One of my newest sales coachees, "Jim," was a fantastic guy.
His mannerisms were affable and warm. He genuinely cared about the clients in his book of business and led every prospect call with enthusiasm, even the ones on Friday afternoons.
Yet he had one of the lowest win rates of anyone on his team.
I reviewed his sales performance data prior to our first formal coaching session. I learned that he was able to secure a high number of discovery calls, yet few of them proceeded down the funnel.
His conversion numbers were well below his peers'.
When I asked Jim what he thought was going on, he bluntly stated that he often got "ghosted" by prospects and frankly wanted to know why.
"They all sound interested and engaged, and then nothing!" He shared with utter frustration.
There was one major account that had strung him along for 6 months with the potential of a $500,000 deal. Not only was his main contact at this account a no-show on their most recent check-in call; she went radio silent on him thereafter.
I quickly put a plan in place for him to improve his selling position with this account, including a short list of key steps for him to work on to improve his overall conversion rates.
If you're experiencing what he was dealing with, especially after what you thought was an engaging call with a promising prospect, here are a few key things Jim did that you can start deploying right away to help change the tide:
- Check for Happy Ears. Most of us on the sales frontlines are by nature very optimistic and resilient. That optimism sometimes blinds us to the red flags flying right in front of us. Unless you receive a firm commitment from the other side that they will in fact do what needs to be done from their end to advance the deal to the next stage, it's all just pleasantries. "Yeah, let's do lunch again" is NOT a promise to do business, nor is that a clear next step that drives the buying motion forward. Ask a trusted peer to be your Chief Contrarian to help you catch your Happy Ears and then re-assess the opportunity.
- Qualify your qualifying. Remember: interest does not equate commitment. Unless there was clear confirmation from the prospect that they have a pain or a gain that your product/service can affect for them AND they're willing to open their wallet in exchange for that monetized value you're promising, then it's not a qualified opportunity.
- Pinpoint the falloff point. While you are on the receiving end of the ghosting, chances are, something you did or didn't do played a role. The good news is, if your actions (or lack thereof) had a role in causing the ghosting to happen, that means you can also do something about it. Before you fire off another "let's check in" message to that contact, you need to figure out where in the conversation you lost them. Where do you think they began to disengage? Do you remember a point in time where things started to feel different? Did you actually discuss any next steps that both sides overtly agreed to?
- Re-visit the buyer type and adjust your selling plan. Without confidence on your buyer type, you don’t have a firm grip on what your selling position and plan ought to be. Dealing with a Price Buyer versus a Relationship Buyer with the same job title dictates a different plan of attack and engagement. However, most sellers stop short at only having a selling plan for that particular function (e.g. IT), job title (e.g. CTO), or a persona (e.g. Tech Guy Tom). Make sure you align your selling plan to the behaviors of that buyer type, especially before your next outreach or interaction, for optimal results.
Stepping back and getting clarity on "What does this buyer really need/want from us?" and "What type of behaviors have they shown me?" can save you a lot of heartache and wasted effort, especially if you're dealing with a ghosting situation.
Once Jim did that, we were able to come up with a sound prospect engagement and communication strategy based on the correct buyer type and accompanying selling scenario. We deployed that strategy and the corresponding tactics to not only revive the $500,000 pending deal that he got ghosted on—we even grew it to nearly $1M.
In the next blog, we will expand on Point #4 and dive into the Poker Player buyer type and corresponding selling strategy, which is an often-missed selling scenario by Large Enterprise sellers. In the meantime, don't hesitate to ping me at SLi@holdenadvisors.com if you'd like to learn more about what Jim did to turn things around and how you can incorporate those winning practices into your book of business.
