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Why you aren't getting a response

Posted by Carole Mahoney on 7/21/15 8:00 AM

Have you, like nearly every sales person ever, wondered why some people never return or response to your email, voice mail, proposal, request for approvals on work, or for more information? 

Why do prospects suddenly disappear when you thought things were going so well?

What could you have done differently, and when should you have done it to prevent this?

Message in bottle - blog

How sure are you that the prospect saw value in your proposal, messages and call backs? Are you doing the following things?

  • Did you ask a lot of questions to understand their world, their problem, and their perspective on both?
  • Were your questions challenging and offered a different perspective on their world and their problem?
  • Do you look for the no, or the reasons why their current challenges would hinder their success with you or your product/service? 

Why don't some (okay, most) salespeople do these things? There are several elements a salesperson needs in order to nurture and close leads. You don't need to have all of them, some can make up for others depending the the type of sale you are involved in. It's the combination of your unique strengths and weaknesses that determine the types of outcomes you will get.

A few current coaching clients are struggling with getting to decision makers and getting people to respond back. I also get this question from time to time in training sessions. So I dug into the OMG sales assessment to see what answers I could find there.

I was surprised to note that those with a bad outlook (how you see everything) also had more difficulty controlling their emotions. Okay, so what does that have to do with getting people to call you back?

Remember why people don't respond? They don't see the value. In order to offer something of value, you need to offer insights that help prospects think differently about themselves and their problem. You need to add a new perspective. When you have a bad outlook, somewhere in your mind you believe that this could be the last decent prospect and opportunity you are going to have for a long time. 

When your bad outlook puts that kind of pressure on you, you get emotionally involved. When you get emotionally involved, you lose your objectivity. You start to care more about the sale than the value you bring, then you stop listening and asking questions. That is when you lose control of the sales process and people find it easy to ignore you. 

What do you think? Have you found this happening to you, your clients, or your salespeople? Is there something else going on when you don't get replies back? 

Topics: sales tactics