This is a controversial topic as a lot of material has been written on the subject, and to be honest it’s heavily skewed towards ‘Never’. But having lived in the technology sales industry for close to more than a decade and a half (depending on when you are reading this) it’s important to know when it absolutely is the time to move on.
Before we get started on the subject, pay attention to the words I have used, a sales professional should know when to stop following up with a ‘prospect’. This is never the case with a customer or ex-customer. Customers are people who have worked with you in the past or continue to work with you, which means that they have been comfortable doing business with you at some point in time and possibly had a good relationship during the time. That also means that there should be no reason to stop communicating with them for any reason. Even if there has been a disagreement, it’s always a good idea to follow-up after a while to see if everything is ok. Burning bridges in this case is never a good idea. On the other hand ‘prospects’ are people whom you hope to do business with in the future. But at the same time the truth is that most of the prospects don’t end up doing business.
Having put the above caveat, let’s dive into the scenarios:
1. Cost-benefit analysis
I am a big believer in follow-ups. Not because there are statistics which prove that more the follow-ups the better is your chance of conversion (that too), but, because I have seen first-hand how a random attempt to connect with your prospect leads to business a lot of times. At the same time, there is a real chance of you never hearing back from a number of prospects even after you have tried your twentieth touch point. And there can be plenty of reasons for it which we’ll leave for some other blog. But the fact is that at some point you have to realize that spending your time and energy on a prospect that hasn’t returned your call or email after so many attempts is just taking you away from a prospect that you could have otherwise reached out to, one who’d probably be willing to work with you. Essentially, your decision will be based on what you are losing by continuing those follow-ups when your time could be used productively somewhere else.
2. Changes at your end
This might sound a little frivolous for people out of this industry, but if you have been around in a technology company, you’ll know what I’m talking about. There are times when the product/solution that you are pitching is no longer an item that your company wants you to sell. And this can happen during your sales cycle itself. Reasons:
a. Company priority changes because of which they want you to focus on a different product/solution.
b. The product/solution is at the end of its term. As strange as this may sound, it’s happened to me personally a few times. The solution that you have invested so much time in, is getting dated, at which point it doesn’t make sense to continue to push that on to your prospect.
c. After your discovery meetings (which are undertaken to understand the client’s environment and how well your solution will benefit them) you realize that the product/solution you have on offer isn’t the right one for the prospect. Of course you’ll lose the sale, but the customer will value your honesty and most probably will give you an opportunity in the future.
In all the above scenarios, there are chances that you’ll face some flak for ‘abandoning the ship’ mid-way but it’s important that you communicate the appropriate reason to your prospect before you go silent.
3. The prospect isn’t right for you
Surprise! Surprise.. Yes that’s a possibility too! It might be a little weird to imagine that scenario because as sales people we are taught to go behind every opportunity. It’s only with experience you learn that not all qualified leads are right for you. And there can be plenty of reasons for it:
a. They are not serious: A lot of queries in the tech industry are to just evaluate if the current vendors that a company has, are offering them the right value. In order to evaluate, companies often reach out to competitors asking for quotes or proposals without getting into further discussions. While it might seem very tempting to give them what they are asking for. The possibilities of you getting a deal out of such queries are no better than you winning the lottery.
b. They are not clear on what they want to accomplish: Many times, customers (large enterprises) have a budget which they have to use within a stipulated time frame. In the bargain, they want to use partners/vendors to accomplish broad tasks without a clear goal in sight. This can seem very lucrative as the customer is willing to shell out money, but without a clear goal, the project delivery can get messed up pretty bad pretty soon. In these circumstances, it is better to get a good idea of what you are getting into, rather than closing up all opportunities of the future by not following through on a vague requirement.
c. They don’t see your value: Ever got into a meeting wherein the conversation is hovering around price, rather than what you have to offer. If you have been in sales even for a short time, I’m sure you have encountered this. This occurs usually when the prospect doesn’t see enough value in your product/solution/service. When you are faced with such a situation, it’s better to take a step back and ascertain the value you bring to the table. If you see that despite all your efforts, the conversation is on how much you can drop your price, you know it’s time to move on. You don’t have to be haughty about it, but can politely excuse yourself and your company of the troubles that await you.
CONCLUSION:
I get it, as a sales professional it’s difficult to let go of business. But that’s where you have to make the distinction. In the above cases, you aren’t letting go off business rather you are letting go off prospects who are coming in your way of getting that business from elsewhere. Keep prospecting and over time you’ll have a natural instinct to gauge the opportunities that are worth your time and those that aren’t.
Any other scenarios you think should have been covered. Feel free to drop me a message.
