If you’re not already sending automatic follow-up emails to your subscribers and clients, you may be leaving way too much money on the table.

Research has shown that you need to follow-up at least seven times with an average prospect before a sale is made. Yeah, that’s right – SEVEN times!

That’s why you’ll find that most successful online companies (and some offline ones) always focus on getting your contact details first before making a full product pitch.

However, the problem with traditional follow up is that its difficult to keep up with individual prospects along the sales process.

Let me give you an example..

You’re following up with three people simultaneously, all three of them are in different stages of the buying process. Let’s call them John, Alex and Paul.

John is willing to buy right now. Alex is unsure and probably needs a little more information and convincing. Paul however has decided that he’s not interested, and would be happy if you would just leave him alone.

But you may end up spending too much time trying to win over Paul, that you completely neglect Alex and John, the two people who are most likely to buy from you. The fact is, traditional follow-up techniques are messy and unorganized.

Follow-up Emails Using Autoresponder Software

However, with automatic follow-up emails using email auto responder software, this vital sales process becomes so much easier. You can literally follow-up with thousands of prospects, at different stages of the sales process, on autopilot. You can set as many follow-up emails as you want, each answering a different question or selling your product from a different angle.

You can also predetermine the exact days between each follow-up email, as you can see from the example below taken from my Aweber account:

I this particular example, I collect names and email address by offering free blogging advice in the form of a PDF report. Here’s how my follow-up process looks like:

• Autoresponse (immediate) – In the very first email, I just give them the PDF download link. Sometimes I will introduce myself or my company, if required, but not much else.
• Follow-up 1 – In a friendly tone, I recommend what I think is the product they are probably most interested in, our blog web hosting package. This product is unique but generic, perfect for a first offer.
• Follow-up 2 – Two days after the first follow-up email (which is three days after they subscribe) I present them with another offer. This will be my best-selling product, and usually a low-priced item.
• All other follow-ups – You can see that the intervals between each email increase on the third, fourth and fifth follow-up email as I don’t want to overload the prospect with too many unread emails

I follow-up with different offers because the main product is a free download, so there’s nothing for them to buy. On the sales page for the individual products however, I also have an optin form. If the prospect fills in that form, I’ll only send follow-up messages related to the that particular product.

Final Word on Follow-Up Emails

Not everyone will receive all my follow-up emails. Some will unsubscribe after the first or second follow-up. That’s normal – it just means that they are not interested in hearing from you.

Others will receive all your follow up emails and still not buy anything in the end. These people are not interested in your current offer, but as long as they remain subscribed you can always present them with a different offer later.

When done correctly, email follow-ups can help you remove doubts, answer questions, and convert a prospect into a paying customer. With the correct autoresponder://gobala.linktrackr.com/icontact-arp">autoresponder software (see the autoresponder comparison tables), following up with a prospect is not only easy, but fun too.