How to Re-Engage a Cold Lead
Everything’s going great. You’re listening intently to what they have to say. They’re feeling comfortable sharing the real issues they’re dealing with. There’s a real rapport evolving between the two of you. Then, suddenly, they stop responding to your messages and calls. You’ve been ghosted—and it sucks. Sure, we could be talking about your recent dating experience—but, actually, we’re talking about a cold lead in sales.
So, how can you re-engage a cold lead once the communicative chemistry has dropped off? Well, the good news is that just because the line has dropped doesn’t mean it’s over. According to a recent Gardner study, especially in B2B buyer journeys, the process doesn’t play out “in any kind of predictable, linear order.” So, if a lead has stopped answering, take heart—you may just need to shift tactics:
1. Don’t rely on automation to save the day.
If communication has come to an abrupt halt, don’t hope pre-canned emails will fix the situation. Authentically crafting personalization into your messages is an important piece of the puzzle. Find an article or some other deliverable unique to the issue you were discussing, highlight a relevant insight, and let your cold lead let you know they were top-of-mind for you.
2. Switch-up the medium on your cold lead.
Not only are you more likely to catch your cold lead’s eye again by personalizing your outreach, you should also consider diversifying the form of communication you use. Oracle points out, “When you communicate with leads across multiple channels and devices, it not only serves as a helpful reminder to your prospect, but it also eliminates the likelihood of a lead not receiving your communications.” Utilize personalized emails, video messaging, texting, and more.
3. Be willing to walk away.
Not every lead is meant to convert into a sale. By identifying an end-point to your sales communication, you are actually decluttering your pipeline. Bryan Neale of Blind Zebra notes in the Sales Unscripted podcast, “This works no matter what. Because the [lead] is either gone […] it wasn’t there to start with, or it gets pulled back in.” If this restarts the conversation, congratulations, you’ve re-engaged a cold lead. If this doesn’t, you’ve created more room in your sales pipeline to actively pursue real leads.
The Takeaway
Identifying the right time to communicate with your leads, unresponsive or active, can most frequently be found by listening to the lead. When you don’t have that as your available guide, whether they’ve ghosted, become busy with other priorities, or some other circumstance, then empathy, tactfulness, and personal communication are often your best way to return cold leads to the path of the buyer’s journey.
For additional insights on dealing with cold leads, listen to the episode of the Sales Unscripted podcast embedded above. For an innovative, simple way to diversify your communication with leads, check out Covideo’s video messaging platform.
