How can we recover customers who disappear after sending samples?

Now the global trade is competitive, and domestic counterparts are  introverted. So if the customer's requirements are not excessive, we usually choose to try our best to meet them. Among the many requirements, letting suppliers send samples for free is the most common one.


 
However many people have reported that after sending samples, the customer's reply changed to the opposite from the previous one and some even did not reply or even disappeared directly. Therefore, they feel that customers' requests to send samples for free are to deceive samples, which causes many salesmen to dare not send samples anymore.
 
But it is often difficult to obtain orders without sending samples. How should we deal with it?
 
First of all, we have to make it clear that samples must be sent, but not completely free. There must be certain conditions, such as: free samples can be sent, but the postage needs to be paid by the customer, or we will provide the postage, but the customer needs to pay the sample fee, etc. In this way, some invalid customers can be effectively screened out. If the customer agrees to the sample sending plan we proposed, but still disappears for no reason after signing for it, then we need to use some follow-up skills and words.
 
Generally, 3-5 days after the customer receives the sample, we will carry out the first follow-up after receiving the goods. It is to confirm whether the customer has received the sample and what kind of help is needed, and will focus on helping the customer as much as possible instead of directly urging customers to place an order. So we can follow up like this, "We hope you have received our samples. If you have any comments, we will be very grateful. By the way, please let me know your payment terms, is that ok?"
 
After waiting 2-3 days, if the customer does not respond, we need to do a second follow-up. The purpose is to ask about the degree of satisfaction with the product, the delivery time plan, and euphemistically force the order.  We can mail like this, "If you are approve of our samples, Maybe we can cooperate further. As for the time of delivery, please inform us of your schedule. Please confirm the order asap so that we can arrange the mass production."
 
Wait another 7 days, if the customer has not responded, we will conduct a third follow-up. It is to ask the customer if he had encountered any difficulties, and politely tell him that it is impolite to keep not replying to the message. So as to intimidate the customer into replying to us, we can follow up like this,"Besides the samples, do you have any other things you centre on? I hope we can solve them by a friendly way."


 
If the customer still has not responded, we can wait about 15 days to follow up again. This time is mainly to confirm the order situation and see if there is anything we can help to solve. We can write, "Are you still waiting for others' opinions on this order? If you want to any help, please contact us at any time."
 
If we do 5 follow-ups, there is still no reply from the customer, it means the chance of getting an order is relatively small. But it does not mean that there is no. We can still follow up, but the follow-up time and strategy need to be changed. The follow-up time interval should be kept for another month, and the follow-up content will no longer involve orders. We can inquire about the current situation of customers, discuss market conditions, and send customers invitations to try new products. With perseverance, orders may be generated inadvertently after a long time.

All in all, don't panic if the customer "disappears" after sending the sample.
 
We need to have sufficient patience with customers. What we can do is to continue to follow up, and remember not to stalk them. During follow-up, you can send product introductions, production process introductions, etc. to customers step by step, so as to attract customers to reply and achieve the order.