What To Do When A Prospect Ghosts You
(Print And Share With Your Sales Team)

• Word Count: 359
• Time To Read: 1.4 Minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Although you might have had a great meeting with a new prospect (and sent a proposal); however, after a few days of calling and leaving two voicemail messages, you get ghosted. First, don’t take it personally. Second, people are on their schedule when buying what you sell, not yours.

If a prospect doesn’t return your calls or respond to your e-mails after receiving a proposal, it won’t hurt to send them a “What Should I Do” e-mail (see below):

Sample e-Mail To Resurrect A Prospect Who Ghosted You.

Subject line: (prospect first name), Can You Help Me?

Dear (prospect’s first name),

Since I haven't heard back from you after sending you a proposal, would you mind giving me some direction on the best way to professionally follow-up with you? To make it easy, just hit the reply key and then type the corresponding number from the list below:

1. We decided to go with another company.
2. We are still interested but haven't had the time to get back to you yet.
3. We are putting the project on hold for the next few months; follow up with me in 60 to 75 days.
4. I have fallen, and I can’t get up. Call 9-1-1 for me.

With all kidding aside, I understand that you are super busy, and the last thing I want to do is not be professional with my follow-up. That said, I would appreciate it if you will take a moment to let me know what you are thinking.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Warmest Regards,

(Your name, title, etc.)

It Is Time To Move On?

If the prospect still ghosts you after sending the above-mentioned e-mail, it’s time to move on. Although some consider ghosting unprofessional, here’s the truth: They are not interested in buying what you are selling and just don’t want to tell you “no.” Remember, this is their issue, not yours.

The Best Thing To Offset “Ghosting” Are These Two Things…

1. Have a massive pipeline of sales opportunities.
2. Have a drip marketing system to stay in contact with EVERYONE in your database, including the ones who have ghosted you. 

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

To hire Glenn for your next conference, visit DripMarketingSpeaker.com.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

5-Steps To Help You Close More Proposals
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 373
• Time To Read: 1.5 Minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Fact: 66% to 90% of all salespeople stop following-up on a proposal after one or two attempts at moving the sales process forward. That said, it would be in your best interest if a sales leader/owner trained their sales team on the value of following-up, especially given the staggering statistics below.

How Many Contacts Does It Take To Close A Sale?

• 2% are made on the 1st contact.
• 3% are made on the 2nd contact.
• 5% are made on the 3rd contact.
• 10% are made on the 4th contact.
• 80% are made on the 5th to 12th contact.

Try This 5-Step Proposal Closing Process:

If you are in sales (or a sales leader), you might find the process outlined below of value:

1. After a salesperson creates a proposal, it is sent to a second person for final proofing.
2. All proposals are logged into a tracking report (created in Excel for each salesperson).
3. After a proposal is sent to a prospect, a copy is sent to the sales leader for an executive follow-up call. This call has two objectives. First, it is to thank the person for the opportunity to earn their business. Second, it is to do a trial close, i.e., “When did you want to do X, Y, or Z with us?”
4. Set up a sequence of phone calls to follow up on a proposal.
5. Develop an educational series of e-mail follow-up campaigns (see sample below).

Send This Within 24-Hours Of Delivering A Proposal.

Dear (first name),

Thank you for the opportunity to earn your business this week. By the way, I attached a few items you might find of interest:

• An article/whitepaper on X, Y, and Z.
• Some recent client testimonials about our X, Y, and Z.

Again, thank you for giving us a chance to earn your business!

Warmest Regards,

(Your name, title, etc.)

Summary: During your next one-on-one meeting with your salespeople, ask him or her to give you their proposal pipeline report. Now, ask them these two questions:

1. When will each person make a final buying decision?
2. What is your follow-up plan for every prospect that hasn’t been closed?

After listening to their answers, this e-mail will make complete sense to you.

Why You Need to Call A
Prospect To Close The Sale
(Free Disappearing Prospect e-Mail Template)
(PRINT AND USE AT YOUR NEXT SALES MEETING)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 521
• Time To Read: 2.1 Minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Anyone who has ever worked in sales has had this feeling before: You just hung up the phone after a great conversation with a new prospect. Although the person responded well to your story, and you feel great about sending off a proposal; however, after sending off a proposal to the prospect, they ghosted you.  Now what?

When a prospect goes silent, most salespeople will send a few e-mails a prospect as a quick follow-up note – a note that asks what their thoughts were on the proposal, etc. And yes, sending off an e-mail shows your sales manager that you are “following-up.”

Don't Exclusively Rely On An e-Mail To Get The Deal Done.  

As I advise all my clients’ salespeople, you just can’t rely on an e-mail for getting a deal done. Yet, over and over again, many salespeople tell me that a deal is lost just because a prospect went silent.

If your prospect has stopped replying to your e-mails, this is when you should pick up the phone and call them. Although you might have to leave a few voicemails, you have to keep trying. But please, don’t stalk them; therefore, I recommend using my 2/4 call strategy (2 calls in 4 business days).

Many Deals Can Be Salvage If You Will Pick Up The Phone.

In today’s digital age, a phone call has become one of the most underutilized tools by salespeople.  Here are a few reasons why you need to call a prospect:

• It helps you better understand their situation and timing.
• It helps identify pain or problem points.
• It helps you ask/answer questions and overcome objections.
• It allows you to ask this question: When should I follow back up with you (after the call has ended, always send an e-mail confirming this timeframe).  

Send This Disappearing Prospect e-Mail (After My 2/4 Call Strategy).

After making your follow-up calls, I highly recommend sending the following e-mail if the prospect still remains silent.

[First Name]:

I have called a few times in the past few (days/weeks) and have not heard back from you. And since I want to be professional in my follow-up efforts with you, it would help me a lot if you would let me know how I should reconnect with you; I will take it from there.

• Glad you are touching base. Please call me to discuss the specifics of your ______ and how I can begin __________ (e.g., saving money or making money).
• Thanks anyway (your first name), but there isn't any interest in moving forward with your company. 
• The timing isn't right; check back with me in 2 to 3 months.

If you would hit the reply key right now and type the number that best describes things, I would greatly appreciate it!

Name – Title
Company
Phone
e-Mail

P.S.  You will find attached a one-page list of client testimonials from businesses similar in size to yours.

Executive Summary: Although e-mails are valuable, you need to blend in a series of phone calls and e-mails to get the sale done. Remember, a phone call allows you to gain greater transparency on where a prospect stands on making a buying decision.

15 Survival Tips For All Salespeople To Read
(Print And Share At Your Next Sales Meeting)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President - Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 671
• Time To Read: 2.7 Minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Being a salesperson isn’t easy. In fact, it is one of the toughest careers; however, with a little bit of guidance, a salesperson can up his or her game quite easily. That said, here are a few tips to consider.

What Does It Take To Survive As A Salesperson?

#1: Be An Advocate For Your Prospects: More often than not, salespeople who put their customers'/prospects' needs first absolutely crush it. Relationship-minded salespeople understand and relate to their clients and focus on adding value to the relationship.

#2: Become A Great Storyteller: Winning salespeople tell great stories; stories of how their product or service helped other businesses solve a problem(s).

#3: Deliver Every Proposal In Person Or Via Screen Share: When giving a proposal for what you are selling, provide a prospect a minimum of two options either in person or via a screen share program. Do not send a prospect a proposal and wait for their response. By the way, if the person isn’t “engaged in what you are selling,” the odds of them buying from you is relatively slim. 

#4: Don’t Be Pushy: Focus on getting to know a prospect’s business. Although a proactive follow-up process is good, and it shows you have an interest in earning their business, don’t make your approach too aggressive as it will do more harm than good. 

#5: Get To The Office Early: Arrive early to work as it will allow you to get to know your managers on a more personal level. More importantly, you can get more “dials” before our co-workers get to the office. 

#6: Keep Score Of Your Sales Results And Sales Activities: The reality is that you need to track what you are doing on a day-to-day basis. This should include the number of calls you made to your database of prospects, proposals you have sent and closed each week, your proposal close rate, number of NEW appointments you had each week, etc. And once you start keeping score, you will see what is and isn’t working.

#7: Know The Value Of What You Are Selling: If you know the business problems your product or service solves, you can have an immediate impact on a business. This is something decision-makers love to hear from a salesperson.

#8: Plant A Seed Of Doubt: When talking with a prospect who believes they are happy using a competing product or service, ask a few questions that might create doubt in their mind.

#9: Make More Prospecting Phone Calls: If you want to generate more sales, start doubling the number of phone calls you are making to new prospects and past/current customers. 

#10: Watch What The Top Selling Salesperson Is Doing: Shadow a top-selling salesperson so you can see firsthand what they are saying and doing. 

#11: Smile: People love doing business with people they like and trust. So, when you speak to a prospect, smile as it will convey energy (even when talking on the phone).

#12: Ask Better Business Questions: Sales is more about listening than it is about talking. To help become a better listener, focus on asking questions. Also, you need to take lots of notes as it projects a positive image. When you chat with your waiter or waitress, practice asking them questions.

#13: Your Sales Pipeline Is YOUR Lifeblood: In sales, it is all about what you sold today. After a sale, do your happy dance and get a few high-fives; then go back to building your sales pipeline.

#14: Put Away Your Personal Phone: One of the best pieces of advice is this: Put your damn phone away when working, especially when making calls. It’s a huge distraction, and you know it. 

#15: Talk With The Right Prospects: Find prospects who know they have a problem, want to solve their problem, and have the money to solve their problem(s).

Executive Summary: Sales is a tough business. That being said, role play with your sales leader, learn to ask better business questions, shadow the best salesperson in your company, read about closing techniques, time management, and other vital areas.  Do this, and you will see a nice upswing in your sales results. 

8 e-Mail Marketing Tips To
Help Generate More Sales Leads
(PRINT AND USE AT YOUR NEXT SALES MEETING)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President - Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 614
• Time To Read: 2.4 Minutes @ 250 Word Per Minute

You might have heard that e-mail marketing is a waste of time because your prospects are too busy to open an e-mail from someone they don’t know; however, statistics show many “cold e-mails” are still being opened.

To help you receive a better e-mail response from your database of prospects, past/active clients, you will find a number of quick tips below.

1. Proof Your Campaigns: The #1 thing you can do is print AND triple check your e-mail marketing campaigns. Look for typos, formatting errors, no low-risk offers, etc.

2. Write Enticing Subject Lines: The difference between a great subject line and one that is less than stellar, is the difference between an e-mail getting read and one that gets ignored.

3. Write Like You Are Talking To A Real Person: If your subject line reads like spam, it will be treated as one. Here are some words that could trigger a spam filter:

• Best Price
• Call Now
• Cancel Anytime
• Click Here
• Don’t Delete
• Double Your
• Free Quote
• Money Making
• Why Pay More
• Winner
• Exclamation Points, i.e., !

4. Personalize Your e-Mail: Whenever possible, you should personalize your subject line to include a prospect’s name or company (or both). According to MarketingDive, personalizing an e-mail subject line can boost open rates by 50% and increase click-through rates by 58%.

Click Here To Read MarketingDive’s Article.

5. Tell The Reader What’s In It For Them: When it comes to your low-risk offer, focus LESS on explaining how your product or service works, and more on how it can add VALUE to their business (and solving their problems).

• According to many experts, the e-mail word count for a prospecting sales letter should have between 150 to 250 words in length.
• Prospects seem to respond best to short and succinct e-mails.

6. Format Your e-Mails For Smartphones: With a prospecting e-mail, what you include in your message is just as important as how your message is read on a smartphone as 70+% of smartphone users will delete an e-mail if it doesn’t look good on their smartphone. By the way, 30% - 33% of your prospects are reading your e-mails on their smartphones.

7. Know When To Send A Follow-Up e-Mail: Although the majority of your cold prospecting e-mails are still met with a cold shoulder, you need to focus on the nurturing aspect. That said, keep 80% of your e-mail campaigns “educational” in nature. 

8. Vary Your Messaging: If a prospect who opened your initial e-mail has gone cold; I highly suggest sending the following types of campaigns to re-engage them:

• Newsletters
• Press Releases
• Intro Letters
• Holiday Cards
• Service Spotlights
• Client Spotlights
• Etc.

The Real Leads Will Come From You Calling Them.

After sending an email campaign, I highly recommend picking up your phone for a quick “Oh, by the way,” call. Once you do this sales activity, you will see sales magic happen. 

6 Ways To Shake
The Sales Prospect Tree
(Print And Share At Your Next Sales Meeting)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 477
• Approximate Time To Read: 1.9 minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Do you want to jump-start your sales?  If you do, I have listed below a number of tips for all owners, sales leaders, and sales pro to read.   

#1: Build A Massive e-Mail Database - If you want to see an immediate increase in sales, work on building a massive e-mail database of clients, prospects, and referral partners. If you don’t have enough e-mail addresses, you should consider our e-mail address acquisition service.

#2: Engage Your Clients With More Proactive Campaigns - Satisfied clients are the lifeblood of any business. That said, here are a few ideas to help keep your clients engaged:

• Say "thank you" to your clients for being a customer.
• Ask your clients to proactively recommend your business to someone they know.
• Survey your database of clients to determine how well you are performing (see point #5 below). 

#3: Sell On Value And The Problems You Solve - Some companies do well as "the cheapest option available." However, for businesses delivering a high-quality service, this is not an attractive selling point. Therefore, your salespeople need to know what sets your business apart from its competition.

#4: Employ A Drip Marketing Strategy - To market your business on a cost-effective basis, I recommend sending a series of bite-size marketing campaigns over a consistent time period versus taking the fire hose approach of information. Remember, segmented marketing campaigns (by target audience) are the way to go.  

#5: Pick Up The Phone More Often - Once a drip marketing campaign has been sent, make sure your salespeople call to follow-up a campaign (this is the best way to shake the prospect tree). To help you sound more professional on the phone, I have outlined two voicemail scripts to consider:

• Hi _______this is ______ from ______________. I’m just quickly following up on an e-mail we sent to you about our free HR assessment offer.  If you would like to find out how our HR assessment can reduce your exposure to employee lawsuits or government fines, call me at (800) 555-1212, again, (800) 555-1212.
• Hi _______this is ______ from ______________. I’m just quickly following up on an e-mail we sent you about our free ________ demo.  If you would like to find out how we can increase/reduce your ______ sales/costs by 33% next week, call me at (800) 555-1212, again, (800) 555-1212.

#6: Survey Your Clients - A client survey can provide you with a tremendous amount of feedback. Specifically:

• How well your business is performing.
• Generate more referrals (we show our clients this all the time).
• New products/services a client may need.

Executive Summary: Bringing on new clients is the lifeblood of most businesses.  If you want to increase your sales, you need to take change what you are doing – and the fastest way to make that change happen is to make a plan and then TAKE ACTION. 

7 Elements To A Great Company e-Newsletter
(Print And Share With Your Marketing Team)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 467
• Approximate Time To read: 1.9 minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Due to low distribution costs, e-newsletters are an excellent tool for your lead nurturing efforts. Unfortunately, few e-newsletters contain anything worth reading.

If you want more people to read your next e-newsletter, I have listed below a few ideas based on my experience of sending 70 million (yes, million) e-mail campaigns on behalf of our clients.

1. Provide Something Of Value To The Reader: Your e-newsletter must contain information your target audience will like to read. Some ideas are:

• Alert your audience to problems/solutions, scams and/or safety hazards.
• Educate readers with important how-to articles.
• Give the reader a chance to win something from you.
• Hot industry news, trends, mergers, etc. in your market.

2. Create An Engaging Subject Line: More than anything else, your newsletter’s subject line will determine whether it gets deleted, saved, or forwarded. Some examples:

• 3 Tips To Help Close 50% More Sales Leads
• 5 Crazy Things People Are Doing With Our Product
• Prevent Cyber Attacks: 3 Things YOUR Business Needs To Do TODAY
• How To Do A $49 Oil Change For Only $19
• This Employee Lawsuit SHOULD Change The Way You Do Business

If you are having doubts about what to use for a subject line, run an A/B test on your top two subject lines.

3. Get It Professional Designed: If you want to give people a better brand experience, consider having your newsletter professionally designed. Remember, a newsletter design is a one-time cost since you can use it again by “copying it.”

4. Your Frequency: Weekly, bi-weekly or monthly is the ideal frequency for a newsletter (we recommend a bi-weekly frequency).

5. Send Time: I recommend a two-step approach to sending a campaign:

• Step 1: Send the initial campaign Tuesday @ 8:30 AM.
• Step 2: On Friday morning, make a list of the e-mail addresses that “did not open” Tuesday’s e-mail. After this list is created, resend Tuesday's e-mail to this list Friday @ 8:30 AM.

IMPORTANT: We have found Mondays are notoriously the worse day to send a mass e-mail campaign; therefore, avoid this day altogether.  

6. Avoid Writing A Wall Of Text: A reader should be able to “scan” your newsletter. That said, use headlines, sub-headlines, bullet points as well as short and snappy sentences. If you need more room to tell a story, give a reader the option to a “Read More” hyperlink. 

7. Use This 6-Step Proofing Process: My company’s six-step review process is:

1. Write 100% of your content in Word.
2. Run your content through Word AND/OR Grammarly.
3. Cut and print the copy into your e-newsletter.
4. Print the campaign for proofing (have multiple people proof it).
5. Make the necessary changes from step four.
6. After step five, wait an hour or two and then reproof it.

Executive Summary: Newsletters ARE a great tool; however, you need to create more than an e-mail newsletter to market your business.

How To Hire Salespeople
(Who Will Be Engaged)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 481
• Time To Read: 1.9 minutes @ 250 words per minute

An engaged sales team can and will have a direct impact on your company’s bottom line, as they are the ones who will:

• Produce high-quality results.
• Strive for improvements to sales processes and procedures.
• Search for solutions to a customer’s problem.

In your search for building an engaged sales team, it is in your best interest to recruit employees who will have the best chance of being engaged.

The Average Hiring Process In America Takes Approximately 23 Days.

When a company needs to hire a new salesperson, there are many associated tasks that account for this time:

• The job is posted.
• Resumes are gathered.
• Candidates are selected.
• Phone interviews are completed.
• The final group (of candidates) is interviewed and job skills are assessed.
• The final candidate is presented an offer. 

Depending on the size of your company, and the position requirements, a second and/or third interview is done before a final candidate is chosen. The process takes, on average, 23 days; however, the actual time with a potential new salesperson is typically just a few short hours. 

Answer This: How Can A Hiring Manager Determine A Candidate’s Engagement Level?

Before a salesperson is hired, the sales manager typically spends an hour talking with a candidate.  To help you avoid a candidate who will be more engaged than disengaged, you need to do the following: 

• Ask About Their Interests Outside Of Work – Does your candidate have outside interests in their life?  All experts agree that one’s passion for outside interests will carry over into their professional career.
• Ask Why Questions – Ask “why” questions instead of “how” and “what.” Remember, it is more important to know why they did something versus how something was done.
• Make Sure Other Staff Members Interview Your Final Candidates – Always include members of staff, or other managers, to be part of the interview process.
• Observe Someone’s Body Language During The Interview Process – Ask yourself this: Does the candidate get excited when they describe a problem they solved? Do they project confidence? Do you hear the excitement in their voice? If the candidate does not give you confidence in their critical thinking skills, you may not want them on your team.
• Use Assessment Tools/Resources – I recommend using third-party behavioral analysis assessment tools to help determine if someone will fit into your culture.  And by comparing the results of a candidate to your current staff, you can conclude whether or not they would be a possible fit for your business.

Executive Summary: Make sure you use effective strategies and tactics to hire someone who will have a greater chance of being an engaged salesperson. As I advise all of our clients, your businesses cannot afford to hire the wrong salesperson – especially when the average turnover is 50% to 60% in their first year of employment.