by Will Rotondi
[email protected]
Some sales reps I’ve spoken with are quick to ignore prospects who aren’t immediately interested in a conversation. If they don’t write back around 2-3 emails, they’ll drop them off their outreach.
But why? Don’t some prospects take longer than others to want or need a particular service?
Case in point: a company that specializes in ERP software recently had a prospect reach back out after two years. Considering the sales cycle for ERPs, that makes sense. You don’t buy one every day. Heck, you don’t buy one every year.
Then the story gets a little more complicated. You see, the person who responded wasn’t the original prospect who had been receiving all of those messages. She had been forwarded one (presumably several) from her colleague, and had chosen now to reach back out. Even the email that she was responding to was dated from a year ago.
My point is, just because you don’t hear back today, tomorrow, a week, a month, or a year after you’ve emailed someone, it doesn’t mean they won’t lead to a valuable partnership. Unless they flat out tell you no, be persistent. Don’t limit yourself in your prospecting.
