The last four weeks have been a bit challenging. Although I’m ahead of quota for the year, the final quarter hasn't started as smoothly as I hoped.
Things were going well until a handful of deals stalled, and I lost a few. Yes, I lose too, but I believe that losing is part of winning. However, when I took a long look at my funnel, I thought, What happened? The truth is, I had been fortunate to close many orders over the last two months. Between appointments, chasing documents, phone calls, follow-ups, and emails, prospecting fell by the wayside. I didn’t have the extra time to make the calls and visits necessary to keep my funnel full.
While I still have several opportunities pending, some are going nowhere, others are stalled, and the future pipeline doesn't look as promising as it should. So, I knew I had to bring the future to the present, as Ray Stasieczko would say.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. It was time to pick up the phone and make things happen—waiting around wasn’t an option.
Last week, I recalled a key piece of advice from our Director of Sales Enablement. It’s funny how we sometimes forget the basics that got us where we are. That one tip was to ask for referrals—something I learned a long time ago but hadn’t used in years.
So, last week I started asking. I didn’t do it in every call, but I mentioned it about 75% of the time.
I remember one call in particular to an existing account. The principal wasn’t in—he was on vacation—so I left a brief message with the receptionist and said I’d follow up via email. But instead of emailing, I opted for LinkedIn InMail, reasoning that his inbox would be flooded, and my message might get lost. LinkedIn, on the other hand, would send him an alert.
My message was simple:
"Hi Bob, it’s been over a year since we last spoke. How’s the wide format working out? Any questions, issues, or anything that needs to be addressed? By the way, do you happen to know anyone who might be interested in a wide format like yours?"
Today, I got a call on my cell from an unknown number. It turned out to be a business acquaintance of Bob, the principal I messaged last week. He’s interested in a new wide format and a color MFP! We scheduled a meeting for later this week—a solid pipeline addition.
The takeaway? As long as you're working hard, you never know what tomorrow will bring. And I’m grateful our Director of Sales Enablement kept pushing that button.
-=Good Selling=-
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