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Do you ever have prospects who are very excited to work with you, so you get excited too, and then nothing ever comes of it?
Is there something you do differently with these prospects? Maybe get a little lazy because it seems like such a sure thing?
I'm working on an article about this "excitability in marketing," so if this has happened to you, I'd like to hear about it.
Please post your story and/or comments.
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A series of posts documenting Marketing Mentor's search for a new tagline and what happened when we opened up the discussion to the Marketing Mentor community.
I had a client with whom I had worked on one small project. They said they had a lot more work coming, they paid for my time to meet with me and explain their corporate goals and objectives, and how they thought they could use my services. They said I might have to hire someone new to handle all of the additional work they were going to give me. Then I never heard from them again until a year later, when they had me quote on a project that never came to fruition.
I can definitely say I became lazy because it was supposed to be a sure thing. I never followed up because I thought, they were so sure of everything, if they aren't moving forward now they must not be able to. I now realize (especially after working with Ilise) a gently nudging every now and again isn't a bad thing, so I recently started up a conversation with them again. They want to start a project in January. You can bet this time I will be following up!
Posted by: Sharon Bending | November 26, 2008 at 10:22 AM
I've had this happen, too. About 3 times in the last few months that I can remember. A prospect has decided they definitely want to work with me (because of my style, client referrals, etc.) I send them a proposal + estimate and then I hear nothing.
I've gotten a little better with following up with these folks with a quick email asking when they want to start. In fact, I just did that last week with one prospect who said they had been swamped but were ready to move forward. They just made the advance payment, yeah!
A few others have replied back with budget concerns. I think some prospect are truly excited about starting a project and working with a designer or other creative, but fail to act when it comes to shelling out the cash or completing tasks (like filling out a project questionnaire or brief).
Posted by: Jill Anderson | November 26, 2008 at 11:44 AM
I have realized that I like the chase and the kill. The follow up ...not so much. I think it's important to realize your "type" and fight like crazy against it - sometimes this is why my follow up fails.
Posted by: Jennifer | December 03, 2008 at 03:11 PM
In real estate, it happens all the time. There was either an email or an article on your site that said something like, "when a hot lead turns cold, it not necessarily you." It made me think that sometime we have a habit of blaming ourselves, when in reality something more important came up in our prospects lives, or they're weren't as hot as we may have thought. . .The key is to follow up. Everything in life is about timing. Let your prospect know, "I'll be here when you are ready!"
Posted by: AP | December 10, 2008 at 11:16 AM