Selling to Big Companies Blog

Part II: Where Have All the Prospects Gone

What can you do when your previously hot-to-trot prospects disappear into "The Black Hole?" When you don't know what's behind their silence, figuring out how to respond can be a dilemma - especially since you don't want to be a pest. Jill Konrath

Here are some strategies you can use in dealing with "The Black Hole:"

• Just keep trying. Realize that prospects expect you to carry the "keep in touch" burden - so do it. It can often take 8-10 contacts before you actually reach them again. Don't panic. This is normal in today's business environment.

• Make each connection valuable. Don't just say, "Hi Eric. Just getting back to you as I promised about your xxx decision. If you have any questions, give me a call.
  
  Instead, you might say, "Eric, Based on our conversation last week, I know how important it is to you to shorten your sales cycle. There's a white paper on our website that addresses this issue. I'll be sending you a link via email shortly."

• Have a sense of humor. After 4-5 contacts, leave a funny message such as, "Eric. I know you're swamped. But I also know that shortening your sales cycle is important to you. That's why I keep bugging you. I'm looking forward to FINALLY reconnecting."

• Leverage a variety of mediums. Mix up phone calls with emails, mailings, invitations to upcoming events, sending articles, etc. To position yourself as a resource, makes sure each connection educates, informs or adds insights.

• Create multiple entry points. Never let one person be your total gateway to a company. Identify and nurture multiple relationships concurrently. When appropriate, reference others you're talking to in your messages/emails.

• Re-evaluate your initial connection. How could you increase their urgency? Determine if you're just column fodder? Or, tie your offering more into their business priorities? In way too many cases, sellers have done a product/service dump when talking to prospects. Instead you need to on critical business outcomes and the difference you can make.

• Plan your next step now. Never leave a meeting without a homework assignment (for you and/customer) and a firm follow-up appointment scheduled. If they're unwilling to do this, it's an indicator that something may not be quite right - which should prompt you to explore their need and urgency in greater depth.

• Let them off the hook. Send an email stating that you thought they were interested, but perhaps you misjudged the situation since you haven't heard back from them in the last 6 weeks. Believe it or not, this strategy often gets a response & an explanation from a prospect who is feeling guilty about not reconnecting.

• Reduce your contact frequency. If, after ten touches, you still haven't heard, start contacting them less often. A quarterly schedule might be more appropriate. Or, you might want to keep on top of what's happening in the account and reconnect at a more appropriate time.

By leveraging one or more of these strategies, you'll often be able to re-engage a prospect who has disappeared into "The Black Hole."  Not always, but often. And, if you've continually provided value and focused on the impact your offering makes, they'll likely be ready to implement your solution yesterday.

Related articles
•  Preventing Opportunity Linkage
•  Killer Sales Disease Strikes
•  Value Creation: The New Sales Paradigm

Part 1: Where Have All the Prospects Gone?

When I was growing up, the folk rock trio of Peter, Paul & Mary sang an anti-war protest song called, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" It's funny how after all these years that this tune came roaring back to me as I was thinking about disappearing prospects.

Don't you just hate it when hot prospects suddenly stop returning your call. It's especially hard to deal with when they'd been so eager to move forward with you only weeks before.

At first, you assume their lack of responsiveness is an isolated situation that will quickly self-correct. But after repeated failed attempts to connect, you start to question your own sanity.

You could have sworn they were interested, but their current behavior indicates otherwise. And, not wanting to appear too desperate or to come across as a real pest, you're stymied in terms of what your next steps should be.

Truth be told, they've disappeared into the infamous "Black Hole" - sometimes never to be seen again.

Why They Disappeared
As a seller, it's always important to analyze what may be causing this behavior before taking action. In my experience, these are the typical reasons why prospects disappear into "The Black Hole." Jill Konrath

• They're totally swamped. Without a doubt, this is the most common. In virtually ever company today, people have way too much to do and not nearly enough time to get it all done. They fully intend to continue the conversation, but not right now.

• Priorities changed. This can happen overnight. Changing market conditions, bad 3rd quarter results, and new leadership are just a few of the possible root causes. But when this happens, it's darn near impossible to regain your momentum in the short term.

• Lack of urgency. Sometimes sellers confuse a prospect's interest level with a desire to take action today. As such, they share all the glorious details about their offering instead of building a business case for immediate change.

• Column fodder. Occasionally prospects just need comparative bids/pricing to justify their decision to go with another company.

• They know everything. When prospects feel they have all the information they need, there's literally no reason to talk with you any further.

Different reasons call for different actions. Some you can prevent by doing things differently in your customer interactions. Always be open to this possibility since prevention is your best cure. Others you have no control over.

In any case, you need answers! Is it "yeah" or "nay"? Are they still interested or not? Should you keep pursing them or find new prospects?

We'll explore what you can do  in Part II: Where Have All the Prospects Gone?

Quick Start LinkedIn Tutorial

Last month I presented a workshop on how to leverage online thought leadership strategies to attract the attention of corporate decision makers. Of course, I talked about the importance of LinkedIn.

Many of the attendees were unsure of its value so I suggested they download my ebook on Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales?

Tech guru Patrick O'Malley was also at the conference, presented an excellent session on on Advertising with Google AdWords on a $50 Budget. He LOVES teaching people how to get the most out of technology.

When I got back to the office, Patrick sent me an email with several suggestions on how to improve my own LinkedIn profile. He said to include:

• Common misspellings of my name & my maiden name, so I immediately added Jill Conrath, Jill Conrad, Jill Konrad & Jill Ulseth to my profile.
• Keywords people might use to find someone like me in the summary area. So wihout wasting a moment, I added a paragraph that included words like "sales training programs, sales seminars & keynote speaker."

For more of his excellent advice, check out his LinkedIn Quick Start Tutorial or his other Time Saving "Pat Tricks."

More Sales Lessons from Dancing With the Stars

As last season's finale was approaching, I wrote an article on Sales Lessons from Dancing with the Stars.  With another season finished and Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi as the new champion, it's time for some more learning from this fun TV series.

That's why I was delighted when, from out of the blue, I received the article below from sales expert Deidre Newman of Easier Sales. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

 10 Sales Lessons from Dancing with the Stars

1. It’s not just about the judges; the viewers’ votes count too.
All good salespeople want to build relationships with decision makers (the judges), but great salespeople understand the importance of getting to know the viewers too—the assistants, secretaries, end users and employees who are part of the judge’s network. 

These people know the inside scoop on the prospect, such as why Len is in a bad mood today. They know the real “pains” within their organization and how those pains affect productivity. Take an interest in the viewers’ experience and they'll become your best fans. 

2. Listen and understand the decision-making criteria of the judges.
If judge Len keeps saying how important precision is and that he wants to see the dances as they are classically performed (without all of that "mumbo jumbo”) then give him classic and give him precision.

You may love the “mumbo jumbo”, but it is not about you, it's about the prospect. Listen carefully to what your prospects ask for and understand why it's important to them.

3. Dancing is a team effort.
When Christian injured his arm and decided to stay in the competition, he knew he could only succeed if his partner, Cheryl, could choreograph great looking dances that downplayed his injury.

She did. They went on to the finals and Christian thanked her publicly for her excellent work. Recognize those that contribute to your success and be sure to thank them.

Prospecting: How to Create Instant Rapport

Calling Don Diggerman was always painful. Much as I wanted to do business with his company, I dreaded talking to him. I'd sit at my desk, staring at the phone, trying to figure out how I could avoid dealing with that man.

But it was just wishful thinking. The decision rested on Don's shoulders and unless I won him over, one of my competitors would get the order.

When I couldn't delay any longer, I'd close my eyes, take a long deep breath, and then slowly exhale. Over and over, perhaps twenty times or more. To the casual observer, it might have looked like I was meditating in the middle of the office. In reality, I was calming myself down before I called him.

You're probably wondering what was so awful about this man that caused me to go through all those gyrations. Was he abusive, ornery, or downright mean? Was he sneaky, manipulative or slimy?

No, this man was not an ogre. He was the nicest man in the whole wide world. Kind. Gracious. Warm. Everyone loved him - even me.

It was just that talking to him required a tremendous effort on my part. You see, Don was the slowest talker I've ever met.

When I'd catch him on the phone, I'd say something like, "Don, Jill Konrath calling."

"Oooooh, Jiiiiiilll," he'd say ever so slowly. "Howwwww niiiiiiiiice of youuuuuuu to caaaaaall. Weeeeeee've beeeeeeeen taaaaalking abooooout commmmming in for a deeeemooonstraaation, buuuuuut caaaaan't deeeeeciiiiiiiide if Tuuuuuuuesdaaaaay or Thurrrrrsdaaaaay is beeeeeettttter."

It took him forever to say anything - and it drove me up a wall. But he never knew, because I'd respond, "Donnnn. Caaaaaaaan weeeeee doooooo it onnnnnnn Thurrrrrsdaaaaay? It's beeeetter for meeeeeee."

Our entire conversation went at that speed - on purpose. If I'd talked to him normally, I would have scared him away. My goal-oriented behavior was totally out of synch with his laid-back, slow-paced manner.

Because I recognized this, I made a conscious decision to relate to Don in a manner that made him feel comfortable. Maintaining this calm demeanor was certainly not one bit relaxing for me though.
But, it wasn't about me. It was about my customer. I was treating him the way he wanted to be treated. And that's a good thing.

Top 5 Tips for New Sellers

I was recently asked, "If you were mentoring a new salesperson, what would be your top five sales tips and how did you learn those?" 

Good question! It really got me thinking. There are so many things I'd like to tell a new seller. But what are the most important? What things could I recommend that would have the highest impact on success?

After serious deliberation, here are my thoughts ...

1. Focus on making a difference.

Nobody cares about your product, service or solution. That's the hardest thing for sellers to realize. All they care about is the difference you can make for their organization.

For example, today I sell sales training. If I'd call a VP of Sales and mention that, they'll tell me their not interested. However, once I changed my focus to the tangible outcomes they'd get from using my sales training, the door opened wide. After all, they were extremely interested in shortening their sales cycle, reducing the ramp up time for new hire sales reps and driving revenue growth.

2. Slow down to speed up your sales.

This was one of the hardest things for me to learn. When I first started selling, I was so eager to be successful. I tried to wow my prospects with my great product knowledge. I closed often and early. But the more I tried to rush things, the more resistant to moving forward my prospects became. They'd throw out obstacles and objections that I couldn't overcome. When I learned to slow down, parcel information out over multiple meetings, and simply advance the sales process one step at a time, suddenly my sales increased.

When you're scared about not getting the business, your prospects can intuitively sense your fear. One of the major symptoms is rushing the sales process.

3. Pay the price of admission. Do precall research!

To get into big companies, you can't make a 100 cold calls saying the same thing to everyone. Several years ago corporate decision makers stopped answering their phones and rolled all calls to voicemail. They delete most message within seconds because they sound like salespeople making their pitch.

I discovered that the only way to capture the attention of these corporate decision makers was to create a very personalized message based on in-depth research in their firm. Once I started doing this, I started setting up meetings.

4. Create an account entry campaign.

It takes 7-10 contacts to crack into a corporate accounts these days. Most sellers give up after 3-5 attempts. If you want to set up a meeting with a corporate decision maker, plan multiple touches from the onset. It takes a while to break through their busy-ness and register on their Richter Scale, but it can be done.

You can use multiple formats in your campaign too: voicemail, email, direct mail, invitations to teleseminars, and more.

5. Analyze your sales approach from your customer's shoes.

It's not important what you say. The only thing that matters is what your customer's hear. For example, when I was trying to reach a decision maker a while back, I decided to leave the message on my own voicemail first to see how I sounded. When I listened to my message, I was appalled. I sounded pathetic! So I worked on scripting my message and kept calling myself over and over till I finally created something I would respond to if I were the prospect.

Your turn!  What would be your top suggestions to a new seller? And how did you learn them?

Linked In Resources

Since my recent article series on how sellers can use LinkedIn to increase sales, readers have shared these resources with me:

Jan Visser of SalesTeamTools provides a contrarian perspective on the value of LinkedIn in his article called 3 Reasons LinkedIn Won't Help You Sell.

Rob Kingma of Ernst & Young Revenue Growth Services recommends listening to the Connections podcast, hosted by Stan Relihan. It focuses on using LinkedIn and other networking sites to build business and personal profile.

Brandon Hull of SalesTeamTools suggest checking out 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn on the LinkedIntelligence blog. This article has ideas from tons of different users.

Hope this helps! If you know any more resources to help sellers assess if they should get involved with LinkedIn, please add them in the comments below. Thanks!

Part II: Can LinkedIn Increase Sales?

LinkedIn, the online business networking site, connects over 17 million experienced professionals from over 150 countries. Yikes! That's so many that it makes my head spin. I'd love to fantasize that a few of these people would stumble onto my profile, be suitably impressed and initiate contact. But so far, it hasn't turned out that way.

Yet many sellers have learned how to leverage LinkedIn to drive more sales. They're not sitting around waiting for their phone to ring. Instead, they're using it as an additional resource that supports their prospecting efforts.

Here's how your peers are using LinkedIn to grow their business. True stories. Real results.

Beyond Value: How to Become Invaluable to Your Customers

As sellers, we're continually told to sell value and to let our prospects know about all of our value-added services. After all, that's how we're going to win the sales. Right?

Not necessarily. Value is relative. It's in the eye of the beholder. So much depends on how the decision makers you're dealing with perceive "value." And even then, selling "value" may be totally ineffective - or not enough to make the difference.

To be successful in today's business environment, you may need
to become invaluable to your customers.

Basically customers can be segmented into three different types based on their perceptions of value and what you can do to increase your sales effectiveness when working with them.

Maximum Impact: Finding Your #1 Growth Strategy

"What was the #1 strategy you used last year that significantly impacted your sales?" asked Jan Visser of Sales Team Tools.

Now that's one good provocative question! Almost immediately, an answer popped into my head. Then the next moment, another response emerged and then another. Before long, I was in a full-blown argument with myself with six different strategies vying for the top spot.

But after a rigorous analysis, I finally decided that the best results came from the strategic relationships I established with other firms who sell to my targeted decision makers.

These companies leveraged my expertise (in the form of ebooks, podcasts & webinars) as a part of their lead generation campaigns. Essentially, they "blessed" my work, telling their prospects and customers that I was a well respected thought leader in the sales field.

As a result, my ideal clients learned how my company could help their salespeople crack into corporate accounts and shorten sales cycles. In short, I leveraged their database to create more opportunities with minimal extra work.

The key to this strategy is LEVERAGE!

Have you ever stopped to think how you could achieve the same or better sales results with less effort? Mmmmmm?

I bet not! For some odd reason, most of us feel we need to slog it out by ourselves. Each morning we get up with a humongous list of "to dos" we need to accomplish in order to grow our business. And it seems like we can never get ahead.

So I'm going to challenge you to step back from your normal way of working for just one day to see if you can come up with a leveraged approach to increase your sales. 

The first thing you'll want to do is identify potential strategic alliance partners. Think about who else calls on the same decision makers you want to reach. I'd suggest looking at companies that have related, but not overlapping products or services. Also, talk to your customers to find out which companies & individuals they respect.

Once you have some names, set up a time to explore the concept of strategic leverage. Be creative! There are so many things you can do together. You can share leads, focus on developing your business at specific firms, bring each other in as trusted resources and more.

Here are two examples of alliances that turned out to be extremely profitable for all involved.

• The top salesperson for a company that sells to the automotive industry established an alliance with other sellers who call on the paint shop. This enabled him to keep on top of new developments, thus ensuring that his customers didn't experience any line-stopping problems. Even though his offering is pricey, his sales are growing at the expense of the competition.

• Several years, I joined forces with four other firms to put on a seminar about new product launches. We co-marketed the event to our combined databases. Then, at the workshop we each talked about our areas of expertise. The event paid for itself, but more importantly, everyone netted new clients.

Have I got you thinking? I sure hope so, because it doesn't have to be so darn hard to get sales and grow your business. 

When I realized that strategic leverage was my #1 growth factor, I took a long lunch with myself to rethink my own plans. Within two hours, I came up with a couple knock-your-socks-off ideas that will take my business to a whole new level with less effort.

You can do the same thing! Figure out your own top growth strategy and do more of it! Or borrow mine. What matters is that you act with deliberate intent, analyze your results and focus on strategies with maximum impact.

Also, I invite you to share your #1 growth strategy in the comments section!