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7 Tips to Get an Unresponsive Prospect Talking Again
thetradeshownetwork.com
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June 07, 2018 “Start every sales follow-up interaction as if from scratch, and they’ll be more inclined to reengage.” Change your closes I consider “closing to be any interaction where a salesperson asks a prospect to commit to something -- whether big or little. Some examples of closes include requesting that a prospect read a white paper, schedule a call, make an introduction, or provide information. Consistently asking for closes throughout the sales process is a crucial factor to sales follow-up success. When a prospect goes quiet, a salesperson might be tempted to just rehash the last close over and over again. Maybe they want to set up a meeting with the contact and their boss, and they sent an email to this effect over a week ago. If the prospect doesn’t respond, a salesperson might just send another email asking for the meeting again, follow it up with a voicemail asking for the meeting, and send a LinkedIn message asking for the meeting. However, I wouldn’t recommend this approach. Obviously, there’s something about that ask that’s not inciting the prospect to respond, so it’s time to pull out a plan B. Make your closes specific, and change them up. The different asks explain why a salesperson is calling a prospect several times despite the lack of response. In addition, if a prospect was shying away from a particular close, they might be more inclined to reengage on a different one. And any way you get the conversation going again is a good thing. 3. Engineer an opening with someone else Many sales experts advocate using a breakup email to get an answer from an unresponsive buyer. While it’s true that these emails do tend to receive higher than average response rates, I think breakup emails are a lackluster sales tactic. After all, if you haven’t gotten through to a prospect in six months or more, why do you think you will spark up a meaningful conversation again now? It would be like if a couple didn’t speak for several months, and then one partner called the other saying they’d like to break up. Isn’t it pretty clear that you broke up months ago?
June 07, 2018 “If you want to hear back from your buyer, don’t mention the fact that they haven’t gotten back to you in a while.” Change your closes I consider “closing to be any interaction where a salesperson asks a prospect to commit to something -- whether big or little. Some examples of closes include requesting that a prospect read a white paper, schedule a call, make an introduction, or provide information. Consistently asking for closes throughout the sales process is a crucial factor to sales follow-up success. When a prospect goes quiet, a salesperson might be tempted to just rehash the last close over and over again. Maybe they want to set up a meeting with the contact and their boss, and they sent an email to this effect over a week ago. If the prospect doesn’t respond, a salesperson might just send another email asking for the meeting again, follow it up with a voicemail asking for the meeting, and send a LinkedIn message asking for the meeting. However, I wouldn’t recommend this approach. Obviously, there’s something about that ask that’s not inciting the prospect to respond, so it’s time to pull out a plan B. Make your closes specific, and change them up. The different asks explain why a salesperson is calling a prospect several times despite the lack of response. In addition, if a prospect was shying away from a particular close, they might be more inclined to reengage on a different one. And any way you get the conversation going again is a good thing. 3. Engineer an opening with someone else Many sales experts advocate using a breakup email to get an answer from an unresponsive buyer. While it’s true that these emails do tend to receive higher than average response rates, I think breakup emails are a lackluster sales tactic. After all, if you haven’t gotten through to a prospect in six months or more, why do you think you will spark up a meaningful conversation again now? It would be like if a couple didn’t speak for several months, and then one partner called the other saying they’d like to break up. Isn’t it pretty clear that you broke up months ago?
June 07, 2018 “If a prospect becomes unresponsive, don’t waste time beating yourself up or trying to uncover the reason” Change your closes I consider “closing to be any interaction where a salesperson asks a prospect to commit to something -- whether big or little. Some examples of closes include requesting that a prospect read a white paper, schedule a call, make an introduction, or provide information. Consistently asking for closes throughout the sales process is a crucial factor to sales follow-up success. When a prospect goes quiet, a salesperson might be tempted to just rehash the last close over and over again. Maybe they want to set up a meeting with the contact and their boss, and they sent an email to this effect over a week ago. If the prospect doesn’t respond, a salesperson might just send another email asking for the meeting again, follow it up with a voicemail asking for the meeting, and send a LinkedIn message asking for the meeting. However, I wouldn’t recommend this approach. Obviously, there’s something about that ask that’s not inciting the prospect to respond, so it’s time to pull out a plan B. Make your closes specific, and change them up. The different asks explain why a salesperson is calling a prospect several times despite the lack of response. In addition, if a prospect was shying away from a particular close, they might be more inclined to reengage on a different one. And any way you get the conversation going again is a good thing. 3. Engineer an opening with someone else Many sales experts advocate using a breakup email to get an answer from an unresponsive buyer. While it’s true that these emails do tend to receive higher than average response rates, I think breakup emails are a lackluster sales tactic. After all, if you haven’t gotten through to a prospect in six months or more, why do you think you will spark up a meaningful conversation again now? It would be like if a couple didn’t speak for several months, and then one partner called the other saying they’d like to break up. Isn’t it pretty clear that you broke up months ago?