Sales horror stories

By the time a prospect goes quiet, you’ve usually already lost them. The deal didn’t die in the silence. It died earlier, on a call you’ve already had.

So where did it actually go wrong, and could you have seen it coming?

Host Carmen Pashen puts those questions to Sopro Client Directors James Kenny and Craig Mathewson, who have more than 40 years of sales experience between them. They talk about the deals that still haunt them and what they do differently now. 

What’s covered

• Two sales horror stories, and what they taught. One is a big-name deal that went quiet at the final hurdle. The other is a meeting that turned out to be nothing like the one on the invite. Hear how each one changed the way James and Craig work today.
• What ghosting really looks like, and how to tell a busy prospect from a deal that’s slipping away.
• The early warning signs James and Craig listen for on a call, long before a deal has a chance to go quiet.
• How they keep momentum between calls, so buyers always have a reason to come back.
• What they do when a deal does go quiet, and how they use every lost deal to sharpen their process.

Key takeaways: the five ways to stop deals going dark

• The one thing to do before you hang up on any sales call.
• Why relying on one stakeholder puts your deal at risk, even when that person is keen.
• Craig’s calendar trick, which he says gets a reply 90% of the time, and the one situation where it will kill a deal.
• How to read a prospect’s silence, and why it doesn’t always mean no.
• How to tell when it’s time to walk away, and why a no can be the best outcome.
• Know when to move on. A clear no is better than a deal you’re still hoping for, because it frees up time for deals that can close.