Glossary · Sales follow-up plan (plan de seguimiento)
What is a follow-up plan in sales?
A follow-up plan is a schedule of lead touches you set in advance: how many attempts to make, on which days, at what time of day and through which channel. For a developer it starts the minute a lead comes in and ends with a showroom visit or with closing the lead on purpose, with the reason logged in the CRM.
How many attempts does it take to reach a lead?
Most sales reps give up early. A lead misses two calls and gets tagged "no answer."
Another number from the InsideSales.com study (8,742 companies, MarketingProfs, 2017): 39% of leads got no contact at all, and another 18% got only one. In practice, companies never worked more than half of their leads.
What does a follow-up plan look like for a developer in Mexico?
In Mexico, WhatsApp comes first. If a lead doesn't reply on WhatsApp, we call. Our touch rule: three channels (phone, WhatsApp, email) at different times of day. Someone who won't pick up at 11 a.m. at work will often answer at 7 p.m.
| Day | Touch | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | WhatsApp right after the inquiry, a call if there's no reply | within the first few minutes |
| 1 | Call, then a WhatsApp with a specific question | evening |
| 2 | Email with floor plans and prices that match the request | morning |
| 4 | Call | lunchtime |
| 7 | WhatsApp with a reason to reply: a new floor, a payment plan, a showroom visit | evening |
Every touch should bring new information or a question. "Are you still interested?" barely works: people who are still looking ignore it, and so do people who already bought.
Common mistakes
- The follow-up plan exists in the sales playbook, but the CRM has no tasks, so reps follow up from memory.
- Every attempt goes out at the same time of day and through the same channel.
- Messaging people who never shared their contact details, or giving them no way to opt out. This violates the LFPDPPP.
- Sending free-form text on WhatsApp outside the 24-hour window. Only approved templates are allowed there.
The only way to check whether reps stick to the follow-up plan is the record: tasks, calls and chats. That is what sales control does.
FAQ
When can you close a lead as lost?
When the follow-up plan is complete: every attempt made across all three channels at different times of day, with the reason for closing logged in the CRM. You can bring that lead back later through reactivation.