Have you ever been in this situation? You’re presenting your managed services proposal, and your prospect is asking thoughtful questions, saying all of the right things, and in agreement with your entire managed services solution. They don’t even balk at your monthly price! In your mind you’re thinking, “This is a no brainer – a for sure sale.” However, when you ask your prospect to sign on the dotted line they respond, “We’re going to think about it and get back to you.”
After one last shot with the iPad close (thank you Alex Rogers), your prospect decides to schedule a time next week to reconvene. You then receive a message from them the morning of your follow-up meeting letting you know they need to push it back. This pattern continues until the prospect goes completely… (Don’t say it!) DARK.
Don’t just sit around waiting to hear back from your prospect. Use these strategies to keep your prospect from going dark and either close the deal, or cut your losses and move on!
- Think back to why they met with you in the first place. What were their issues? What was their timeline? What urgency factors were discussed or found that speed up this timeline? Bring these items back up to re-engage the prospect and restart the discussion.
- Email, call and leave voicemails. Strategize and get creative with your company C-levels to see what messaging would catch their eye and trigger them to respond.
- Keep reaching out until you receive a yes or no. There was a reason they asked to meet with you and unless they found an alternative solution, they still need you.
Sample Communication:
“We met a couple months ago in order to improve your environment, reduce the amount of IT downtime and keep employees happy with the latest and greatest IT setup. I’ve left a number of messages with you, and haven’t heard back. If these aren’t priorities for you anymore, you can just ignore this email and I won’t contact you again for 6 months. However, if these are things you still want to pursue, send me an email and we can reconnect over what is delaying the process.”
When your prospect goes dark and isn’t returning your calls or emails, troubleshoot their silence!
About The Author
Hannah Erb
Hannah Erb, an Account Manager for Collabrance, is responsible for sharing best practices, coaching and training partners to help them achieve Managed IT success faster. Hannah started at Collabrance in 2013 and developed her role from scratch. In 2014, Hannah was nominated by her peers and won Rookie of the Year, and in 2015 became a member of the 100% Sales Achievement Club at GreatAmerica. Hannah earned her business degree in Marketing and Management Information Systems from the University of Iowa.
Born in the USA: Golobic and GreatAmerica Keep Marching Forward
