Last week, I got a call from a salesperson who had participated in a recent workshop of mine. He was telling me about a "hot" prospect he met with over a month ago who had suddenly turned cold. Here's the story: He had a great first meeting with the prospect. His solution was well-received and the prospect even had the budget to pay for it. After the meeting, the prospect told him to follow up in a few days. Early the following week, he followed up and left a voice mail for the prospect. He called again the next day and left another message. And another. Then he tried sending an email but still no response. Now a month has gone by and unfortunately he has a better relationship with the prospect's voice mail system than he does with the prospect.
Every salesperson has had this happen countless times. You may have even learned to "beware of an easy prospect." But when a prospect stops responding to your follow-up efforts, what should you do? As a long-term strategy, I recommend creating a lead nurturing system. Short term, here are a few other suggestions:
