If you have been rejected by a prospect initially, you may make the mistake of giving up too soon or trying to oversell. Both giving up and overselling can be quite damaging to a sales relationship. In order to get a unresponsive prospect to talk to you, you have to follow up in the right way.
Let’s discuss how to follow up with unresponsive prospects like a human being, and develop a relationship that will help you to get that prospect talking, set meetings, begin discussions, and eventually make a sale.
Don’t Talk About Past Interactions
Avoid discussing past conversations. Don’t send an email like “I’m just following up on our 2:30 call last Tuesday.” Your prospect will feel like you’re guilting them, especially if it has been a while since you last talked to them. Putting them in a defensive state will make them less likely to want to talk to you.
Reach out and try to reestablish your rapport. Talk to them about their pain points and them how you can provide a solution. It can help to remind the prospect why they wanted to talk to you in the first place; maybe they have been unresponsive because of the underlying issue you can help with.
Vary Your Contact Attempts
One mistake some salespeople make is always contacting a prospect at the same time. Chances are, calling at 3:00 PM won’t work the fifth time if it didn’t work the first time. Use a combination of voicemails, text messages, phone calls, and emails, and vary the time of day you send a message. It may be that you’ve just gotten unlucky and you keep missing the right time to talk to a prospect.
Be Human, And Be Genuine
Do your best to avoid canned phrases and sales terms. Appeal to a prospect on a human level. Do you know something about their personal life? Maybe they’re a big soccer fan – try talking to them about the latest Premier League match!
People respond better to openness and honesty than they do canned, template emails – so this may be just what you need to get a real conversation started.
Open Up A Conversation With Someone Else At The Organization
If all else fails, don’t worry. Chances are that you have more than one potential lead at the organization. Send a final email to your prospect, and ask for a follow-up. If they don’t answer, you can assume they aren’t interested – and you can move on to someone else in their company.
You’re not always going to succeed at getting an unresponsive prospect to talk to you. But with these tips, you can avoid common missteps – and maximize your chances of success.
