The Art of Accelerating Prospect Responses

Gaining qualified prospects in sales can be a tough nut to crack. Nevertheless, this is something that needs to be accomplished or the perils of unqualified leads are endless. 

The sales process of a company runs smoothly as long as prospecting is successful. Prospecting is, however, plagued by delays. The ability to manage time is crucial to the success of any business. 

The delays caused by B2B prospects impede the overall workings of the company. Effectively accelerating prospect responses requires intelligent measures. The main secret to successfully closing business sales is the prompt response from clients. Any sales professional will undoubtedly agree. 

Why should you accelerate prospect responses? 

Take a moment to imagine you have acquired a lead for your next sale, but the prospect is slow to respond. This prospect refuses to answer the phone despite calling repeatedly. A great deal of manpower and time is lost in the process. 

A situation like this is disastrous for any business. The prospect response is not accelerated due to inadequate attention given to this area. Here are three reasons why quick responses from prospects matter: 

Increase sales

Increasing prospect responses will result in more sales in less time. Getting the prospects to close the deal can free the salespeople to focus on other potential clients. They can easily reach their sales target within the specified time frame. 

Beneficial for the prospect

Accelerating response is also beneficial for the prospects since they can enjoy the product for a longer period of time. Prospects purchase products because they need them to solve problems. They can use the product more quickly when the process is sped up. 

Save time

Getting a prospect’s answers as fast as possible means fewer emails and phone calls for a company. When the prospect responds quickly and strikes a deal, the team can devote themselves to other tasks. 

How to qualify prospects in sales? 

Although many salespeople emphasize the importance of qualifying sales prospects, few actually know how to do it. It is more of a psychological skill rather than a business skill and is perfected with practice.

Among the most popular sales engagement strategies is the triple-touch approach. Upon repeated use, it soon became evident that it was not enough to rely on completely because of a few points missing. 

As a countermeasure, an alternative method was created – The Six-fold Strategy. Is this something you’d be interested in? Please continue reading to learn the secrets of accelerating prospects’ responses using this strategy.

The Six-fold Strategy

Maintain a sturdy social media profile

Whosoever may be your prospect, you are always the face of your company to them. The prospect must feel at ease with you to make easier decisions. Always maintain a solid professional profile in social media platforms like LinkedIn to convey your trustworthiness and reliability to your prospects. 

State clearly the objectives of your profession and maintain a professional look throughout your profile. On your Linkedin heading, the problem that you are aiming to solve should be clearly mentioned and how you aim to solve it should also be clearly stated. Ambiguous statements are not going to do the job.

There shall be enough posts about what you are set out to do. Additionally, the readers should be encouraged to ask any kind of questions or suggestions in the comment section, for which you must give a prompt reply. 

Case studies about how you got satisfied customers can also be posted occasionally to boost your reliability. Contact details to reach out to you should be mentioned in every post that you make so that potential prospects do not need to hunt for your contact details.

Whatsapp details, if possible, should be provided. A lot of prospects prefer to have an SMS or text conversation rather than over the phone. If possible, tutorial videos can be uploaded to explain how your company works. All these procedures aim to remove any kind of doubt your prospects have to accelerate their responses. 

Always send relevant emails

The use of relevant emails goes a long way to accelerate prospect responses. The subject should be engaging enough to compel the reader to open the email, and not dismiss it as spam. The first few lines should directly convey the purpose of the email. It should in no way be rude or impolite. 

Many companies prefer to send more than one email as it enables them to be on top of their prospect’s minds. Not every email should be aimed at accelerating the prospect responses.

A few emails can be a case study about your previous prospect who was impressed with your work. This serves as proof of how reliable your company is. With YouTube becoming commonplace, you can also attach a link to your company’s YouTube channel where you can explain your services in detail. 

Coming back to the language of emails, the formality of the message should vary for an individual and a company, and be as customized as possible. The email should feel specifically designed for them. 

The more customized an email is the better it appears to the eyes of the prospects, encouraging them to consider buying your services. But this requires the correct identification of your leads. Incorrect leads result in wrong decisions. Always do your fair share of research before making your contact. 

Send a follow-up voicemail

The email should be followed by a voicemail to add a personal touch. The main aim is to bring the prospect over the phone. The same message of the email can be used initially, gradually shifting the focus to more details and personalized content. 

For instance, you can start by saying: “Regarding the email we sent you, might it be possible to discuss it further with you over a call?”

Also, always leave an exit point for the listener so that the conversation appears normal and organic, and not forced. Remember the purpose of a voicemail is to make your prospects contact you over the phone so mention your contact details with every message. 

It can again follow with your WhatsApp number to further strengthen the communication channel. This creates a firm bond with your prospects, prompting their response time. 

Focus on prospects’ problems

Businesses exist to solve problems. As a skilled salesman, it is important to skillfully handle the problems that prospects face and offer them an effective solution without making the customer feel forced or compelled in any way. 

For example, in place of saying, “Sir, if you are experiencing problems with your business communications, our services may be able to assist you,” a skilled salesman would say – “Every business suffers from communication problems, your business will be worth even more if you can fix that. If you need any help you can always refer to our services at NeoDove, a telecalling CRM and sales engagement platform to help you enhance your customer outreach and engagement and increase your sales”. 

The prospect will respond spontaneously to this. Maintain their engagement with your skills and do not appear to be forceful. Making the prospect comfortable goes a long way in accelerating their responses. Always keep your eye on the goal and direct your prospect to respond to you.

Never make a prospect feel guilty

A lot of situations arise when prospects decide to ignore the attempts made by the salesperson to communicate with them. Whenever a salesperson finally manages to connect with them, the last thing that should be done is to remind the prospect of the ignored calls and messages. 

For example, never say: “Hello sir, regarding the mails I sent you, you didn’t reply so I contacted you personally.” When you speak, completely ignore the previous attempts you have made. 

Reminding a prospect about the previous unanswered emails makes a prospect feels guilty. Thus, instead of buying your services he or she may postpone it a week later, thus delaying the response. Always give that positive vibe to your prospect which makes you trustworthy in their eyes. These little things go a long way to accelerate prospects’ responses. 

Never go by the book

Whatever your business is, you will always have competitors. How can we stand out from competing companies’ salespeople? Simple, follow the rules but go by your style. The majority of sales are made using tried and tested methods. To accelerate the prospect response, try to approach them in your unique way. 

Also Read: Proactiveness: The Key To Converting Sales Leads

Final Thoughts

As with everything, you must practice perfecting your skills. You can only successfully execute all of the skills mentioned above if you practice them diligently over time. Finally, regardless of successes or setbacks, the efforts you put in your engagement with your prospects must remain consistent.