How you respond to inquiries is key to increasing sales in any business. This measures how interested people are in your business.

The more relevant your product or service seems to them, the more feedback you get.

In turn, this gives you the opportunity to reel in new customers. But this will depend on how effective your replies are.

Don’t miss your chance. Know how to make a sale with the right response.

Reply Fast for Prompt Responses

When you take a sales inquiry, answering the client’s question is only the means to an end.

This objective is to get people to avail your services.

You can determine a customer’s interest in you by correspondence.

In this case, the transaction shouldn’t end with your reply.

How customer responds can also test how engaged they are.

To do that, you need to address their concerns immediately.

Putting off a potential client for too long can lead them to look for other options.

Customers want to know whether you value their time or not.

Timely replies make them feel important, increasing your chances of gaining their trust.

Get Straight to the Point

Assume that your prospect doesn’t have time to read through an entire block of text. They want to get to the gist as quickly as they can.

In this case, it’s more efficient to cut down words and address the customer’s concerns as early as possible.

Adding headings to your response can also help people navigate through it. However, just make sure these headings capture your main points based on the customer’s express needs.

Your response to a sales inquiry already says a lot about your company. Analyze the initial query, and pick up hints on what the customer wants from you.

By offering a solution to every point they raise, you assure them you have what they’re looking for.

Create a Follow-up System

Not every sales inquiry you reply to will yield a trusted customer.

You’ll want to know if you’re investing in the right people.

Qualifying your leads prevents you from wasting time and money. The only problem is, without replying to every inquiry, you can’t identify the best prospects.

You can get around this by putting your existing leads on a follow-up system. It can save you the trouble of giving everyone the same amount of effort.

In this system, you divide your prospects into those who you can consistently follow-up on, and those who you don’t have to check on as much.

People with whom you frequently exchange messages are probably closer to buying your product.

Prioritize these customers, but remember to respond to the other inquiries later on.

Conclusion

The way you answer sales inquiries determines how well you handle your prospects.

Give them the right response and your sales inquiry can be converted into a sale.

Respond quickly, but make sure that your message has everything the client is looking for.

Address their concerns and offer your services as the best alternative to other problems they may hint at.

Be as direct as possible in your reply. Don’t delay your core message with too many filler words.

With current leads, you can create a follow-up system that highlights more urgent sales over others.

Once a client invites you to present your sales pitch in real time, you have to prepare your speech and your deck quickly.

Need help preparing your presentation? Contact our SlideGenius experts today for a free quote!

References

Bly, Robert. “The Key to Great Inquiry Fulfillment.” National Mail Order Association. Accessed October 30, 2015. www.nmoa.org/articles/dmnews/KeytoInquiryFulfillmentBB.htm

Donnelly, Tim. “How to Qualify a Sales Lead.” Inc. August 19, 2011. Accessed October 30, 2015. www.inc.com/guides/201108/how-to-qualify-a-sales-lead.html

Hainge, Allen. “How to Respond to Online Listing Inquiries.” Realty Times. May 28, 2002. Accessed October 30, 2015. http://realtytimes.com/agentnews/technologyadvice1/item/16274-20020529_inquiries

Wormley, David. “6 ways to be more effective when responding to inbound sales inquiries.” Healy Consultants. March 31, 2015. Accessed October 30, 2015. www.healyconsultants.com/blog/6-ways-to-be-more-effective-when-responding-to-inbound-sales-inquiries/

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