You've lost contact with a promising lead. How can you reignite their interest in your sales pitch?

1. The best way to reignite a relationship with a prospect is after a trigger event. When I worked in the financial industry, we would do targeted outreach to companies whose stock plummeted or has been on a down trend. If prospects were company stock heavy in their 401K, they would be losing potentially 6 figure numbers. Another example is in my current position doing business development for IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs). With the recent events involving CrowdStrike from July 19th, this is a great time to re-engage with prospects to spark a conversation about cybersecurity. 2. Provide value to nurture relationships when prospects aren't in a buying window. This can be in the form of blog posts, external resources, or articles.

I've found Excel sheets most helpful in keeping my notes organized. I update them regularly, have access through my phone, and even print off sheets or sections to take my work and calls offline. Any time a client calls, or if I'm reaching out to a client for any reason, the Excel sheet is open and notes are going in with a date and next step actions.

To reignite interest in a promising lead, it's crucial to maintain a good rapport with the customer, regardless of whether a sale is made. Avoid pushing too hard for targets, as this can deter potential clients. Start by calling at a convenient time for them and begin with a personalized conversation rather than immediately pitching your product. Mention any current offers casually and invite them to consider it if they're interested. Follow up smartly, understanding and adapting to each situation. Building a friendly, genuine connection can reopen the door to closing the deal at the right time.

Simply calling the prospect by name and mentioning their company name or operations in a generic cold email is not enough. Understanding the client's industry can help you identify real pain points that can make or break a sale. The prospect will not buy because you wrote a nice email, but they will if you can solve a problem for them.

From my experience as an automotive sales trainer, I know the importance of keeping CRM notes up to date. At a dealership I trained recently, we emphasised noting customer interactions in detail. One of the salespersons there, Sarah, used her notes to recall a lead’s concern about fuel efficiency. She reached out with personalised model suggestions and relevant articles, impressing the customer with her attentiveness. This rekindled his interest, leading to a sale. This experience highlighted the value of detailed CRM notes, building trust and showing customers we care. Encouraging this practice has significantly improved our follow-up success and customer satisfaction.

The first thing to realize is that they were never interested in your pitch. They were interested in the result that your product could create. YOU were interested in your pitch, and you were probably over-interested in your commission or pipeline/quota as well. Reach back out with a timely article or white paper, without trying to sell, and just say "saw this article and thought about your company. Does this effect your company/industry?" That shows interest and effort, and isn't about (directly) selling your product.

Generate recurring impact and value for your ideal customer during the whole deal initiation phase. In extreme cases, you must be able to maintain the relationship for more than 12 months. Ultimately, your customer is not buying features but a solution to their pressing problem. And your contribution beyond the product is already part of this solution. And always remember: your solution is more than the sum of its features.

- Understand where the person is at, and if this topic is still a priority to them - Reach out with specific value that would help them - Ask if there are any other stakeholders that may be worth discussing with

Timing is important. If you only call in the mornings, maybe that is when your prospect has blocked their schedule. Mix up the days, times, and ways that you reach out.

Planning a proper follow up strategy and sending relevant resources to the client is what I would do. Sales is an unpredictable game, each and every client is different and have different needs. Being a salesperson it is very important to understand a client's needs and pain points. Based on that we can map our products accordingly and sending relevant resources to the client through email/whatsapp is going to increase the probability of the deal closing.

You can learn a ton from losing a sale. But you have to be brutally honest with yourself. And even then, you won't always know why they didn't move forward. It is always best to record your session, so you can watch back to watch facial and body language to pinpoint when you lost the sale. Or, you can have a partner on the call with you and they can give you their feedback.