   • Reach a second contact already involved (someone from a meeting or on cc), referencing the shared project, not going around the champion: "Priya and I were working on X; I wanted to make sure it is still useful for the team."
   • Only contact people already part of the conversation or introduced, unless the owner agrees otherwise.
7. Respectful close.
   • After 3 or 4 unanswered value-adding touches, send a short message saying you will stop and how to restart.
   • Move the deal to closed lost or nurture with an honest reason and a revisit date.
   • A clean "no" is worth more than a fake pipeline.
8. Draft, approve, send, log.
   • Show drafts to the owner; batch several deals on one show_card with deal, situation, draft and proposed send time.
   • Send only after explicit go-ahead, through the connected mailbox.
   • Log the touch and update the CRM next step: date of update, who on their side owns the step, the outcome you expect, and the date (format in the reference).
9. Schedule the next check. Use cronjob to re-check replies on the date you set. If a reply arrives, answer within one business day.

Timing rules of thumb

Situation	First follow-up	Then
After a meeting	Same day, at most 24 hours	Per the agreed next step
After a proposal	2 to 3 business days	3, 5, 7 business days, then close
Buyer asked you to wait	The date they gave	One touch, then diagnose
Out of office	Their return date plus one day	Normal play

Output

• One draft per follow-up: subject (keep the thread), body, the one ask, proposed send time, and a one-line note to the owner on why this message now.
• For deals going dark: a short diagnosis with evidence and the planned sequence of the next 2 or 3 touches.
• CRM updates queued or done: next step, next step date, stage change if justified.

Checks before you finish

• The draft references something specific from the last real conversation.
• It adds something new and asks for exactly one thing.
• Names, dates, prices and promises match the notes and the CRM. Nothing promised that the owner has not approved.
• Out-of-office replies were respected (no follow-up before their return date).
• The owner has approved it, or it falls inside a recorded standing permission.
• The CRM next step is updated.

Pitfalls

• "Just checking in." It asks the buyer to do work for you and gives nothing back. Bring a reason to reply.
• Recap by template. Generic recaps show you were not listening. Use their words and their numbers.
• Slow recaps. After 48 hours the buyer's memory has moved on, and so has their enthusiasm.
• Discounting to wake a deal up. It teaches the buyer that silence is rewarded. Discounts go to the owner and are traded for something.
• Going over the champion's head clumsily. Multi-thread openly and respectfully, or you lose your best ally.
• Keeping dead deals open. It wrecks the forecast. Close them with a reason and a revisit date.

See also: sales-call-prep, objection-handling, pipeline-review-and-forecast.