There is a good conversation on the Social Selling University LinkedIn group that is worth sharing. The great thing about these communities is getting so much feedback from so many people with similar and different points of view.
I asked a question that comes up a lot with sales teams that are trying to close business. “Is it ever alright to nag or pester your prospects?” It’s a fine line that I used to walk when managing a territory. Your forecast shows a deal, you have a close date set and then the prospect goes radio silent and falls off the grid. So what do you do? How many calls do you make leaving voice-mails trying to get a status update? You can send an email a day until you get a response but that is definitely crossing into creepy nagging territory.
Social selling techniques can be used if they are not responsive to other communications. Without having a line in the sand as to what would be considered pestering, it’s hard to say. But some of our SSU members had great insights.
What do you think? Leave us a comment here or jump over to the Social Selling University LinkedIn group and post your response there.
Jerry Voltero • If the customer has made a firm commitment to buy from me and we had previously agreed on a time line which he is clearly going to miss, I will politely remind him of that. So yes, if it’s the end of my quarter and he has gone radio silent on me, I am going to nag him until he responds with either a PO or an explanation as to why he is going to miss the time line. To put that in context, my deals are usually long term and the project is laid out well in advance with a proof of concept, lot’s of engineering planning and both business and legal negotiations prior to this point.