Why prospects go dark?

1
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there are several reasons why prospects go dark. one could be that they got busy or they don't think they have a problem. Which is your view on this?

B2B Sales
Sales Operations
Buying
Paolo Beffagnotti
65 months ago

6 answers

2

Interesting that you have the choice there about not realizing the problem(s) that they have. This is very real and can be one of the most difficult objections to overcome.
There are the obvious answers to this like competition, price, product offerings, delivery and other components but the reality could be that the prospect is not grasping the necessity for the product. My recommendation for this is to let the prospect do the talking on what they feel are their problem and see if your product or service fills a need there. I would love to hear from others on this.

Patty Soltis
65 months ago
Agree on having the prospect talking t the beginning and see how the prodict fills a need - Paolo 65 months ago
True enough! Opinions from both party would secure the project progression while avoid unnecessary set backs and confusion! - Chun 65 months ago
Well said, including unnecessary setbacks and confusion would be the answer "No". - Patty 65 months ago
They really werent prospects in the first place - Dr. David E. 64 months ago
2

By the time Prospects send up their recommendations for approval, they have moved on to other things. Prospects forget if the in the internal buying process takes too long.

Thomas Molfetto
65 months ago
Right, you need to be timely with the follow up - Paolo 65 months ago
Yes. Follow-up with useful information; case studies; articles.. keep the drum beat going so to speak - Thomas 65 months ago
to me, case studies are the best inputs - Paolo 65 months ago
Yes. Or calls by the same title or level executive from your own company as the prospective buyer, eg., CIO to another CIO - Thomas 65 months ago
I meant to the prospect. I had my CIO call the CIO decision maker from the prospect company to help close the deal - Thomas 65 months ago
right, call between peers are useful too - Paolo 65 months ago
Great point Thomas Molfetto. Commitment to follow up is another factor where many seems to forgot about it! - Chun 65 months ago
Lucy Lookers are NOT prospects - Dr. David E. 64 months ago
2

In my opinion both the reason support why prospect go dark . For example, if they don't think they have a problem, so they do not followup and look for potential complications. Thus, with time pass by motivation died downs. Besides, when one get busy, sooner or later one will forget about the prospect as our life is occupied with so many stuff. What do you think?

Lawrence Loy
65 months ago
Sometimes we should explain the problem, not every time people is aware of this until something happens. In this case we should follow up and not wait for the other party to reply back - Paolo 65 months ago
It is true. Because we can't assumed the other party knows about the problem. In fact they might not even notice the problem, thus, the longer we wait, the more frustrated we get and some time forgotten about it which hinder the progress. - Lawrence 65 months ago
Or maybe someone else could approach the other party with a winning solution considering the level of competitiveness on the market now. - Paolo 65 months ago
True enoughPaolo Beffagnotti! Speed to execution is another factor where the more time you delay, you provide more opportunity for competition - Chun 65 months ago
Sometime instant speed is a turn off - Dr. David E. 64 months ago
2

Paolo, i am assuming your prospect means client project over here. (if it is not, please let me know what is your definition of the prospect you mean). Just my opinion: besides busy and problem, some time prospect goes dark because there is a lack of clarity. Clarity can comes in different aspect. For example, the clarity of setting the boundaries of the project dates and time for kick start, follow up and termination date, clarity of project investment capital and funding source, clarity of task responsibility for different member, clarity of the objectives, the vision and goal of the project. All these could be summarized under clarity.

Lawrence Loy
65 months ago
Lawrance, you are assuming right. Fully agree with the points regarding clarity that you mentioned. - Paolo 65 months ago
Clarity is one of the factor too! - Chun 65 months ago
I think the term "Prospect" has been dummied down to mere clicks, bites and bytes. - Dr. David E. 64 months ago
0

" They don't think they have a problem". People perspective are different. One could see it as a problem while others see it perfectly correct! Take a look at this article (https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/qualified-prospects-go-dark) that could provide some insight why prospect go dark and how to solve it! I think the next step would be how do you solve it after you know that your prospect go dark!

Chun Wei
65 months ago
Problems are real OR perceived - Dr. David E. 64 months ago
0

Various reasons -

Priority
Priority is a major issue. Often the priority gets changed by the business ( The team which is paying for the prospect to be an account).

Lack of clarity or no visibility
They don't have clarity or visibility of the problem.

Cost and Vendor
Cost is a major factor too Or you may be not the right vendor. Client might be shopping around :)

Hitesh Mathpal
64 months ago
Right, most of the time business wants to change priorities based on their needs. If you have different priorities it is important to clarify your reasons. Probably there are different points of view. - Paolo 64 months ago

Have some input?