"CloserQ, I have a quality lead in my forecast for next month and my contact / coach has not returned my calls and e-mails in two weeks, what do you recommend?" Cheryl in FLA.
Cheryl, not a good sign when prospects are not returning your calls. Sales is very dynamic and there a lot of other questions, are they a current client? is this net new business? how big is the deal? how competitive is the deal? when is the prospect making a decision? how many people involved in the decision? have you met the prospect in person? were you winning before the lack of contact? is your contact a decision maker?.
Below are my recommendations in order:
Cheryl, not a good sign when prospects are not returning your calls. Sales is very dynamic and there a lot of other questions, are they a current client? is this net new business? how big is the deal? how competitive is the deal? when is the prospect making a decision? how many people involved in the decision? have you met the prospect in person? were you winning before the lack of contact? is your contact a decision maker?.
Below are my recommendations in order:
- Don't panic, be pro-active to get a hold of your contact an update. Depending on the prospects time line two weeks may not be a long time in between communications.
- My first questions is are you leaving messages and e-mail that have 'call to action'? If your messages are not asking them to do anything ('call to action'), they may simple be complying to your message, an example, "This is Cheryl and I am calling to see if there is any new news?" The prospect may not call you back because there is no news, so there is no need to call you back or respond to your e-mail. You could leave a teaser message, "Ms. Prospect, I got some really good news on your account, please give me a call."
- Confirm your contact still works there. Call the main number and ask for them. Just because your e-mails are not being returned does not mean the person still works there. If the person no longer works there get to his or her boss asap.
- Confirm your contact is in the office. Call the main number and if they put you into voicemail, tell them you have been trying to contact them and do you know if they are in the office today. Your contact could be on two vacation or traveling on business.
- Assuming your contact still works there and in the office, put yourself in the shoes, and ask yourself why you would not call a sales person back: Did you lose the sale and they don't want to tell you the bad news? Are you losing and they don't want to deal with you until they have signed the other deal? Is there no news, so why call you back? Is there negative news internally (they are no longer on the project, the project has been put on hold, there is a new decision maker)? Are they busy on other projects? Are there internal issues affecting this project?
- With these options in mind, I would call another one of your contacts at the company. This points to the value of having multiple contacts at both clients and prospects. People turnover at clients and prospects, and you are at risk if all of your sales efforts rely on one person. I worked at one company where we have one contact at our best and most profitable client. She was great, very dynamic, a decision maker, your ideal client but if she got hit by a bus or quit, we would of lost our number one client because we only dealt with her. It took us a year and some arm twisting with her because she was a micro manager on wanted to complete control of our relationship but eventually we did meet with her boss and built relationships with other people at the company. Plus if you have multiple contacts, you can multiple perspectives on the company. When you get a hold of your other contact take the high road, "Mr. Prospect, I know your guys are extremely busy and I am checking in for an update?" If this person directs you back to your contact, "One of the reasons I called you is I have not been able to get a hold Ms. Prospects and I do not want to keep bothering her, can you help me out with an update?" If the person goes silent and says you need to talk to Ms. Prospect, I would assume you are in trouble.
- If you had a good relationship prior to lack of contact and after leaving 'call to action to messages', you should assume you are losing and need a sales action plan. Logistically can you go to the persons office (I had a meeting close to here and I wanted to stop by to say hello and give you an update on our side); calling on your contact's boss for an update (Mr. Boss, we are really excited to have the opportunity to work with you and I am calling to set up a call or meeting to review our proposal; and/or get more aggressive trying to track down your contact (calling many times a day and use *67 to block your number), calling their cellphone, and having them paged at work.
Good selling, tracking down your contacting, and winning the business. Reader Feedback, please click the comments below to give 'Cheryl in FLA' additional information on 'No Return Calls' and I want your feedback on my response. Have a great weekend.
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