Clever Counsel #27 - Why prospects “ghost”
Recently I listened to Jeb Blount’s Fanatical Prospecting and got a lot of value out of it. Jeb is a sales executive with deep experience building and perfecting strategies to win customers.
As a consultant, solopreneur or boutique agency owner, you have to be your Chief Sales Officer, your Chief Financial Officer, your Chief Marketing Officer, and everything else, too. It’s important to take time to learn how to play those roles.
I hear a lot of consultants say they really hate the “selling” part of this business. They love their work, they’re great at it - but having to figure out how to find, attract and win over new clients is a whole different ball game.
I get it. I really do. But when we have visceral feelings of distaste for an absolutely fundamental part of running a successful business, it means we have to intentionally lean into that feeling. We have to explore it, analyze it, and actively work on changing it.
Here’s the reality: You’re going to have to “sell” in order to consistently bring in the kind of clients you really want. Even if your sales process is relationship-driven - totally conversational, informal and authentic - it’s still a sales process. It’s important to know what you’re doing right and what you could be doing better.
Reading Jeb’s book led me to his podcast, Sales Gravy. In a recent episode, he shared some brilliant counsel around why prospects tend to “ghost” us - and how we can modify our sales process to make that less likely to happen.
I won’t regurgitate the whole nine minute episode for you here, but it’s well worth a listen. My key takeaway is that you have to provide an incentive for every stage of the sales process. Otherwise, why would a prospect continue to engage with you? Once they’ve gotten what they want (your proposal, or an overview of your services and pricing) - and assuming they’re not yet fully persuaded and ready to buy - they no longer have a strong incentive to continue chatting.
Sure, some prospects will reply to your follow-ups because they’re courteous people, or because they want to stay on great terms with you in case they need something from you in future - but those incentives often aren’t strong enough to warrant more attention and time.
Remember that most of our prospects are high-level executives and business owners with extraordinarily packed schedules. They have to make tough decisions about where their time goes, for what, and why.
Take a step back from your own interests and put yourself in their shoes for a moment:
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You’re now that busy leader. You have a mile-long list of tasks to get done to keep your team and business afloat. You took some time to meet a consultant and solicit a proposal for their services - but for whatever reason, you’re not ready to pull the trigger. You feel good because you’ve got the key info you wanted, and now you’re equipped to make a decision in the future, or compare options between consultants. When that consultant emails you to follow up, it’s just one of hundreds of emails you have to deal with in a day. And they’re not exactly a high priority. Maybe the consultant is even asking for a follow-up call. But you think to yourself - I barely have time to eat lunch, I definitely don’t have time for a chit chat. And now that you have the proposal, what specifically would you have to gain from spending that time and energy? You make a mental note to get back to them, or maybe you don’t. After all, you have what you need. And ultimately, you’re the buyer - you get to decide when it’s time to re-engage. It's on your timeline, not theirs. You know that the consultant will be there, eager and willing, if and when the moment arrives.
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Jeb said it in his podcast - value motivates behavior. People respond to incentives. If you want less “ghosting” from your prospects, you need to put more thought into the value you provide at every stage of your sales process. Insights, counsel, new ideas, enticing resources. You have to constantly dangle the carrot. Only then will your prospects feel they MUST return your emails or book another call.
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