“What Went Wrong?” Wednesday — My YES Client Disappeared

We’re starting a new, What Went Wrong series of blog posts to assist us in figuring out where our best sales efforts and conversations went wrong.  Today’s post is focused on what to do when a potential client who says, “YES” simply disappears.  What do you do? Say? How do you get back to the YES?  How do you “land” a client who simply walks away?

Passive Rejection

Let me be honest and say that passive rejection is one of my pet peeves. I’m fine with “NO.” My immediate thought, “Next.” No biggee. “No” is easy.  It’s the NOs cloaked in a YES that frustrate me. And, now that I’m in a position to do so, I make a mental note of them.  They’ll never be invited to irritate me in this way again! =)

Still, these passive rejections happen a lot in business. Here’s a letter from one of our own, that I’m pretty confident you’ll be able to relate to:

PC(potential client) and I had a great initial consultation.  Gave the PC an overrall synopsis of where he is, the plusses and minuses of the different approaches that are available to him, my suggestions, and thoughts of where we should go next.    

The PC was very enthusiastic, and said that he would be back in the office the following week to pay and sign my agreement/contract.

The week has come and gone, and I’m hearing crickets. My dilemma is: Do I follow-up or just move on to the next PC?  My feeling has always (probably erroneously) been that if you call a PC that you have not heard from you appear desperate for their business, which is never a good starting point.  Sometimes, I have reached out to PCs and they have thanked me for the reminder because they got busy doing something else.  But in the back of my mind I’m always hearing “If they thought what you offer is important enough, they will call you and pay with out a reminder.”

Told you you’d be able to relate!  

This reminds me of a woman — who, by the way, I checked this morning, is still on my list.  She and I had an initial appointment. She wanted to know ways to work with me.  This was several years ago and I was tentatively filling my first 3 day intensive. I offered her 3 options:  A VIP day with me, attending the in person intensive, and private coaching. She said YES to all three.

Cha-ching!

Major win, I’m thinking! WOW! I’m doing the happy dance with my husband.  Not only did I just make more money than I’d ever made before in one conversation, but my last seat to the intensive was filled…. my coaching calendar was for the first time officially “full” and well, it was a BIG WIN!

And then, nothing.  Zip. Zilch. Nada.  No money in the mail.  No show on first appointment.  No response to my welcome gift in the mail.  One sheepish voice mail indicating that she’d had something “come up” but would send payment next week. 

Well, I’m sure you know the rest of this story…  So, what do you do? And what went wrong?  How do you salvage this relationship without appearing desperate? CAN you salvage this without appearing desperate?

The answer, fortunately in many cases, is a YES.  Here’s how:

First, pre-qualify those you’re “selling” to.

Essentially, the better you pre-qualify those you’re meeting with, the LESS this will happen.  It’ll still happen. It’ll just happen less. I discriminate wildly regarding who I’ll schedule a sales conversation with.  There are certain industries I won’t touch.  There are certain things I look for in your business.  If I don’t see them, we don’t schedule.  Bottom line: If you look at your list of passive rejectors, you’ll see that they have some things EERILY in common.  Maybe it’s industry, or maybe you met them at the same meeting, or maybe they all go to the same church.  Whatever. Just note what they have in common, so you avoid them in the future — if you choose.

The other thing that you need to do in your pre-qualifying clients — BEFORE you offer to work with them — is to make sure they are aware of your GENERAL FEE STRUCTURE.  Are you the cheapest? The most expensive?  Are you an investment? Or a quick decision?  Make SURE they don’t experience sticker shock only AFTER you’ve spent time consulting with them.

Next, don’t trust the immediate & enthusiastic yes!

I immediately distrust a yes that is “too immediate.” Often times — especially if your fees are where they should be — your potential client will have additional questions or hesitations.  If they don’t bring them up to you, bring them up to them.

Something like, “Great! I’m glad you’re in.  Let’s talk some more about what that means. Do you have any questions?  Have you considered when you’d like to get started?  Did you want to talk with your husband about this before you commit?”

Now, it may seem like this approach will “kill the sale.” NOT IF IT’S REALLY A SALE.  But, your confidence in addressing questions, hesitance and delays head on will inspire more confidence in their decision to work with you. And when they have questions or hesitations, they won’t hesitate to address them with you.  No disappearing act necessary.

Leave Room For Further Dialogue.

Invite them to let you know if anything changes for them.  And be very clear that payment is what secures this agreement. Something along the lines of, “Perfect. I’ve got you tentatively scheduled to start this work on September 1st.  As soon as payment is confirmed, our time together will be secured and we’ll jump in with both feet. If anything changes on your end, or you have any questions, let me know.”

Finally, yes… Reach Out To Them.

First, assume something went “wrong” on their end and that they’ve not gone missing on you.  A simple email saying, and this is taken straight from an email that I sent less than a month ago,

“Hey __________. Our initial appointment has been tentatively scheduled for {date} and Kerry just alerted me that payment hadn’t yet been received. If this is an oversight, no sweat. You can take care of that with her at your convenience. If, however, you have any unspoken reservation or hesitation, I invite you to share it with me so we can move forward — either way — with clarity.” 

Then, Do Have a Closure Email

Unfinished business is a drain and a drag… in more ways than one. So, don’t participate in it. Demand and — if necessary — create a NO or a YES.  Here’s another email that produces more responses than anything I’ve ever tried with “passive rejections” and more YES’s than you’d expect.  Plus, not a HINT of desperation.