"CloserQ, I am working a committed deal in my territory and the decision maker is no longer returning my calls nor emails. I thought I had a good relationship but it has been two weeks since my last contact and they are supposed to make a decision this month. Can you help?" John B.
John, 'no news is typically not good news' when a prospect is not returning your calls. Sales is very dynamic, and I have some qualifying questions for you before I respond: Is this a current client or net new business? How big is the deal? How competitive is the deal? How many people are involved in the decision? Have you ever met the prospect in person? Do you have other contacts at the account?Below are my recommendations in order:
Don't panic, be pro-active to get a hold of your contact for an update. Depending on the prospects time line, two weeks may not be a long time in between communications.
Are you leaving messages and e-mail that have 'call to action'? If your messages are not asking them to do anything, they may simple be complying to your message, an example, "This is John 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, zero out and let the operator know you have been trying to contact them and do you know if they are in the office today. Your contact could be on a two week vacation or traveling on business.
Assuming your contact still works there and in the office, put yourself in their 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, even if your coach is the decision maker.
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 (“Ms. 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/or use *67 to block your number), calling their cellphone, and/or having them paged at work.
Good selling, tracking down your contacting, and winning the business. Reader Feedback, please click the ‘comments’ below to give ‘John’ feedback on his question. Shaun Priest aka CloserQ. Have fantastic day.
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