Sales · Lesson 6
Follow-ups and managing your pipeline
Most deals are won in the follow-up. Track every opportunity and its next step.
Many deals are lost not to competitors but to silence. A buyer gets busy, and no one follows up. Good follow-up is polite, useful and scheduled. Every open opportunity should have a clear next step and a date.
Keep a simple pipeline: lead, qualified, proposal sent, negotiating, won or lost. Note the value and the next action for each. Review it weekly. Look for stuck deals — anything with no movement in 30 days needs a decision: push, pause or close.
Make follow-ups add value: a relevant article, a quick idea, an update on capacity or a case study. 'Just checking in' gives the client nothing. When a deal is lost, ask why. The answers improve your next proposals.
Example — Hypothetical: a useful follow-up
'Hi Tunde, following our chat about the clinic, I've attached a one-page summary of how we cut patient waiting areas by 20% in a similar project. Happy to talk through it on Thursday if helpful.'
Try this
Open the Follow-ups register in this app and add every open opportunity with a due date for its next step.
Reflect
How many of your open opportunities do not have a next step with a date right now?