Even the most successful sales reps know that not every meeting leads to a deal. But what do you do when a prospect seems interested initially, only to slowly fade out of the picture?
It’s possible that your prospects chose to go with a competitor, or that they no longer need what you’re offering. However, it’s just as likely that they’ve simply reached a stopping point in their research and haven’t continued to pursue it. If that’s the case, you can harness the power of social selling to get the deal back on track.
Facing the “Dead Zone”
Sales reps may have different names for the phenomenon, but they’re all unfortunately familiar with the story: somewhere between contacting a prospect and closing the sale, a disconnect occurs. Maybe communication becomes less frequent—or even stops completely. At this point, which Koka Sexton, Head of Social Media for LinkedIn, refers to as a “hump” or “dead zone,” it may seem that your only options are to pester the prospect with calls—or give up on the deal altogether.
“Top sales performers are constantly evaluating, scrutinizing and evolving their approach,” writes Sexton. “However, even the most seasoned sales pros face a ‘hump’ in the sales process they can’t seem to get over from time to time.” Which begs the question: when you’re facing a stalled deal, what you can actually do to jump-start it back to life?
Leveraging Social Selling to Maintain Interest
When you’re facing a slowed-down or seemingly dead sale, social selling strategies can help to revive it. You’ll have more success following up with prospects on LinkedIn if you can show that you understand their needs and concerns: share or reference articles relevant to their industry to demonstrate your expertise.
You’ll also win more deals if you practice a multi-threading approach. Rather than focusing on only one decision maker at a time, try to make multiple contacts within each organization. Then, if communication with one contact stalls, you can stoke the fire by engaging with other decision makers.
Driving Interest with Your Professional Brand
Your online professional brand—which includes your LinkedIn profile, as well as your updates, shared posts, and activity—represents the first impression that you make on most prospects. But just as importantly, your professional brand represents a great opportunity to keep buyers engaged throughout the sales cycle.
This becomes possible only when you build your professional brand with your target customer in mind. Start by adding relevant content to your profile that will pique the interest of prospects. Continue by liking, sharing, and commenting on potential buyers’ posts. In doing so, you’ll establish yourself as an expert—and when the time comes to buy, your customers will come to you.
In the end, you won’t be able to get over every “hump” that you encounter—but with social selling and a little perseverance, you’ll begin to notice some of those dead zones coming back to life.
For more tips on building your professional brand, download the Professional Profile Kit today.
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