One thing I learned a long time ago is to follow up with leads who go unresponsive. Longer than you think you should.
On the one hand, you don’t want to seem desperate. On the other, people are busy. And you may not be their priority right now.
Chances are, people are more willing to work with you than your confidence would believe. They just might be distracted.
Rather than get discouraged, I prefer to persist a little until it’s clear there is a “no”.
My preferred approach is to end emails with something like, “if I don’t hear back, I’ll assume you’re busy and will try you again in a couple of weeks.”
This reminds people that you’re not going away without a response. If it’s a “no” to work with you, you want to hear it so you can stop bugging them.
It also gives you permission to show back up in their inbox with a “As promised, I’m just checking to see if now is a better time to discuss your needs” email.
I’ve seen more deals come back—and be good clients—by following up and staying persistent with a lead longer than my comfort level told me to do so.
I don’t do it so much when I’m busy. And I don’t do it if clearly there is *vibes* telling me not to.
But if I have room, I’m going to treat it like any business would. I’m going to follow up again in the future.
Do you do this? Have any stories to share?