Every salesperson is familiar with the experience of prospects going cold for no apparent reason. They think they’re hot on the tail of something valuable, and then the person stops responding.
The salespeople might send a few “I’m just following up” emails, maybe place a call or two that go to voice mail, text once or twice, and then bow to what seems to be the inevitable and let it die. Then they complain to their manager that customers don’t know what they want or that they lie, and then they move on to the next opportunity.
Prospects that go cold are especially frustrating in complex B2B sales, where a lost sales opportunity can represent hours, weeks, or even months of sales team investment. But it doesn’t have to be the end, if you have the right skills. Even cold opportunities can sometimes be revived with a simple pivot.
Nobody likes to feel manipulated. Gimmicky attempts to reopen a conversation are rarely successful in a complex B2B environment. Worse, they can poison the well and ruin your future chances with a potential client.
So, let’s drop the guilting, the manipulating, and the sudden “discoveries” of discounts and extras we usually throw at cold prospects. They smell of desperation.
Instead, try this pivot: Empathy.
Instead of trying to convince them to re-engage, take the time to consider the situation from their perspective. Remember the conversations you’ve had. Identify in your own mind (and from your CRM notes) what they said was important to them. Then figure out how you can help them in a way that is actually valuable to them.
Recently, one of our salespeople struggled to communicate with a prospect who had stopped responding. They went to their coach and confided about the situation. The coach asked one simple question:
How could you reconnect in a way that shows you care?
This question opened the door to reflection and discussion. The salesperson recalled that the prospect was struggling with a slow market, and the feeling that they were missing something, and didn’t have the insight they needed.
Very often, the fundamental answer that gets us unstuck is something as simple and profound as empathy.
Connecting in with this urgent need, the salesperson came up with a new way to re-engage.
“I’m going to call them back,” they told their coach. “And say that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the conversation they shared with me, and that I think I have an idea for how to get them the insight they said they were lacking.”
The approach the salesperson came up with worked. The prospect re-entered the dialog. It worked because it showed that the salesperson cared, remembered, had listened, and wanted to help, even if it wasn’t in the way they’d originally discussed.
This also led to a conversation that uncovered for the salesperson what the prospect’s objections had been that led to them “ghosting” the conversation. This enabled further discussion to design a solution that actually would help them in the way they wanted to be helped.
And it ended in a sale that made both the salesperson and the new client happy.
Too often, when we’re stuck, we start spiraling around new techniques, approaches, methodologies, and tactics. Very often, the fundamental answer that gets us unstuck is something as simple and profound as empathy.
When was the last time you pivoted to empathy in your sales process?
George is the founder & CEO of Membrain, the Sales Enablement CRM that makes it easy to execute your sales strategy. A life-long entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the software space and a passion for sales and marketing. With the life motto "Don't settle for mainstream", he is always looking for new ways to achieve improved business results using innovative software, skills, and processes. George is also the author of the book Stop Killing Deals and the host of the Stop Killing Deals webinar and podcast series.
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