We’ve all experienced it.
The prospect is a perfect fit for your firm. You understand their situation perfectly and can demonstrate a track record with their current issues.
The presentation or engagement meeting went great. They said they would get back to you soon.
And then silence, glorious silence. Total radio silence.
So , what can you do without sounding needy or desperate to find out what is going on?
Well your first option is old school and pick up the telephone. A long lost art form often dreaded in this situation and certainly unlikely to be top of the list for the younger generation who much prefer the written word to the spoken one.
If you take this option, be sure to be prepared what questions to ask in advance and ensure you are taking responsibility for the break down in communication (even when it is not your fault).
Option Number two is the email/LinkedIn message. Again, I would accept that the communication breakdown is on you (no prospect wishes to be made to feel guilty) and use something similar to the script below.
Good Afternoon
A month/ x weeks has flown by since we spoke about attracting new clients and winning more new business.
Apologies if I have dropped the ball on this.
If practice growth is a still a focus for the upcoming financial year, please let me know when you may have a short window for further discussion.
Best intentions as ever.
Should this not gain a response you may wish to move to a second written offering which is much more to the point and almost certain to get a response. From first-hand experience, I can assure you that this very honest approach can and does work well.
Hi
A month has passed by since we spoke so I thought I should reach out to see where ———- are at.
Hoping you can let me know which number best represents your current thinking.
1. Slow - Still deciding exactly what help we need and allocating our budgets accordingly.
2. No - Decided we don’t need help or have found someone else to assist us which is absolutely fine.
3. Go - We are ready to proceed but need to align our diaries. Please can we organise a date for next actions.
If any further discussion around content is required, be sure to let me know.
Best as ever.
As we become more tech savvy, your third option (and my current favourite) is to send a screen video recording using a platform such as Vidyard. There are others such as Loom and Shootsta.
By personalising the screenshot using the prospect’s website or LinkedIn profile as the background you are much more likely to re-engage them. This is more intriguing than scanning their email inbox for a purely text message.
I can honestly say, I have always had a response when sending the video message option. Thirty seconds is all you need, the first written script above is a good guide as to what you might say. The image the recipient sees is below. And Yes, Quantum Advisory are now a client!
Changing to a new supplier of anything can be a big decision for people and organisations and there is always going to be some who take more time than others to come to a decision. Many will require the approval of multiple stakeholders which inevitably can lead to long, drawn out pursuit.
As a provider of those services you can have sleepless nights waiting for the positive response you desire.
Always better to get to yes or no as quickly as possible as no-mans land is a stressful place to be.
Take positive action using one of the above and move on. You know it makes sense.