[SPEAKER_01]: This is Jeb Blunt and it's Money Monday on the Sales Gritty Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi everyone, welcome to this episode of Money Monday.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Jessica Stokes, filling in this week for Jeb.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever had a situation where you wanted to make another outreach to an opportunity?
[SPEAKER_00]: But then you started to think, I just don't want to annoy this person.
[SPEAKER_00]: As sales professionals, we find ourselves trying to balance being present and persistent with an opportunity without becoming annoying or taking somebody off.
[SPEAKER_00]: and sometimes that fear of annoying someone is actually costing you closed deals.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was recently speaking at an event and I arrived about an hour early to do my set up in my mic check.
[SPEAKER_00]: After I was finished I walked around the event space and the caterer was putting some finishing touches on a beautiful breakfast spread.
[SPEAKER_00]: She and I started a conversation, and by the end of it, I'd actually given her my number.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had mentioned that my son's graduation party was around the corner, and I'd be interested in considering her to do the food.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then life happened.
[SPEAKER_00]: She texted me to schedule a call, and I forgot to respond.
[SPEAKER_00]: She followed up again, and I was buried that week at work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another week went by.
[SPEAKER_00]: She left a voicemail.
[SPEAKER_00]: I still did not reply.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, this was not because I wasn't interested.
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't because I didn't value her service, and it certainly wasn't because I was saying, no, I was simply overwhelmed and focused on bigger priorities in the moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, I actually assumed that she had decided to move on and I'd handle the food by myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, about four days before the party, she reached out one more time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, Jessica.
[SPEAKER_00]: I still have a note about your son's graduation party on Saturday.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're interested, I'd love to connect on the menu.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, that text felt like a gift.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was so overwhelmed that week.
[SPEAKER_00]: My work calendar was maxed out.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had family coming to town, and there were still a hundred things that I had to get done ahead of my son's graduation.
[SPEAKER_00]: At this point, I really needed her service.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had no time to do shopping, no time to do food prep, so I immediately called her back.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, I apologized for not getting in touch sooner, and then I thanked her for keeping my event in mind.
[SPEAKER_00]: From there, we discussed the menu, and I sent her payment as quickly as possible, so I could secure my date.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, here's the lesson.
[SPEAKER_00]: People are busy.
[SPEAKER_00]: People forget people get distracted.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your persistence matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: If she had assumed that my silencement rejection, she would have lost the opportunity.
[SPEAKER_00]: She did a wonderful job and I appreciated that she did not give up on me as a prospect.
[SPEAKER_00]: The biggest mistake that many salespeople make is confusing no response with no interest and those are not the same thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes prospects aren't avoiding you, they're just overwhelmed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes they're dealing with budget cycles.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes they're putting out fires.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes they're traveling.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes they are simply just trying to survive the work week.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your job is not to decide whether they're interested based on silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your job is to professionally stay visible until they make a decision.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let me give you five tips for staying pleasantly persistent without coming across as pushy.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, stop assuming the silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: When a prospect does not respond to your call or email, the story you're telling yourself could be wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most salespeople immediately jumped to conclusions,
[SPEAKER_00]: They say things like, they must not be interested.
[SPEAKER_00]: They must have one with a competitor or they must have changed their mind.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the reality is, you don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: Silence is simply missing information.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't create a negative story when you don't have all of the facts.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tip number two, don't let optimism replace reality.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes salespeople are guilty of positive thinking in the wrong places.
[SPEAKER_00]: The prospect stops responding and we try to tell ourselves the good news.
[SPEAKER_00]: We try to say they must just be busy.
[SPEAKER_00]: We try to convince ourselves that they're still interested but they probably just need a little more time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe they are, but maybe they're not.
[SPEAKER_00]: The problem is that we often create these stories because we're afraid of facing the truth that the opportunity might be dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: We allow the silence and maybe even welcome it so that the deal stays in our pipeline.
[SPEAKER_00]: Great salespeople don't assume positive or negative.
[SPEAKER_00]: they seek the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: So instead of guessing, they follow up consistently to uncover what is really happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hope is not a strategy, and neither is assumption.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your job isn't to convince yourself or your manager that the deal is alive, your job is to actually find out
[SPEAKER_00]: So don't assume they're buying, don't assume they're not, stay curious enough to uncover the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Third, always bring value.
[SPEAKER_00]: If every follow up just says, I'm just circling back around or just checking in, then you're easy to ignore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, bring something useful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Share a link to an article, provide some industry insight, offer an idea, mentioned a customer success story, give them a reason to want to engage with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: The best follow-ups are creating value, not pressure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Number four, vary your communication channel.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you've already sent three emails and you're not getting anything back, stop sending email.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mix it up, pick up the phone and give them a call.
[SPEAKER_00]: Send a message through LinkedIn, record a quick video.
[SPEAKER_00]: Different people respond to different communication channels.
[SPEAKER_00]: The goal is to create familiarity and increase the likely of being seen and getting engagement.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last, stay professionally persistent.
[SPEAKER_00]: The caterer did not contact me every day, but she was reaching out weekly.
[SPEAKER_00]: She wasn't aggressive, she wasn't pushy, she simply stayed present.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the goal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Persistence is not pressure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Persistence is professionalism.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, your competitors are often quitting too early.
[SPEAKER_00]: Opportunities frequently go to the salesperson who is actually stayed engaged the longest, not necessarily because they're more talented or because they had a better product.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was because they were there when the prospect was finally ready to act.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this week, take a look at your pipeline.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who have you mentally written off because they didn't respond?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who needs one more call?
[SPEAKER_00]: One more email, one more thoughtful touch point.
[SPEAKER_00]: You may be closer to a deal than you think.
[SPEAKER_00]: And just like the caterer, your next follow up might be a gift to someone who genuinely needs your help.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening today, and if this episode encouraged you, share it with another sales person who might need this reminder.
[SPEAKER_00]: Keep showing up, keep dialing, keep moving forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've been listening to the sales gravy podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is Jessica Stokes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Make today awesome.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need some sea notes, I'm jetting in a stack of ants, I need a bowl of dough, I'll need no face for friends I need a pack of snaps, a handful of feeding wipes, a rubber band of my green bags Looked off, don't be playing with my paper, I need every rest in, that's why I brought my little scraper
[UNKNOWN]: You