One of the hardest things about growing a Fractional CFO firm is finding prospects and getting them onto sales calls.  

Since qualified leads are hard to come by (and every new client is worth tens of thousands of dollars per year!), you've got to close as many leads as possible.

But the truth is, you won't convert every lead into a client on the sales call. Sometimes, leads will need to:

Think it over
Check the budget
Evaluate the decision with their leadership team

In other words, they aren't ready to decide on the spot. But that doesn't mean all is lost, or they won't purchase your services!

Where I used to go wrong in the "I'm not ready to decide right now" situation is that I would cross my fingers, close my eyes, and pray that the lead would eventually come back and ultimately seal the deal.

Sometimes, they'd come back.
Most of the time, they didn't.
Grrr. 

Unfortunately, the manifestation approach to closing sales isn't as effective as one might hope.

Today, I'm going to share three very practical tips for salvaging client leads that don't close on the sales call.

Let's dive in.

Practical Tip #1: Save The Date 

There will be times when you totally nail the sales call.

The client has problems and you've got experience.
You collaborate on potential solutions.
You come up with a great scope.
They believe you can help.
You KNOW you can help.
The value is there.
Winner.

..but they still want to think it over or talk with the team about it.

Some sales gurus say this is the result of poorly executed sales calls. Others might say that you should push back on the objection and try all the tricks to get them to decide.

I think that these situations are just going to happen from time to time (regardless of any Jedi ninja sales tricks). 

And I'm not going to try and pressure someone into making a $70,000+ decision on the spot if they're not ready. That doesn't feel right to me.

But I have found that there's ONE essential move here that you MUST make before the sales call ends, especially if you believe the prospect is serious about working with you: ask to book a follow-up call.

Getting the next call on the calendar helps for a couple of reasons. First, it helps move the process along by setting a deadline for the decision. Second, it greatly reduces the chance of the prospect ghosting you (remember: a "no" is better than nothing because it means you're free to move on).

Here's how I ask:

"So you don't have to chase me down later, would you be opposed to pulling out our calendars right now and blocking off 15 minutes for a follow-up call so I can answer any additional questions or concerns you might have after you've thought it over?"

I've found the take rate to be about 75% on the offer. 

Practical Tip #2: Where Should We Go From Here?

Have you ever had a sales call that felt like a winner? 

You sent over the proposal.
You waited for the signed contract to come back.
You knew the onboarding fee should hit the bank account shortly.

And then... nothing.

You send the follow-up email (don't send those. Do THIS instead).
You shoot them a text.
You even try to call.

And then... more nothing.

The odds are high that the prospect has ghosted you (maybe for good reason), and you aren't likely to close the deal at this point.

But wouldn't it be great to know if they decided to go with someone else, or if they just hit pause on hiring for now, or if your price was just too high? 

I recently discovered a great email that has resulted in a very high response rate and you may want to try it.

Here's the template:

Jim,  

I tried to reach you a few times since our call last week and haven't heard back…

Where should we go from here?

Mike

Practical Tip #3: The 9-Word Hail Mary

Over time, you'll accumulate a list of prospects that didn't close for various reasons:  

Timing, pricing, competitors, or other shiny objects. 

You don't want to just send these leads to their graves, but what can you say six months later to try to flip a lead that's as cold as a corpse back to a piping-hot prospect?

I've been using Dean Jackson's 9-word email.

You can learn more about it in THIS VIDEO, but here is the gist:

• Use a subject line with their first name in it.

• The body of the email has only one sentence, which is a question with approximately nine words. The question directly relates to what the prospect discussed on the sales call, usually a goal or an outcome. 

Here's the template:

Subj: Jim - quick question for you

Have you given up on hiring a Fractional CFO?
OR
Are you still looking for help increasing your profitability?
OR
Still looking to find ways to increase cash and reduce debt? 

-Mike

I have these emails scheduled to go out 3-5 months after a lead goes cold and the response rate has been surprisingly high for me and others as well! 

Several people inside my Inner Circle program have tried it in the past month and a few have resurrected some old leads and converted them into sales calls!

No risk.
Low effort.
High reward. 

 
In summary:

Don't give up on leads that don't close on the spot and don't write off leads that go cold.

But don't just hope they'll come back on their own either.

Implement each of these three tips, and I can guarantee you'll close sales that would have otherwise slipped away.

Your Coach,
Michael