So, you have a new and exciting sales prospect who seems hot to trot. You take your time to build rapport and get to know them. A few quick chats turn into what feels like a friendship of sorts. Oh, and don’t forget they respect your opinion and ask for your advice all along the way. If only you had a dollar for each time the call to evaluate you as a potential provider had a, "Hey while I have you, quick question: can you take a look at this set up and let me know your thoughts?"
At this point, you’re feeling invested in the opportunity–although it’s only an investment of time and attention. However, in most cases, you as a provider probably went above and beyond. You might have done a lot of free consulting or perhaps even had some out-of-pocket business costs or expenses in pursuing this opportunity. You like them, they seem to like you, this leads to that and next thing you know you spent hours or even days crafting a proposal and checking with other team members or departments for their labor time, price or inputs.
The deal could close any day. Any minute even. Then...nothing.
They go cold. Disappear. It’s almost like they entered witness protection. They might have even changed their last name for all you know. They won't return your emails, texts and certainly not your phone calls. After weeks, months or more of this prospect living rent free in your brain, you’re now just left to wonder–what happened? Didn’t we have something special? Maybe you missed the funeral and they unfortunately have left this earth. Your prospect is gone…forever, never to be found again.
You've been "ghosted."
Questions to Ask Yourself
Is it you, or is it them?
First, think about whether it is you or them. And by you, I also mean your company. If you put your foot in your mouth at the end of a call, low-key offended someone or work for a company that has 872 consumer complaints–what I'm about to share isn’t going to help you. The technological solution I am about to propose is only going to help if it is just them. So be sure to pause and reflect. That way you can make a good judgement call before you enlist the help of these ghost busting robots.
What can you do about it?
If it is in fact them and not you, consider this a learning experience. You now know how to choose your words carefully and play your cards right. Now, if you combine those newfound abilities with sales prospect automation tools, you may not have to ever chase another ghost again. Oh, and don't you worry, as the title promised, I'm going tell you who to call, and it isn't the Ghostbusters.
Instead, it’s time to call the real professionals when it comes to corporate ghosting: HubSpot.
HubSpot Sales Prospect Automation Tools:
Our two favorite ghost busting HubSpot tools that allow you to put prospecting on autopilot and free up more of your time are sequences and workflows. Sequences and workflows are equally as important. It should never be an either/or decision. If used correctly, these tools can and should work together harmoniously.
Sequences
This tool is the best at preventing prospects from slipping through the cracks. The best time to use it is when you have a specific offer that needs to be delivered to a lead or group of leads. These leads are typically a contact who is already interested in your service or product but just needs that extra push to make their decision. With sequences, you can send a series of targeted, timed email templates to nurture contacts over time and hopefully aid them in making a final decision. Additionally, you can automatically create tasks within sequences to remind yourself to follow up with certain contacts later down the line.
The sequences tool is also great because it can save your automated sales prospect emails from becoming impersonal. You can do so by using personalization tokens to tailor emails in your sequence to a certain contact or company. This lets you add specific details to each message to help you further connect with your prospects.
Oh, and don’t forget the timing of each follow-up email is just as important as the content within it. You, as the prospector, can set a time range for when you want your contact to receive each follow-up email. From there, HubSpot will use machine learning data to determine the best time within the selected range to send the email. This increases the likelihood of your prospect opening, reading and responding to the email–which gets you one step closer to closing a deal!
Workflows
As for workflows, it’s best to use this tool to introduce new leads to your product or service. Or more importantly, to nurture the prospect/lead relationship to prepare your lead for an eventual conversion to client status. The workflow tool does this by automating your marketing, sales and service processes. To make your team more efficient, workflows can rotate leads, create deals, automate tasks, mange your data in bulk and much more.
Who You Gonna Call?:
Yes, we have already established it’s time to call HubSpot to help with corporate ghosting. But who are you gonna call to get HubSpot? Contact us today to learn more about HubSpot and how ProFromGo can help you avoid those ghosts.
