This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Launch" by Jeff Walker. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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After your big product launch, how can you keep people from experiencing a letdown? Should you follow up with people who don’t buy your product?
Entrepreneur and digital marketing expert Jeff Walker discusses the last step in his five-stage product launch strategy: sales follow-up. The key is to continue something you started in Stage One: connect with your customers relationally.
Read more to learn about Walker’s sales follow-up strategy and to see how it can work for you.
Sales Follow-Up
After your product launch, continue nurturing your relationship with buyers (and non-buyers) to grow your business long-term. Walker notes that people often feel underwhelmed after purchasing a product. To address this, your sales follow-up must involve continued communication and the delivery of more than what they had expected. Strengthen connections by writing an email expressing your thanks, summarizing your launch results, and asking for feedback.
(Shortform note: Other experts agree with Walker’s emphasis on maintaining quality relationships after the launch, adding that when customers are disappointed in a product, they’re experiencing post-purchase dissonance. There are several different causes: a lack of product information, a low product quality, or an impulsive purchase. To avoid customer dissatisfaction in your product launch, give detailed product information and consider offering a return policy.)
Walker suggests you follow up with and send bonus content to both people who had purchased your product and those who hadn’t. For the buyers, giving a bonus gift conveys your gratitude for their support, and asking for feedback fortifies your connection. For the non-buyers, giving them more content and asking for feedback offers you insights as to how to win them over for future launches.
(Shortform note: Consider applying Walker’s suggestion of generous gifting long after your launch is over. For example, Chewy, an e-commerce pet supply company, regularly nurtures customer relationships by sending handwritten notes and painted pet portraits as surprise gifts, which make customers feel appreciated. The company’s value-driven approach resulted in its great success and eventual acquisition by a leading pet supply company, showing that small tokens of appreciation to your customers go a long way in building a lasting business.)
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Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Jeff Walker's "Launch" at Shortform.
Here's what you'll find in our full Launch summary:
- How to stand out in an age when anyone can start a business online
- How you can market and sell a product with little to no start-up costs
- Why you should start an email list before you even launch your product
