Five Reasons Prospects Stop Responding To Your Sales Process
If the prospect is "Hot", stay on them. But instead of pushing the sales process forward, take a time out to understand why they are not responding and act accordingly. I am assuming that the rep came to agreement with the prospect on the next step or follow-up process and the prospect has now fallen off the agreed schedule. You can find more details on setting expectations in my sales blog titled "Persistent Follow-Up".
Here are the most common reasons prospects don't respond to a Service-Minded salesperson.
1. The prospects priorities have shifted and they now have more pressing issues. This does not mean they will not pick up where they left off once your offering rises to the top of the list.
2. Their problem has resolved and the pain no longer exists.
3. The rep is working with a non-decision maker (user) and the opportunity was never identified as a priority with "decision makers."
4. The prospect has a hard time with conflict and saying no is hard for them.
5. The problem is with the salesperson and the prospect is trying to ignore them.
Before you come to your own conclusion (which is usually negative), seek to understand directly from the prospect why the delay is happening before pushing your sales process forward. Here are a few suggestions on how to discover the reason behind the delay.
Reasons 1 & 2 - Send a message acknowledging your understanding that they must be swamped or under the gun with other priorities. In the same message ask the prospect if this is still on their list to work on and if yes, how would they like you to follow-up to support them?
Reason 2 - If the pain has gone - drop back to marketing until the pain rises again. This means it does not matter where you were in the sales process, drop out and begin nurturing the prospect again until the pain is back.
Reason 3 - If you are questioning if you are working with a decision maker find out. You might send a message like this. "Hi _____, we seemed to be tracking a few weeks ago but things seemed stalled. Are more people getting involved in this decision or have they shifted any priorities on you?
Reason 4 - Hi ______, it has been awhile since our last meeting and the last thing I want to be is a pest. Let me know if you would like me to continue to follow up or if you have made a decision or are leaning with another solution I have thick skin, just let me know. Either way I will be here to serve if you need me.
Reason 5 - Sales manager needs to get involved and find out if the sales rep is turning people off.
Final thoughts
• Most B2B Salespeople market and sell. It is important to be aware when you should be marketing and when you should be selling. A good source for improving your marketing messages is at my sales blog under "Marketing Your Emails through Voicemail".
• Practice Patient-Urgency. Be urgent with the activity you need to perform and be patient with customer decisions.
• Don't be afraid of hearing no or being delayed. Always seek to understand where the prospects mindset is before you make "wrong" assumptions.
Five Reasons Prospects Stop Responding To Your Sales Process - To learn more about this author, visit Rene Zamora's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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