If you've ever worked in sales, then you know this routine:
- Lead pops up via free trial, whitepaper download, demo request, etc.
- Sales guy immediately calls lead...no answer, leaves voicemail and sends email.
- Sales guy tries to contact lead for a week or two with no response - leaves more vmails, emails.
- ...
- Sales guy eventually moves on to the next lead.
This is a universal occurence and of couse we deal with it a lot at Argyle.
I recently read a blog post about leaving a "break up" message with these leads. (Can't remember the source - will add a link if I can dig it up.) Instead of the standard follow-up stuff - thanks for your interest, just following up, value proposition, etc. - the break-up message is literally a break-up:
Hey there - it's Eric calling from Argyle. I've tried contacting you a few times regarding your recent inquiry. We haven't been able to connect, so I'm guessing you've moved on to other options. If there is anything I can do to be helpful, please don't hesitate to call - otherwise, this will be the last time I contact you. I appreciate your interest in Argyle!
We've started doing this at Argyle...and it works. Don't have any quantitative data, but the anecdotal evidence is pretty compelling! Prospects call back and they respond to the email. And if they don't, then your sales reps don't waste anytime chasing down prospects that aren't ready to start the sales process.
I suggest giving it a shot.