A prospect connects with you and shows tremendous interest in your services. You had a great conversation and all sounds positive. You are excited about this deal. 

After a couple of days, the prospect stops answering your call. They don’t return your voicemail. They read your WhatsApp messages but don’t reply. Your email never gets a response.

The ultra responsive prospect goes silent on you.

I have been in this situation many times. Have you been? I am sure you would have been to.

Since sales was new to me I started my investigation on why they ghosted me and what could have I done to fix this.

Let’s start with the Why?

Usually, most of the sales assume it is something they had done wrong. That is not the case all the time. There are a few factors for prospect ghosting you and I have listed them based on my experience in sales.

The estimate

The instinct says they are the one with whom you are going to do the handshake. So, the estimate is sent after which there is  silence.

When the estimate is way over the budget, there is no obligation for them to respond back. And, they believe it won’t be fruitful even after the negotiation. So, in their interest on time, they avoid connecting with you.

Other reasons are they have already evaluated and are ready to choose another product. They reach you so that they can show it to their management. Once they got it they are no longer interested to continue with you.

2. Timeline

All of a sudden the project is not their immediate priority.  Something came critical or business has some other plan for the current year. Hence, it got pushed

In a few cases, the prospect knows that the project may kickstart late. However, they want to do the intel so that there is no last-minute rush in making decisions. In simple terms, they have made their decision and they know their timeline.

3. Requirement mismatch

Yes, we do the discovery and qualification. It may sound all glossy and fine. However, when the discussion deep dives you should start listening to understand the bigger picture and the goal.  When the requirement is not well understood, the solution provided is a mediocre one.

Sometimes, when the behavior of sales is Know it all, the chances are the prospect never shares the requirement.

4. Trust

The talk with your prospect would have been great. However, prospects do business with you only when they know you, they like you, and most importantly trust you.

The prospect should have the connection that you are the one for them. It is not just the price. It is about the customer service, convenience, reputation, culture and values of your organization. 

It is important sales realize that a prospect’s silence doesn’t reflect the sales style. For some reason, the prospect interest in our service has faded and most of the time it is internal. However, if this happens frequently, take some time to revisit your visit closed lost accounts and figure out ways to improve your skills.

Now,you know why your prospect goes silent. Its time to take action. In my next blog, I will share the efforts I had to taken to identify the motive of the prospect and kept them talking or gave me the reason on why they didn’t pick us.