In sales, we like to say “buy or die” but that’s rarely the case. Instead, what most sales professionals should say is “buy or I’ll leave you to die” Let’s get real, that’s what usually happens. The salesman drops the ball. Then, down the road, when the salesman who dropped the ball, is replaced by “the new guy” it’s up to “the new guy” to revive the ball dropper’s old leads.
Reviving dead leads is a quick way to make some sales
Most people, whether in sales or not, hate being told “no” It shuts most people down. They don’t know how to take it or react to it. The word “no” scares the hell out of people. Most folks will do anything they can, in order to avoid hearing “no” This includes letting good leads die by not following up properly. The fear of “no” leaves a wake of dead leads that someone needs to close up.
It might as well be you! I mean, if you’re the new guy, or if you need to close some leads, and get some extra sales in, you might as well take a crack at reviving dead leads. It’s not as hard as it sounds, and the prospect most likely already knows about your product or service. Dead leads are kind of like warm leads. They are far from cold leads.
Do some CPR on those deal leads and watch what happens
I use CPR as an acronym for my old lead selling process. You can’t go after dead leads in the same fashion you go after new leads. You can never be 100% sure what’s been told to the prospect in the past, or how poorly their previous experience went.
When I started my first day selling cars, the manager gave me a stack of old leads. He said “Get after it. Make some calls” and that was about the extent of his advice. I had no idea what these leads were all about. He could have given me the pissed off customer list, for all I knew. I was no rookie though, I already had a plan. A plan that worked so good and so fast, that I was bumped to internet leads in 2 days.
Reframe the context of the conversation
Before I list out the steps, you need to position yourself properly in order for this to work properly. You see, you don’t know the mind frame of the dead lead. You’ve got to come in as a trojan horse, not a charging army. The way to do this is by calling with questions. Let the prospect know you’re from the customer satisfaction department, and you’re there to make them happy. There’s no need to say anything about sales at this point. This small change of words will get the prospect to drop their guard a lot easier.
These days, most sales rep’s titles aren’t “XYZ Sales” anyway. We have names like “customer service rep” or “client experience consultant” You’re first job is to find out the proper information that will arm you with the facts you need, in order to make them an irresistible offer.
Revive old, dead, stale, leads in 3 easy steps
C – Contact I don’t just call old leads. Matter of fact, before I call anyone, I text them, to let them know who I am, and why I’m calling. I beat caller ID at it’s own game. I look at it this way; if someone was dying, I’d do everything I could, CPR wise, to bring them back to life. These dying leads get treated the same way. I will text, email and call them until I get them back to life. “Don’t you die on me John Doe at 867-5309” You owe it to the prospect to reach out to them every way you can. I even reach out via social media. I’ll tweet a prospect or DM one. Whatever it takes.
P – Problem Search Your job in this step is to search for the problems you need to face. To be clear, there’s more than one problem you need to solve. The first problem you need to solve is the problem of them being a dead lead. The second problem is the one they are facing that your services can solve. You do this by asking questions. I have 6-10 pre-written questions for every dead lead. People don’t seem to mind taking a “survey for the customer satisfaction department” I use the feedback from the answers of their questions, to solve their problems.
R – Recommend The Solution Of course the recommendation is your product, but you’ve got to position it properly. After they drop their guard, answer your questions, and in the process tell you their problems, you make the offer to solve those problems with your services or products. If you’ve done the second step of this process properly, this should be the easiest step in the process.
There you have it, 3 steps to revive dead leads from beyond the grave. All it takes is a little finesse on your end and asking the right questions, and next thing you know you got coffee. Because coffee is for closers. If you’re looking for more in depth training on my CPR and CATCH selling systems, check out www.showupandclose.com the program will change your sales, your business and ultimately your life.
If you’re looking to work with me one on one, or you’d like to talk to one of the badass salespeople on my team, about which program is for you, simply fill the form at the bottom of this page. All I ask, is that you ONLY fill the form out if you’re ready to invest in yourself through our programs. If not, that’s ok, I just want to make sure we get to the people who are ready first. We get many applications daily. Don’t forget to share this with your people on social media.
