Guide to creating a customer follow-up system

When things start to heat up while running a small business, errors are bound to happen. The tasks will start to pile up, and that causes delays. When it comes to moving companies, the most common issues owners have are with unpaid invoices, missed follow-up calls, tracking new leads, and so on. The best way to deal with this lack of communication is to create a customer follow-up system. Find a way to remind yourself about all of the important tasks. Here is how to do it!

Implement a CRM system

Not that it is not possible to track customer communication without customer relationship management software. It is, but the benefits of CRM outshine all other strategies by far. If you want to create an efficient follow-up system to track customer-related processes, you need project management software for moving company needs.

Create tags

Every follow-up system needs proper tags. You need to label all tasks so you can keep track of them. The most common labels to use are:

• new leads;
• messages;
• callback required;
• appointments;
• awaiting payments
• awaiting estimate;
• tasks in progress;
• to be invoiced;
• two-week follow-up

If this is not enough, you can create your own labeling system and use it as you see fit. One of the best things about the customer management software for moving company reps is that it is completely flexible.

Keep detailed notes on all customers

The CRM database can keep all kinds of data. One of the best features is the ability to create customer profiles. Whatever conversation you have with the customers, always keep notes about it. You can further organize these notes into categories, and make sure they are always updated. This is a good way to keep in touch with customers and make sure you never miss something important.

Scheduling assistant

If you find yourself missing a lot of important tasks, it is best to use a scheduling assistant. Leave notifications for yourself that will remind you about upcoming meetings, tasks, and follow-ups. You can also use this feature to schedule invoicing. Missed invoices are a huge loss for your business, and even small delays can cause issues with your budget. It takes just a few minutes to set up reminders, but the benefits are huge.

Use CRM to re-engage customers

Customer follow-ups are very important for your business. Depending on the situation, you should create reminders to re-engage with customers.

For example, let’s say a client calls to inquire about moving services or sends you an email. You provide the information, but you don’t hear from them again. You should always collect contact information and re-engage within a week or two to check if they found a company. Another example would be when helping a client to plan a relocation. Do a follow-up every few weeks to make sure things are still on schedule. It often happens that a customer changes their mind about something, but they don’t call immediately.

Furthermore, you should always re-engage with customers a few days after the relocation is done. This is when you can get feedback about the level of service, maybe ask them to leave a review, and recommend you to their friends and family. These three scenarios are the most common situations. There are many more, so use the system to re-engage with customers when needed. CRM software for packers and movers has a fantastic follow-up system, so put it to good use.

Think about at what time to do follow-ups

When re-engaging with customers, another important element to think of is timing. If you are calling during working days, it is best to call when the customer is not working. With that in mind, always ask the client when the best time for calling them is. You don’t want to catch them while they are in the middle of something, or they might ask for a callback, and push the follow-up for a few days. You want to speak with the clients when they are available and stress-free.

How not to be annoying when doing follow-ups

It is a fact that employees sometimes have a problem with doing follow-ups. They don’t want to annoy customers. They will do the task, but it will cause stress and nervousness. Here are a few simple rules that will help your employees to do a follow-up in the right way.

Be overly pleasant, humble, and polite

No matter how much someone is nervous, if you speak with them with politeness, they will have to speak in a more calm manner. This is a very good startup to any conversation, not just with follow-ups. Let them know with the right words and the tone of your voice that you are sorry for disturbing them. You will only take a few minutes of their busy schedule, but a follow-up is very important for the quality of service. Talking to clients is a form of art, so definitely learn more about it.

Ask them if you should stop reaching out

In case you are checking in with a client that was asking about the services but never called back, let them know that you are simply calling to check if they found a moving company. Before you end the call, ask if they would like for you to call them again. If they tell no, leave it at that. The good thing is that a lot of people want to tackle the relocation quickly and efficiently. In most cases, they will want you to call them back if they cannot find anyone else.

Use customer information to learn more about their interests

A very useful strategy for doing proper follow-ups is to learn about your clients. Know their likes and dislikes, and incorporate that into your speech. This information will really come in handy if you are trying to make a sale.

If it does not work, change the approach

If you reach out to a customer via email and you don’t get a response, change the approach. Maybe they don’t use emails, so try a phone call. It is crucial to be flexible.

Creating a customer follow-up system is easy if you know all the steps

As you can see, creating a customer follow-up system requires time and effort. Follow these steps and you have nothing to worry about. This system will help you to improve customer communication and reduce errors in your business processes.