“”What’s your favorite tactic for dealing with silent prospects? Few things are more annoying than dealing with a prospect that simply goes silent. Cold is one thing. Silent is downright rude! What are your tips for enticing silent prospects to get back into communication mode?”
Interesting question. When a prospect goes silent, it is an indicator of one of two things. They have gotten pulled into another project or activity that is preventing them from engaging you; or, they have lost interest and simply have not figured out how to tell you “no.”
When a client goes silent, especially for an extended period of time, I usually give them the opportunity to re-engage. Often I send them a carefully crafted email that, in effect, says “when we last talked we agreed to…I have not been able to move forward without your feedback or input. Please advise how you would like me to proceed from this point.” Their response to my email tells me everything I need to know about this opportunity. Usually, I get an immediate response with some type of explanation, or they continue their “ignore” behavior. Either way I am getting the information I was looking for. An explanation tells me where they are and what their thoughts are at that time. And an ignore also gives me an answer, so I make plans to move on. Note, I still stay in contact with an ignore; but, I recognize that this is likely a “lost” opportunity and I focus my efforts on the active projects I can win, not chasing ones I probably cannot close. Keep your engage inquiry clear, simple, and bit empathetic and you will get an answer. You may not get the answer you like; but, you will get an answer to your question.