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One of the things that I hear sales people most frustrated about are those hot prospects that they have that suddenly go dark on them. You’ve been working with an account for a while; they tell you everything is fine. They say, “We’re going, we’re going. We’re getting approval.” And suddenly, you start calling them and they don’t return your phone call and you think, “Where have these people gone? I thought they wanted to do business with me?” And at first, you’re kind of…you call then you don’t want to feel like a pest but you’re wondering, “What in the world happened?” Let me tell you what happened? Those people in the big companies, they are so overwhelmed, they’re overworked that your priority just dropped major in their priority scheme and they have new things that they have to tackle and they’ll get back to you if you keep up the good work. So let me tell you what you need to do.

Number one, you need to just keep trying because honestly, it’s simply a function of priorities of these people at the time so just keep trying. I’ve been told by some decision makers that “You are my conscience, Jill. I know I’m supposed to get to that and I can’t get around to it but you’re continual calls remind me that this is something I need to get to.” So that’s one thing. Just keep trying.

Number two, you need to make each connection valuable. So don’t just call and say, “I’m just following up to see if anything has changed.” That’s terrible. “I’m just calling to check in again.” That’s horrible. Call up and say, “Bob, Jill Konrath getting back to you. I noticed that your company’s fourth quarter earnings were slipping a little bit. Remember those ideas about how to drive sales? It’s time we get together again right now.” So make you’re tying it, make your connections valuable.

Next thing you have to do: Have a sense of humor. Honestly, have a sense of humor because they’re overworked; they’re stressed out. They don’t need you to dump your stress on them. So you maybe want to call and say, “Hi Bob, Jill Konrath calling again. I know you’re absolutely swamped but I’m going to still be here because I know that we can cut your response time by 27% on the project and so I’m going to hang in there until you’re ready to move ahead.” So have fun with these people. Go with a variety of mediums. Don’t just call them on the phone. Honestly, calling them on the phone isn’t enough. You might want send them an email. Send them an invite. Send them an article. Just keep in touch and keep good information coming to them. Information, remember, we’re not trying to sell them. We’re trying to help them improve their business so we provide them with valuable information. That’s the kind of thing you need to do if you want to get these people out of that black hole. You let them go, they may not disappear so keep in touch, keep providing good information, and keep going after them because ultimately, they come out of the black hole.