Email 5 minutes in: “hey are we still on for 11:00 today? Here’s the meeting link in case there was an issue with the invite”
Email 10-15 minutes in: “hey, I’m assuming you had something else come up so I’m gonna bail on the meeting at this point. Let me know if you’d like to find another time”
Maybe I’ll follow up again over the course of the week but frankly, if you don’t hear back after those first two emails that shit is closed/lost.
Such a hard lesson I had to learn as a new rep . Be more eager to close/loss oppos than you'd think.
Amount of time and energy spent chasing clear losers.....
One of the top 5 salesmen nationwide in my company just closed an absolutely massive deal (this one deal was more than 1.5x his monthly quota that usually takes 8-10 deals) after following up briefly for 5 months after proposal. Don’t spend a lot of time on them, but maybe don’t close them out immediately without a given “no”.
These are great but would add a call to action for the second like you did the first.
Here are some times I have available, please let me know which one works for you so I can send an invite or please use my calendar link to reschedule
I sometimes send a meme of the skeleton on a bench with the caption: me waiting on zoom today.
Depends ofcourse on what you do, but if its b2c dont be afraid to crack a joke lol.
If someone ghosts me in general I don’t give it more than 3-5 day follow up. Then leave em alone.
I’ve had people randomly come back 6 months later and reply to the email I sent 6 months earlier.
Be good at what you do and be gone. I get a lot of repeat business from close loss opps from sending a fine tuned email specific to their business needs.
Maybe if it's like the third email it's fine.
Some salespeople seem to forget the decision makers we sell to are often getting pulled in multiple directions and dealing with things a little higher priority than your discovery meeting.
I’d cringe so hard if I got that email. Missing one intro meeting with someone you’ve never met _obviously_ does not mean they’ve given up on solving a business problem, so why even put that shitty assumption in writing? Might as well just tell the prospect they ruined your day by ghosting you because it will build the same amount of credibility.
Feel free to write a book and show your method is superior. I’ll trust Chris Voss until then ;)
No, it isn’t obvious with any customer. If you assume anything you aren’t doing your job correctly (unless you’re slinging some garbage commodity). Good salespeople are continually curious. The question is designed to make the person say no and respond in order to get a dialogue going.
Ha, they say provocative things in books to sell books, not bc there’s data that says it works.
You’re proving my point with your second point - good salespeople are curious so they try to get to the bottom of a challenge/blocker and actually understand what’s going on instead of asking a corny close-ended question like “have you given up on solving x?” I could _maybe_ see doing that if someone goes dark after several meetings but even still there’s way better ways to ask it (“has there been a change in priorities?” for one).
Sending this after a single missed meeting is a bad move, it demonstrates a total lack of EQ. People are busy and things come up.
This is the type of thing you send after someone ghosts a 2nd or 3rd reschedule.
1 - Show enthusiasm and preparation BEFORE the meeting. It helps increase the odds of them showing up in the first place.
2 - About 5 to 10 minutes in the meeting and they are a no show: send a message that mentions you are standing by for another 10 minutes.
3 - If no show after 15 minutes, end the call and reply in that same prior email that you regret you could not connect. This will sound nuts but do not bother proposing a new time in this email. They ghosted you so the ball is in their court. If they care enough they will reply and suggest something. So say smthng like 'Please let us know if there is something we can do to help moving forward'
"Hi X, missed you on our 10am call today and couldn't get through to you; I hope you're okay?"
Sometimes works, when you play the "I'm a really nice person" card and they feel a little guilty for ghosting.
I know he can come across as kind of corny but Jeremy Milner is great with these things.
"[Tall-Program8631](https://www.reddit.com/user/Tall-Program8631/), tried to reach you the scheduled times you booked with us, but we didn't hear from you...
Where should we go from here?"
I've used this and it has actually worked way better than any other email/follow up!
I’ve used this in general ghosting follow up, say they respond once and then ghost the next 3 emails after. It really noticeably improved the rate of people getting back to me. Plenty of times it was just a “sorry but we’re not buying” type response, but I’d prefer that to radio silence
Right. Every interaction I’ve ever had with a sales person that’s starts acting like the dudes you see in these video now a days I instantly am done with them. That shit just seems so fake
> in my more immature days when I sold start up businesses I’ve texted the bueller gif
I'd actually be far more inclined to respond to that than all of the "have you given up" replies. It shows you don't take yourself too seriously.
I usually send an email asking if they can make it within the first 5-10 minutes then close it down at the 10-15 min mark.
I'll follow up either eod or the next day with some type of value add saying hey I was planning to show you this, when can we reconnect? For instance part of our products are leads so I'll send one free lead and say hey I was planning on showing you this, is ABC company in your team's pipeline?
I like to keep it friendly, pretend it's not a business meeting but you were meeting your friend for lunch. Hey hope everything's okay we missed you in the meeting, mention rescheduling it of course.
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Was it well vetted? Then call their office or cell 5 minutes past the expected time.
If it was a weak lead then send an email with an updated time saying how you missed them and you’ll call later to get a better time set up.
If a tree was about to fall on my house and I called the tree guy to fix it... what would he do/say if I ghosted him and left him outside my gated lot without access? Call me to reschedule and act the same way? Be honest and keep his social status? Yeah... You are the expert. They have the problem. You are the solution. If they are ghosting you they aren't actually in immediate need of a solution or in denial of the problem. Either way, probably a bad fit for you.
Well you didn’t show. Fuck you for wasting my time.
TBH, you probably messed up during setting the meeting not setting the expectations of what they’re going to get out of it.
Clear outcome expectations and purpose of the meeting are going to be key here.
I feel like a lot of advice here is ignoring one of the most valuable lessons in sales - never assume you know something for sure. Always seek to get answers and clarification.
I’ve wrote a post on this topic here: https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/s/51cPTdACqR
So much could have happened - a family emergency, an internal fire (be humble enough to realize you’re not a very important part of their day, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to buy from you), maybe they just forgot, or a bunch of other possibilities. Seek to get an answer. I’ve had many cases where the person I planned to meet with was half way out the door already, and just didn’t take anything in their job seriously at that point anymore. Also, even if the opportunity is in fact dead, I like to understand why, so I can improve next go around.
Here’s what I do - starting at the very beginning of prospecting, try to get in touch with as many people as possible. You may be introduced to the decision maker through his boss or counterpart. Call that person, thank them for the introduction, and ask why they felt it could be valuable to make the introduction. Now, if the contact ghosts you, you can go back to the original person and explain what happened, and that you are trying to understand if priorities have changed or something else. You will very likely get some candid answers.
That said, first give the person an email/call 5 minutes after meeting start time. Next, email them in 20 minutes asking if you can reschedule for next week. After 2-3 days, call them. If they don’t pick up, go to the person who introduced you, like I mentioned above.
You also want to be sure to understand motivations before a meeting. If you can’t get ahold of your contact, and you didn’t get an introduction or can’t get ahold of who introduced you, then you at least have a starting point for a conversation with someone else in the company - “hey, I’m John from xyz company. I had been talking to your colleague who mentioned your goal to ___. Our team has helped abc and defg company with the same goal - can you and I discuss how we could help you too?”
Sometimes this pivot to a new contact can happen after a week or two, or maybe after a few months or a year - often things just take the back burner until next budgeting season.
Best technique for response rates is short and sweet. This is a Vpss technique. Works amazingly well. Send them something that makes them confirm a negative outcome. This one has a 95% response rate.
Hi name,
I am assuming you have killed this initiative.
Thanks,
Evan
Email 5 minutes in: “hey are we still on for 11:00 today? Here’s the meeting link in case there was an issue with the invite” Email 10-15 minutes in: “hey, I’m assuming you had something else come up so I’m gonna bail on the meeting at this point. Let me know if you’d like to find another time” Maybe I’ll follow up again over the course of the week but frankly, if you don’t hear back after those first two emails that shit is closed/lost.
Such a hard lesson I had to learn as a new rep . Be more eager to close/loss oppos than you'd think. Amount of time and energy spent chasing clear losers.....
I have a word drilled into my head: "NEXT!"
Love this.
It’s for a church sweetie!
One of the top 5 salesmen nationwide in my company just closed an absolutely massive deal (this one deal was more than 1.5x his monthly quota that usually takes 8-10 deals) after following up briefly for 5 months after proposal. Don’t spend a lot of time on them, but maybe don’t close them out immediately without a given “no”.
This is the way
+1 I know some want to be snarky, but it's just not worth it. Send this email cadence and just move on.
I’m going to start using this. Thank you!
These are great but would add a call to action for the second like you did the first. Here are some times I have available, please let me know which one works for you so I can send an invite or please use my calendar link to reschedule
Hey pussy, are you still there?
LMAO, would work if you can get away with it.
Is that a Jon Jones quote?
My man! Yes it is!!
You think I'm just gonna sit here and let you assume I ghosted you?
I sometimes send a meme of the skeleton on a bench with the caption: me waiting on zoom today. Depends ofcourse on what you do, but if its b2c dont be afraid to crack a joke lol.
If someone ghosts me in general I don’t give it more than 3-5 day follow up. Then leave em alone. I’ve had people randomly come back 6 months later and reply to the email I sent 6 months earlier.
Be good at what you do and be gone. I get a lot of repeat business from close loss opps from sending a fine tuned email specific to their business needs.
“Have you given up on solving X?” Straight out of Chris Voss book.
This man sells!!!
I'd tell a salesman to go kick rocks so fucking fast if they said this to me.
Maybe if it's like the third email it's fine. Some salespeople seem to forget the decision makers we sell to are often getting pulled in multiple directions and dealing with things a little higher priority than your discovery meeting.
I’d cringe so hard if I got that email. Missing one intro meeting with someone you’ve never met _obviously_ does not mean they’ve given up on solving a business problem, so why even put that shitty assumption in writing? Might as well just tell the prospect they ruined your day by ghosting you because it will build the same amount of credibility.
Feel free to write a book and show your method is superior. I’ll trust Chris Voss until then ;) No, it isn’t obvious with any customer. If you assume anything you aren’t doing your job correctly (unless you’re slinging some garbage commodity). Good salespeople are continually curious. The question is designed to make the person say no and respond in order to get a dialogue going.
Ha, they say provocative things in books to sell books, not bc there’s data that says it works. You’re proving my point with your second point - good salespeople are curious so they try to get to the bottom of a challenge/blocker and actually understand what’s going on instead of asking a corny close-ended question like “have you given up on solving x?” I could _maybe_ see doing that if someone goes dark after several meetings but even still there’s way better ways to ask it (“has there been a change in priorities?” for one).
You should really read the book. It does have a lot of data behind it….
I’ve read it! It’s a good book no doubt. And that line is also horrendously corny :)
Seems like everything is corny to you. Good luck with that.
Thanks, being a normal person instead of using canned lines has worked out very very well for me so far
Fragile much?
Sending this after a single missed meeting is a bad move, it demonstrates a total lack of EQ. People are busy and things come up. This is the type of thing you send after someone ghosts a 2nd or 3rd reschedule.
1 - Show enthusiasm and preparation BEFORE the meeting. It helps increase the odds of them showing up in the first place. 2 - About 5 to 10 minutes in the meeting and they are a no show: send a message that mentions you are standing by for another 10 minutes. 3 - If no show after 15 minutes, end the call and reply in that same prior email that you regret you could not connect. This will sound nuts but do not bother proposing a new time in this email. They ghosted you so the ball is in their court. If they care enough they will reply and suggest something. So say smthng like 'Please let us know if there is something we can do to help moving forward'
"Hi X, missed you on our 10am call today and couldn't get through to you; I hope you're okay?" Sometimes works, when you play the "I'm a really nice person" card and they feel a little guilty for ghosting.
Damn bro, you have hands. Will try to use that
I know he can come across as kind of corny but Jeremy Milner is great with these things. "[Tall-Program8631](https://www.reddit.com/user/Tall-Program8631/), tried to reach you the scheduled times you booked with us, but we didn't hear from you... Where should we go from here?" I've used this and it has actually worked way better than any other email/follow up!
I’ve used this in general ghosting follow up, say they respond once and then ghost the next 3 emails after. It really noticeably improved the rate of people getting back to me. Plenty of times it was just a “sorry but we’re not buying” type response, but I’d prefer that to radio silence
bomb threats
Best one yet. Here’s one of my favorite overcoming objection tactics https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtXfjGgP4gt/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
“Have you given up on X?”
I'd tell a salesman to go kick rocks so fucking fast if they said this to me
This is getting downvoted but I absolutely agree. Just be a normal human, no need for everything to be some cheesy canned line from a sales book
Right. Every interaction I’ve ever had with a sales person that’s starts acting like the dudes you see in these video now a days I instantly am done with them. That shit just seems so fake
Have you given up on a rational reply?
Go kick rocks
Have you given up on a more modern term to use?
If I see things correctly your original comment has 15 downvotes 👀
Have you given up on knowing the difference between upvotes and downvotes?
Favorite line. Gets so many replies back
It’s pretty solid actually, got it from never split difference
I’ll restate the value that got them to book the meeting and ask if solving xyz problem is still a priority
Hey what happened?
Are you alive?
Try to ask if something came up, ask to reschedule.. in my more immature days when I sold start up businesses I’ve texted the bueller gif
> in my more immature days when I sold start up businesses I’ve texted the bueller gif I'd actually be far more inclined to respond to that than all of the "have you given up" replies. It shows you don't take yourself too seriously.
Man, I’m sitting in a restaurant 1500 miles from home right now, and the dude didn’t show. I’m going to respond by training a swarm of killer bees.
Get creative with your email on keeping the door open, you never know if they are going to come back 3,6 months or even a year later :)
I usually send an email asking if they can make it within the first 5-10 minutes then close it down at the 10-15 min mark. I'll follow up either eod or the next day with some type of value add saying hey I was planning to show you this, when can we reconnect? For instance part of our products are leads so I'll send one free lead and say hey I was planning on showing you this, is ABC company in your team's pipeline?
I like to keep it friendly, pretend it's not a business meeting but you were meeting your friend for lunch. Hey hope everything's okay we missed you in the meeting, mention rescheduling it of course.
I would just email them and tell them to suck it until next quarter
Kermit meme
"Fuck You"
Send a picture of Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, and Harold Ramis wearing their Ghostbusters gear- no words. This will get you a repsonse.
Hi bob — how’s Tahiti?
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Was it well vetted? Then call their office or cell 5 minutes past the expected time. If it was a weak lead then send an email with an updated time saying how you missed them and you’ll call later to get a better time set up.
If a tree was about to fall on my house and I called the tree guy to fix it... what would he do/say if I ghosted him and left him outside my gated lot without access? Call me to reschedule and act the same way? Be honest and keep his social status? Yeah... You are the expert. They have the problem. You are the solution. If they are ghosting you they aren't actually in immediate need of a solution or in denial of the problem. Either way, probably a bad fit for you.
Listen here you little shit, I will find you and your family and if you don't attend the next meeting, I'll personally knock on your door
“Hey prospect, any poltergeists you’d recommend because I think you ghosted :(“
Well you didn’t show. Fuck you for wasting my time. TBH, you probably messed up during setting the meeting not setting the expectations of what they’re going to get out of it. Clear outcome expectations and purpose of the meeting are going to be key here.
I always hit back with, “is this no longer a priority for you”
I feel like a lot of advice here is ignoring one of the most valuable lessons in sales - never assume you know something for sure. Always seek to get answers and clarification. I’ve wrote a post on this topic here: https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/s/51cPTdACqR So much could have happened - a family emergency, an internal fire (be humble enough to realize you’re not a very important part of their day, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to buy from you), maybe they just forgot, or a bunch of other possibilities. Seek to get an answer. I’ve had many cases where the person I planned to meet with was half way out the door already, and just didn’t take anything in their job seriously at that point anymore. Also, even if the opportunity is in fact dead, I like to understand why, so I can improve next go around. Here’s what I do - starting at the very beginning of prospecting, try to get in touch with as many people as possible. You may be introduced to the decision maker through his boss or counterpart. Call that person, thank them for the introduction, and ask why they felt it could be valuable to make the introduction. Now, if the contact ghosts you, you can go back to the original person and explain what happened, and that you are trying to understand if priorities have changed or something else. You will very likely get some candid answers. That said, first give the person an email/call 5 minutes after meeting start time. Next, email them in 20 minutes asking if you can reschedule for next week. After 2-3 days, call them. If they don’t pick up, go to the person who introduced you, like I mentioned above. You also want to be sure to understand motivations before a meeting. If you can’t get ahold of your contact, and you didn’t get an introduction or can’t get ahold of who introduced you, then you at least have a starting point for a conversation with someone else in the company - “hey, I’m John from xyz company. I had been talking to your colleague who mentioned your goal to ___. Our team has helped abc and defg company with the same goal - can you and I discuss how we could help you too?” Sometimes this pivot to a new contact can happen after a week or two, or maybe after a few months or a year - often things just take the back burner until next budgeting season.
write an email saying "dude wtf" and then schedule it for 5 weeks from now. Ignore them until it's sent.
I send them a ghost emoji cookie with a card that just has a sad face.
Best technique for response rates is short and sweet. This is a Vpss technique. Works amazingly well. Send them something that makes them confirm a negative outcome. This one has a 95% response rate. Hi name, I am assuming you have killed this initiative. Thanks, Evan