Which sales opportunities should you re-engage?

Hubspot found that the average sales close rate is between 15 and 27%, depending on the industry. With over 70% of deals falling through, everyone has plenty of lost or dropped sales opportunities in their CRM. These prospects fail to convert numerous reasons, from no decision, postponed, budget constraints, contact departure, to even a slow lead response time.

Regardless of the cause, many of those prospects likely are not lost forever, and are worth reviving. But with so many to choose from, how can you determine which ones are worth pursuing? You should not waste valuable selling time chasing the wrong prospects, but you also leave money on the table by not reaching out again.

Save time and increase the odds of success by disqualifying the weakest prospects before re-initiating contact. Here’s what you should consider when choosing which dormant sales opportunities you should re-engage.

Did they say “No”?

If the prospect said “no”, was it in the form of a common objection such as timing, budget or lack of buy-in? If so, it may be worth giving them another try, especially if some time has passed. They may be ready to proceed at this point or included the funding to their budget by now.

If not all decision-makers were onboard, you need to determine if the person saying “no” is someone with executive buying authority or an admin collecting information. Once you know this, you’ll know whether to continue the conversation with the original contact or start a new process at a level where this sort of buying decision is made.

Did they have a “want” or a “need”?

If the prospect had a real pain they wanted to solve, their pain may be greater by now, making their need for a solution more intense as well. On the other hand, if they thought your product or service was interesting but failed to recognize they had a problem, attempt to find a true need, or they are a less than ideal prospect.

Did they stop communicating?

There are many reasons a prospect may ghost you. These include feeling too busy and overwhelmed to respond, the project was put on the back burner, a leave of absence, change of roles, or your contact left the company altogether. Regardless of the cause, this potential customer may still be experiencing the pain they felt when they stopped communicating with you. It’s worth revisiting this stalled deal. If your original contact has gone nonresponsive or left completely, try reaching another person in the buying group.

Were you speaking with the right person?

When a sales opportunity stalls or fails, it’s worth confirming that you were dealing with the best contact or that all the necessary parties were engaged. If your contact wasn’t working with the appropriate people within their organization, start working the account until you identify the person with buying authority. Or, at least, find a well-positioned contact to champion the deal with decision-makers.

Working through these questions increases your odds for success while minimizing your time investment as you revive these stalled deals. The result will be revived leads and more closed deals toward quota attainment.