Your Prospect Missed Your Incentive Deadline—Now What?

The incentive deadline. It’s a common sales tactic. And it often works. But these days, maybe not as often as you’d like. What to do when your qualified prospect passes up your deadline?

 

First, says Michael Pedone, founder and CEO of SalesBuzz.com, the operative word “qualified” must be addressed. Does your product or service answer a real need for the prospect? Does the prospect have purchasing authority? Can they afford your solution to their problem? And, finally, do they like and want your solution? If you can’t answer “yes” to at least three of these questions, your pricing incentive is moot.

 

If your prospect is qualified, then you’re both negotiating for a better deal, and you hope the incentive will close the sale. You place a deadline on the incentive—a week, a month—whatever works for you. At this point, what often happens is the “stall,” wherein the prospect is “temporarily out of town,” his or her "email is out," the phones are “being upgraded”—the excuses run the gamut.

 

Pedone notes this is where most salespeople panic. They’ll reach higher and start talking to anyone who will listen, creating havoc and pushing the prospect to get the deal done. This typically blows the deal.

 

Instead, Pedron advises salespeople to leave a “well-strategized” voicemail, detailing the specifics of the offer and deadline, and then simply to chill out. If the prospect misses your incentive deadline, it’s probably because something unforeseen came up, or the deal encountered a roadblock. Pedone tells salespeople that If your prospect misses your deadline (especially one that you control), wait 24 hours and see if they “reach back out.” If they don’t reach for your offer, send them an updated proposal (sans the incentive) and put the onus on them to get the incentive back. You have to let them know that your "incentives" don’t come easy. Too many salespeople offer “fake” incentives with artificial deadlines, which reduces the real value of the offer. Pedone says this generates more call-backs than fake incentives, and it jump starts the negotiation/objection handling process more often than calling them directly and trying to find out why they missed your deadline.

 

Sales consultant Michel Fortin notes that when a special offer has been issued, the process that follows can be more important than the deadline and reinforcements combined. The follow-up is key, with statistics proving that most sales occur in the follow-up process. Fortin suggests using multiple mailings—at least three—to get the prospect to finally act. Using the combined power of the "thank you" letter and a three-step, direct-mail sequence, Fortin advises using the "10-10-10" technique: sending thank you and follow-up letters in 10-day intervals.

 

Selling the incentive is not easy. You need to qualify the prospect and offer them a real incentive. It takes skill and patience, and with a little luck using the techniques described by the sales pros above can nudge the prospect into a close.

 

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