Have You Been Ghosted in Sales?

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* Loves short walks on the beach and long walks in the woods
* Has two kids; one plays soccer, the other the tuba
* We share the same spirit animal – Shih Tzu!

These are notes from your last conversation with a prospect.

In your estimation, it was a bangin sales call ending with your promise to follow-up in 2 weeks.

You connected with the customer and marked it as a high-probability deal in the CRM. 

Now through some cruel twist of fate, you’re being Ghosted.

The prospect’s been MIA for weeks and you’re wondering “WTF happened?”

 

Because Enterprise-level B2B stakeholders are forever busy every conversation is crucial.

Consequently, each meeting should end with agreed-upon action items since it may be weeks before you speak again.

This holds each party accountable.

 

Most salespeople get ghosted because they didn’t ask enough of the right questions up front and/ or adequately convey value. 

Checklist to Avoid Being Ghosted During the B2B Sales Cycle:

Be prepared for each call

  • This means not wasting time asking questions you can find answers to on their web page, Wiki, Google, Hoover’s, Zoominfo, through a colleague or SEC docs, etc
  • Having high-level questions ready that spur discovery and can move the deal forward

Maximize every opportunity

  • Are there any other solutions, discounts or upgrades to discuss on the call?
  • Getting the prospect to AGREE on next action items. It’s essential you collect as many YESSES as possible throughout the sales cycle
  • It’s customary in high-level sales to send a Recap of the call via email. This email has the topics covered and assigns tasks to each party in preparation for the next meeting

Invite multiple stakeholders to your calls –https://saleslane.com/2018/05/unlocking-mysteries-of-conference-call/ 

  • Even Chief Legal Officers, CFO’s, CIO’s, IT Directors and CPO’s check in with their generals when making important decisions.
  • The more stakeholders you have on a call, the greater the likelihood of a deal closing 

Listen

Two ears, one mouth.

We love our solutions and can talk about them all day.

Ask poignant questions instead.

How can you be of service?

Plan ahead

  • Instead of a verbal commitment, opt for a scheduled call in advance and send them a calendar invite as soon as you’ve hung up. If they don’t reply after a few days/ resend.
  • If they’ve been non-committal throughout the process, send a gentle reminder the day before your call. Often, I’ll simply send an email with no text in the body and fill in the Subject Line. Reminder: THEM/ YOU. DATE. TIME

Ghosted sales situation with man in tie holding cell phone

Ghosted? Here Are 7 Steps to Get You Back Into the Sales Lane

1) Retrace your steps

– Reread the email chain and the notes from your conversation to intimately re-familiarize yourself with the account’s history.
– Make sure you haven’t missed anything because chances are – you’re calling on hundreds of companies and you probably don’t remember every detail of every conversation.

2) Research

– Go back and reexamine the company profile.
– Go to their News section of the website or Google them; you may have missed the obvious like Company’s just filed for bankruptcy or they’re acquiring another corporation and don’t have the bandwidth to take on new vendors.

3) Change up

– Remix your messaging and share relevant information that you hadn’t before.
– Integrate upcoming developments and deadlines to nudge your prospect into action.
– Check your network for connections within the organization.

4) Go old school

– Type a letter. Follow proper formatting on your company letterhead and include a digestible amount of marketing materials
– Send it FedEx or UPS, track it and make sure someone signs upon receipt
– In our digital age, receiving communication the old-fashioned way will help you stand out.

5) Lean back

– Take a step back from the account and set the next activity for two weeks, a month or two away.
– Come back to it then, put on your leopard-print speedos for added confidence and dive in head first.

6) Bye Felicia

– Moving on is empowering. Whether it’s a bad relationship, job or housemate, sometimes clearing the deck is your best move.
– Mark the account Dead for Now and go slay another dragon.
– Revisit in a year – you’ll notice that the players in the company may have shifted and you’ve got a clean slate. 

7) Reboot

– Who else in the organization can help you get back on track?
– Source additional contacts above, under and lateral to your original contact.
– If you’re in high-level, enterprise B2B  – most of these companies have thousands or tens of thousands of employees; dozens of alternate contacts within your targeted vertical.
– Hit them up even if that means Starting Over

Rebooting an Opportunity After Being Ghosted

If you choose to Reboot, make sure you’ve got a strategy.

Calling someone’s superior after they ghosted you is delicate.

You’ll need to approach with tact and decorum, present your case without throwing anyone under the bus and be ready to explain yourself.

Any one of these scenarios can occur during a Reboot:

* The superior may have no idea what you’re talking about and doesn’t sign off on projects till it’s time
* This superior will send you back down to the minors where you’ll have to tuck tail
* That superior could become your new advocate regardless of whether they were familiar with your proposal or not. If this happens, your initial point of contact won’t ghost you again!

All salespeople get ghosted. Most of the time, it’s our fault but there are always exceptions.

When you do reconnect with the original prospect, proceed with business as usual:

  • Don’t make them feel guilty or get snarky
  • Re-pitch your solution and value prop since it’s been awhile
  • Reestablish a timeline and get them to agree on it 

From your copious notes before getting ghosted, you know the prospect has kids. 

Don’t forget to ask how the little ones are doing and get to closing!

 

Any good ghosted stories?

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