Failed contacts

I was recently given a list of failed contacts that my predecessor hadn’t followed up with yet. I am not even sure these contacts are worth re-engaging.

How do you sort through failed contacts? If you do pursue them again, how do you make sure that they aren’t going to be unresponsive again?

Since they are already cold/dead, I wouldn’t invest too much time in them. Just call them up, try to identify whether they still have a need and why the previous sales guy was not successful with them. Maybe their needs have changed and you could do a sale, if not just accept that they are not going to work out and focus on your current, warmer leads.

My favorite TV show is the Office and I actually think Michael Scott’s “Keep It Simple Stupid” or KISS is really helpful in sales. For cold leads, I give them a simple call and email to let them know how to contact me and what I have to offer. If they aren’t interested then there is not much I can do about it. I like to spend more of my time with warm leads that could actually lead to sales.

Send an email with the subject: “Still Interested?” and make sure to include the company name. If you send that with the original email that was sent to them, it basically serves as a reminder that they have already received this email and you are following up. If they are interested, they’ll reach out.

Never say never! You may just hit the jackpot on one of those cold leads. I just recently closed a deal with a lead that I’ve been working on for two years. Some leads are just more difficult than others so if they seem at least a bit interested, give them a call.

Yeah, and make sure to include all of the new and exciting things that have advanced with the company since they have last heard from the person who was in your previous sales job. Maybe they were just waiting for something new.