Q: What’s a salesperson’s least favorite word?
A: *crickets*
(Psst: It’s a trick question.)
Silence isn’t the only thing salespeople don’t love hearing, of course. “Maybe” comes to mind. When a prospect tells you they’ve gone with a competitor or decided to delay a purchase decision, you can move on, but “maybe” leaves you in a state of limbo.
But at least when you get a maybe, you’ve heard back from the prospect. Even better, if they tell you “maybe” on the phone, you have an opportunity to ask for more information on the spot. What’s the holdup? How can you make the process easier? Is there anything they need help with?
Silence, on the other hand, could mean anything.
Did you lose the deal?
Is your prospect avoiding your email or have they just not read it yet? (If you don’t ever want to wonder if a prospect’s opened your email again, download Sidekick.)
Did they go on vacation and forget to set an out-of-office reply?
Is your contact writing back to you at this very moment? (Probably not.)
Enter the breakup email.
Breakup emails are designed to provoke a response from a prospect whom you haven’t heard from in a while. According to Katharine Derum, senior sales manager at HubSpot, her team sees a 33% response rate to their breakup emails.
These emails enable you to close the communication loop, either confirming a prospect won’t be moving forward or that they’re still interested, but have just been busy. When crafting a breakup email, keep the following three things in mind.
1) Continue to emphasize value.
Prospects have no incentive to speak with a sales rep who’s only interested in the deal for quota’s sake. Reinforce that you’re reaching out for a reason – to help their business.
Hi Prospect,
Haven’t heard from you in a while.
We last spoke about your difficulties with [pain point], and how [offering] could help [achieve specific goal] over [specific timeframe].
Are you still interested in continuing our discussion? If not, please let me know so I can stop reaching out.
Best,
Salesperson
This email is all about the prospect. You’re reaching out because when you last connected, it seemed like your service could be of use to your prospect’s business. Are they still interested in improving their bottom line? Probably.
2) Keep it simple and short.
It’s a safe assumption that your prospect is busy. You don’t need a flowery introduction or build-up; just get straight to the point.
Hi Prospect,
Apologies if my level of persistence has become annoying.
Are you still interested in speaking about your [pain point], specifically in areas of X and Y?
If not, please let me know so I can stop reaching out.
Best,
Salesperson
Being direct puts the deal in your prospect’s hands. You’re still here if your prospect needs you, but you don’t want to be annoying. If the deal is closed-lost, it’s time to professionally wrap the relationship and move on.
3) Close the loop.
Blair Enns of Win Without Pitching calls the following template “the magic email.” This template differs from the previous two because you’re effectively taking the ball back into your court.
Hi Prospect,
I haven’t heard back from you, so I’m going to assume you’ve gone in a different direction or your priorities have changed.
Let me know if we can be of assistance in the future.
Best,
Salesperson
By removing all emotion from the email and proactively assuming the deal is lost, Enns says, you trigger either relief or want in your prospect.
If they’ve closed with somebody else, your email gives them an out – you’re assuming things didn’t work out, and your prospect can write back a one-sentence reply affirming that’s the case.
If, however, your prospect is still interested but has just been slow to respond, the idea that you’ve moved on will create a sense of urgency in your prospect. If they still want this deal to happen, they’d better get moving.
Breakup emails serve as a valuable way to jolt a relationship back into motion, or put it to rest for good. Whatever your prospect says, you can move forward knowing exactly where you stand.
Have you ever successfully used a breakup email or have a template you want to share? Let us know in the comments below.
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