4 Surefire Signs It’s Time to Walk Away from a Prospect

One of the hardest skills to learn as a salesperson – knowing when to walk away from a prospect.

It’s difficult because it goes against everything you are taught. You are tenacious, you don’t stop at the first no, you always push to see if there’s a way you can provide value. I’m sure you have many stories of not giving up and it paying off in the long run.

But sometimes, it really is time to walk away, so you can free up your time to work with someone else who will actually use and benefit from your solution.

“This can be hard for salespeople because you've put work into that,” Sales Expert Miles Croft said in his LinkedIn Learning course, The 52 Best Sales Prospecting Tips. “ You've spent time on it. You're giving up potential income and putting yourself one step further away from hitting your target. But you have to be honest and keep your pipeline lean with only real opportunities. You're only lying to yourself.”

When is that time? Through the lens of buyer first principles, here are four signs that strongly suggest it’s time to walk away from an opportunity and let the prospect move on. 

1. When you’re not solving, just selling.

This is one of the five major tentpoles of buyer first selling, and it all comes down to honesty: do you actually think you can help your prospect? Do you believe your solution is a good fit for the pain points they’re describing to you? Will they succeed with your product or service and feel good about buying it?

If you answered “no” to any of those questions, then chances are you’re selling, not solving. You’re looking out for your interests, and not theirs.

Samantha McKenna, founder of #samsales, summed it up best in our buyer first report: “Buyers want to feel like you have their best interest at heart, so you have to understand their challenges and say ‘how can I solve that, one way or another?’ Once a buyer finds a salesperson who can do this effectively, they stick with them for life.”

Preserving a relationship is pretty much always more valuable than making an immediate sale. If you can show your prospect you care more about them winning than you, they won’t forget it. Your “loss” can turn into a greater win down the road.

Remember: situations change. The buyer’s needs could shift, or they could move onto a new company, or provide a referral down the line.

2. When they don’t respond to three consecutive messages.

Ah, the prospect ghosts you. One of the most frustrating parts of sales.

Don’t take it personally, it happens to everyone. Most often, the buyer went with someone else or is no longer interested, and they don't have the heart to tell you.

How much should you reach out, before giving up? After the initial outreach, it’s fair to send one follow-up a week later, if there’s no response. And, a week after that, one last-ditch effort.

But stop there. Any more, and you’ll begin to lose respect from the prospect. 

Occasionally, they will circle back around and start the conversation again. Don’t make it so awkward it’s hard to do that. 

3. When it’s in limbo and there’s no clear next step on your end.

Here’s a very common situation – you have a great meeting with a prospect that has limited buying power. They love it! And they promise to bring it to their boss, who has real buying power.

Except that never happens. You talk with your champion, excuses are handed out, but that next meeting is never set.

Or, everything looks good, but somebody has concerns. Maybe in legal, maybe in finance, but suddenly, your deal hits a brick wall and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. 

Here’s where you need to take control of the sales process or cut it loose. Don’t rely on your prospect to set a meeting with finance or legal or their boss. Offer to do it for them.

What if they refuse and are unable to get you that meeting? It’s time to cut bait. Because, as of now, you have no clear next step.

Here’s the bigger point – it’s clear that the prospect you’ve convinced doesn’t have the type of influence you need to get a deal done. That’s okay, but don’t continue to spin your wheels with them. Do your best to connect with people in the organization who do have that influence or move on.

4. When the prospect is making you uncomfortable.

This is probably the most difficult. Because, as a salesperson, you are focused on serving the prospect, to both benefit them and your own business.

But, all relationships are two-way streets, based on mutual respect. If that respect is broken, and one person is making the other person feel uncomfortable, it’s your right to walk away.

What does this mean, exactly?

It could mean the client is treating you disrespectfully. Or, they are saying or doing things about other people that are making you feel uncomfortable.

Obviously, talk to your manager first. But know this – you, as a salesperson, deal with a lot from prospects already, and you are strongly incentivized to make relationships work, even if you don’t like the person.

If someone’s behavior rises to such a level that you simply can’t make it work and aren’t comfortable being around them, it’s well within your right to walk away. It’s never easy to walk away from a deal, particularly one you think you can close – but you also need to sleep at night.

Besides, you want to pick the right partners for your organization.

The takeaway – it comes down to time management.

Salespeople who consistently hit their quota are salespeople who manage their time really effectively. A big part of that is focusing their efforts on the deals that are most likely to close, instead of trying to convince prospects who aren't the right partners for their company.

Yes, it can feel like you’ve wasted your time, walking away from a potential deal. Perhaps you have. But does it make sense to continue wasting your time, with a deal that isn’t progressing?

Besides, walking away doesn’t mean you’ve completely given up on the deal. It just means you aren't investing more time into it – if the prospect wants to reach back out, you are only a phone call away.

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