You are on the phone talking with a new lead. After a few pleasantries, they say, “Send me some information.” You eagerly agree, get off the phone, and email your product brochure and some pricing information. When you call to follow up, your call goes to voice mail. When you try to email, you get no response. What happened? They seemed so interested.
One of the most common methods of getting rid of salespeople is to ask you to send them some information. They will say, “Send me some information, and I’ll get back to you.” This line is effective because you are tricked into believing you have a hot prospect on the line who wants some info now!
All of a sudden, you abandon your primary objective of qualifying a prospect and immediately jump to selling mode. You eagerly email some information to the prospect, but you never hear from them again. When you call to follow up, you get no response.
What happened? The prospect sounded so interested in you; they wanted some information.
They just wanted to get you off the phone so they could return to what they were doing before you called. The only thing they were interested in was getting you off the phone.
Don’t believe me? Next time a lead asks you to send them some information, stop and ask them what information they want you to send. When you don’t get a firm definitive request, you will immediately recognize it wasn’t sincere. They brushed you off. That was their objective.
While prospecting for new customers, you will encounter stalls, objections, and brush-offs. The good news is that most leads only have a repertoire of a few lines they use repeatedly to brush off salespeople.
Learning how to quickly identify these patterns with some practice and developing effective response methods is possible. Next time, you won’t so easily be brushed off again.
The first phase of the selling process is prospecting, the process of finding someone to buy.
Prospecting for new clients is identifying and cultivating potential customers or clients for your products or services. It’s a fundamental component of sales and business development and crucial to growing your customer base and revenue.
When you are prospecting, you aim to find someone qualified to buy. You are not yet ready for the selling or presenting process. You need to ensure the prospect is qualified and fits your ideal qualified profile. You need more discovery before you can present.
The ABCs of a Qualified Prospect
At a minimum, you need to measure your prospect against the ABCs of a Qualified Prospect.
- A = Can you meet with ALL of the decision-makers simultaneously?
- B = Does the prospect have a BUDGET for the solution you can provide?
- C = Does the prospect have a COMMITMENT to take action?
And there is one more.
- D = Can you obtain a DECISION within a reasonable timeframe?
Check out this article about the ABCs of a Qualified Prospect.
When you recognize a brush-off like, “Send me some information,” instead of falling victim to the buyer’s script, disrupt the expected conversation by controlling the conversation with your seller’s script.
Remember, once you find a qualified lead, your mission in prospecting is to set an appointment for discovery to determine if the lead has a need that your products or services can help with.
Why don’t you say, “I’d be happy to send you some information?” May I ask you a few more questions first?”
Take this opportunity to collect more information that will be helpful for a future approach.
Keep the conversation going by gathering more information for your Customer Relationship Management system. In addition to the primary contact information of name, address, phone number, and email, try to learn more about the prospect’s procurement process, decision-making framework, and buying cycle.
You may be getting the “Send me some information” brush-off simply because the prospect’s buying cycle and your selling cycle are not in sync now. They don’t have a C or a COMMITMENT to take action right now. You may be the best provider for the lead, but because of timing, now is not the right time to engage on a deeper level that leads to a business relationship.
By slowing down and trying to collect additional information before sending your information, you may uncover the real reason for the brush-off. “No” doesn’t always mean “No, not ever.”
Many times, “No” means “No, not now.”
You are in the prospecting phase of your selling cycle. You don’t have enough information to transition to the presenting phase of your selling cycle.
Until you conduct more discovery into what the lead needs and what they are willing to do to solve their problems, you are wasting your time presenting your products, services, or prices.
Instead, stay focused on developing the lead into a prospect. You must present yourself as likable and trustworthy before they consider doing business with you.
You said you would be happy to send them some information. Start by sending information that will help them like and trust you first.
Send them more information about you and your qualifications. Send the lead some letters from satisfied customers.
See my article on Making a Good First Impression.
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