What to do when a prospect goes silent

“How do you get prospects that go silent to re-engage with you?”

Not sure what to do when a prospect goes silent? I’ve found that using a little humor will go a long way toward getting your “missing in action” prospect to call you back.

The key is to have your follow-up calls stand out and separate yourself from the rest of the sales pack that calls and leaves messages with your prospect. If you’re calling with the “just wanted to touch base” or “just wanted to check in and see if you had any questions – give me a call back – blah blah blah,” your message is going to be ignored like the rest of them. Try adding a little humor to your messages and watch your callbacks increase.

You’ll want to call and leave a voicemail first, then send them an email that references your voicemail.

Here are a couple of examples that I personally use that have worked well:

What to do when a prospect goes silent:

RE-ENGAGEMENT VOICEMAIL STRATEGY EXAMPLE 1:

“Hi (PROSPECT’S NAME) this is (YOUR NAME) with (YOUR COMPANY NAME) and I wanted to see if we’re still on the shortlist, if we got kicked off the shortlist, or if the shortlist went up in smoke. Either way, would it be ok to ask if you would shoot me an email or give me a call to let me know where we are and what needs to happen next? You can reach me at (YOUR NUMBER). Again it’s (YOUR NAME) with (YOUR COMPANY) and you can reach me at (YOUR NUMBER).”

RE-ENGAGEMENT VOICEMAIL STRATEGY EXAMPLE 2:

“Hi (PROSPECT’S NAME) this is (YOUR NAME) with (YOUR COMPANY NAME) I’ve tried to reach you a few times but haven’t heard back from you. Not sure if you’ve been abducted by aliens or have entered the witness protection program – Either way, would it be ok to ask if you would shoot me an email or give me a call to let me know where we are and what needs to happen next? You can reach me at (YOUR NUMBER). Again it’s (YOUR NAME) with (YOUR COMPANY) and you can reach me at (YOUR NUMBER).”

These examples can help break the ice and get a reaction that you can work with.

WHAT’S THE ROI? HOW MANY CALLBACKS CAN I EXPECT?

What if it’s only 10%? What if leaving a “creative” message 100 times only gained ten more responses than what you currently get out of those same 100? Would that be a bad thing? Any technique that can help you improve your response rate will help you put more money into your commission checks.

WHAT IF THEY RESPOND BUT SAY THE TIMING IS BAD?

OK, you’ve got a response but don’t like it. The bright side is you’ve got them re-engaged, even if it’s only via email. You now have something to work with. Handle the objection. And if the end result is that a deal isn’t going to happen, at least you know, and you can stop wasting your time calling a prospect that isn’t going to buy. It’s better to drop them back into a drip marketing campaign and replace them with a new prospect than to waste time calling on prospects that aren’t ready to move forward!

– Michael Pedone – Founder of SalesBuzz.com