Ghostbusters! Hacks to re-ignite conversations with prospects who ghost you!

We have all been there.

An opportunity is heading its way home to closure and all of a sudden, you hit an unseen roadblock. Your frantic follow-ups are going unanswered and your emails have no responses back. Realization dawns on that dreaded feeling …. You have been GHOSTED!

While this is not new in sales processes, it can be massively frustrating to the seller. Introspection can lead us to understand the explanations as to why the prospect stopped communication – maybe they got cold feet on making a decision, maybe they went with a competitor, maybe they just didn’t think they needed the product enough?

The key thing to keep in mind is that it takes time and persistence to warm up a prospect. 80% of sales need five follow-ups on average to close a deal, but 44% of sales reps give up after only one follow up, and 94% give up after four follow-ups ( Come to think of it, this 94% was one follow up away from pushing closer to the win!

According to me, there are two other major reasons why a lead might go cold:

• They weren’t at the buying stage. Perhaps their pain point hasn’t gotten bad enough yet, or maybe they are stuck in decision paralysis. Here is where effective deal qualification is critical for the seller. Understanding where the buyer is within the buying cycle is vital.
• Not enough of a value add. You may have gotten them to agree that your product would be nice to have, but have you made them realize it’s a must-have? Have they understood the cost of not closing the deal? If they chose a competitor instead, it means it wasn’t clear enough that your product is better suited to their problem than theirs. Worse, have they beaten your solution with status-quo! [38% of deals reside here - RIP]

The best way to keep leads warm is to take a customer-centric approach, and truly understand the prospects’ priorities. Customer-centric selling means you put yourself in the customer’s shoes, focus on learning about their problems and actually helping them solve it. This helps avoid wasting time on leads where buyer priority is low, and learning more about the customer’s context helps position our solution as a must-have!??

Selling in 2024 will continue to have its own challenges. Learnings from 2023 clearly suggest that the role of the invisible buyer will become even more prominent. CFOs will hold their purses tighter and without a clear justification and ROI on “Must-have” investments, sellers will remain ghosted by genuine buyers who are unable to secure the budgets. Hubspot’s article on the 2024 Sales Predictions is a great read.

Top #3 Ghostbusters Hacks to re-igniting conversations!

In the spirit of the iconic Ghostbusters, let's not let those ghosted conversations haunt us. Instead, let's strap on our proton packs (figuratively speaking) and dive into the techniques that will bring those ghostly prospects back from the sales netherworld. Because in the world of sales, bustin' silence feels good, and turning those silent prospects into vibrant conversations is the kind of supernatural activity we're here for. Ready to zap those ghosts back into leads? Let's roll.

Hack #1- Social Selling: The Ectoplasm of Engagement

In the realm of the ghosted, the first spell to cast involves the art of social selling. Picture yourself weaving through the digital ethers of LinkedIn, not with the hard sell, but with the grace of a friendly specter. Engage with your prospects like Casper—friendly, helpful, and always adding value. Comment on their posts, share insights they care about, and be present without being pushy. It's the digital handshake that says, "I'm here, I'm helpful, and hey, I'm not just about the sale." This approach builds rapport, trust, and opens the door for conversations without the cold shivers of a sales pitch.

Check out our previous article on social selling if you want to really dig into the strategies and action steps!

#5 Techniques to up your B2B Social Game

So how do you follow this advice to reignite a lead?

• Respond to something they’ve posted – an article about their product, a post about a new direction their company is taking, something where you can flatter them a little while also saying something thought-provoking. This is a pleasant way to re-initiate a conversation.
• Switch up your mode of communication. Sometimes things just get lost in the rush. If an email is getting no response,? drop a message on LinkedIn. This also creates the opportunity to start a new conversation, without any complications that might have arisen in the previous one.
• ?Share a case study, a news snippet, a thought provoking article l, etc. Sharing something relevant to them and their issues proves that you have been paying attention to their pain points, and also adds value to your service or product.

Hack #2 - Follow-Up with Business Context: The Poltergeist of Persuasion

When prospects ghost, they often leave behind a trail of business needs, challenges, and opportunities. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to become a benevolent poltergeist—moving objects in their field of vision to grab their attention. Send a follow-up that’s impossible to ignore because it's so relevant to their current business urgency. Did they recently mention a market expansion on social media? Are they navigating through regulatory changes? Use these cues to craft a message that says, "I understand what keeps you up at night, and I have the flashlight." It shows you’re not just after the sale, but genuinely interested in lighting up their path to success.

So how do you follow this advice to reignite a lead?

• Create a Google Alert for news related to the industries of your top prospects. This way, you're always in the loop with fresh, relevant content to share, making your follow-ups timely and impactful.
• Dive deep into the industries of your ghosted prospects to uncover the latest trends, challenges, or regulatory changes that could impact their business. Use this research to send a personalised follow-up that not only highlights your understanding of their current situation but also positions your solution as a timely and relevant aid
• Identify an upcoming event, such as a trade show, webinar, or industry conference, that is highly relevant to your prospect's business challenges or goals. Reach out with a message suggesting a collaboration or offering an exclusive insight session around this event.

Hack #3 - Research on Social Footprint/News as a Hook: The Ghostly Whisper in the Library

Every prospect leaves a spectral trail on the internet—a comment here, a post there, perhaps even a lament about industry woes on a forum. Your task is to become the librarian of the haunted library, sifting through the pages of their digital presence to uncover the book of solutions they didn’t know existed. Use their social footprint or recent company news as a hook to re-engage. This strategy is like whispering their own thoughts back to them in a crowded room; suddenly, you’re the only voice they hear amid the noise. It’s personalised, it’s relevant, and most importantly, it shows you’ve been paying attention.

So how do you follow this advice to reignite a lead?

• Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to track company news and updates, and BuzzSumo to see what content is being shared by employees of your target company. Create a spreadsheet to organize your findings, categorizing them by themes like industry trends, challenges faced, and personal achievements or recognitions.
• For corporate research, looking at their press releases and letters from CEO’s is a good way to find out the company’s priorities and the direction they want to go in.
• Engage directly with the content shared by your prospect and their peers before sending your outreach message. Commenting on their posts or sharing relevant content with your take can warm up the conversation. Follow this with a personalised message that ties back to the discussions they're already having online

As we holster our proton packs and look back on our ghostbusting journey through the shadowy realms of cold prospects, remember that reigniting those conversations isn't about deploying traps or flashy gadgets. It's about strategic engagement, timely insights, and a touch of detective work to personalize your approach. These three hacks aren't just tricks of the trade; they're your toolkit for building genuine connections in the digital age.

So, next time you find yourself staring down a ghostly silence, channel your inner Ghostbuster and remember: with the right strategy, there's no prospect too cold to re-engage. Happy hunting!