Fuentes Fridays #0026

Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about. Forward anything that you feel inspired to share.

What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals

This past week, I have spoken to many sellers who have not heard back in weeks from their points of contact on deals with “excited” buyers. It happens.

Almost every situation was the same:

1. Disco call with affirmation from the prospect that they were excited/impressed/etc.

2. No confirmation from the seller as to why the prospect felt this way

3. Demo call with the same prospect with more affirmation AND the prospect suggesting a broader demo

4. No digging into GREEN flags or DRIVE from the seller or booking the next demo on the call

5. Follow-up with the prospect

6. Crickets

7. Continued follow-up for weeks

8. Crickets

So, what do we do in this situation?

What any self-respecting female lead in a romantic comedy who has been ghosted does.

No, we don’t have a montage sequence with our gal pals!

We confront the situation head-on.

The suggested order of operations is:

1. Call

2. Text – When would be a good time to connect for 5 minutes?

3. Wait a day - Email – Maestro break-up email [80%+ response rate – DM me for template]

But why don’t most sellers (CEOs, Founders, AEs) naturally execute on asking, “Hey, what’s going on?” Because we are human and humans are designed to have hope. If you don’t ask the question, you really don’t know, and you can always believe.

What I coached the sellers on this week (besides the order of operations) was that you are a professional and deserve at least the courtesy of a response and the truth about whether something is real or not.

The reality is, though, that most sellers give up before asking the tough, honest question. Thus, it is easy for buyers to ignore the emails and just hope (there is that word again) that the seller will go away quietly and they don’t have to be the bad guy/gal letting someone down that they had a connection with over a few “dates.”

Go ahead and ask the question. Jessup is wrong.

What Made Me Laugh

This week, I am choosing to go with something that made me smile. A toddler showing a dog not to be afraid of a sprinkler.

This Week’s 40/20

For every 40 hours of work, I believe you should spend 20 (additional) hours mastering your craft. This is how I spent some of my 20 hours this week.

There is an awesome docuseries on The History Channel called The Food that Built America. There are some fantastic episodes about the ingenuity of entrepreneurs in the food space.

Recently, my binging of the series led me down a rabbit hole of food research, specifically ice cream. Two things stood out to me: 1. New Zealand ranks number one in per-citizen consumption of ice cream (7.5 gallons), and 2. Ice cream consumption skyrocketed during Prohibition (this tracks, as when I stopped drinking, I started getting down with my desserts).

The second point to me was the most interesting because ice cream helped companies like Anheuser-Busch and Yuengling stay afloat during Prohibition as those companies shifted to producing dairy products, including ice cream. Pretty incredible pivot that not many others saw!

Potpourri for 800

Potpourri (shoutout to Jeopardy!) is a category that covers a variety of topics.

I am old and am often rushed. Sometimes, I forget where I park. Here is a cool trick to help you find your car by using your head to amplify your car alarm signal!

Quote for My Son

Every day, I leave my son a note with a quote. This was my favorite from this past week:

"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays." ― Meredith Willson, The Music Man

You can get weekly helpful information for sales professionals by following my company’s Maestro Mastery blog here.

Let me know what you think about this week’s edition of Fuentes Fridays. Which section was your favorite? How can I make this better? Shoot me a message on LinkedIn @willfuentes.