For a sales professional, it’s one of the worst feelings in the world. It’s a frustration, confusion, and 
helplessness all wrapped up into one and it’s called “Radio Silence.” Radio Silence is a phenomenon in strategic business selling where you’ve connected with a prospect, established credibility, started to develop a relationship, demonstrated value, the prospect has provided good buying signals by asking for follow-up and next steps, and you’ve followed up appropriately.
And then there is nothing.
Silence.
Not a returned email.
Or a phone call.
The prospect has disappeared for several weeks and all you hear is “Radio Silence.”
What are you supposed to do? What are the best practices? Here are a few thoughts that I’ve generated from many conversations with the best and most successful sales professionals I’ve worked with over the years:
Be patient, your prospect is probably truly busy
Don’t take it personally. In this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world where most people (prospects) are responsible for more than one job, the prospect is probably truly busy. Is that an excuse for the Radio Silence? Of course, not. It takes 20 seconds to respond to an email with an “I’m really busy will be back to you soon” email but in the science of selling, this shows you something that you can use later; either the prospect needs help – that somehow you can provide in your value proposition – or the prospect is a really poor time manager which you might also be able to help with in your value proposition. But the key point here is 90% of the time the prospect isn’t being a jerk.
Manage your internal team
The questions from your manager, the Marketing department, and Sales Operations will start flowing in about 3 weeks after the onset of Radio Silence. They will refer to “the stalled pipeline,” poor follow-up and a lack of sales skills. And sometime they will either reach out to the prospect themselves or force you to make contact when it’s not appropriate. You need to do everything possible to avoid this. You can do that by proactively communicating your strategy and preaching patients.
Find the right cadence of follow-up; it’s not volume, but timing and quality
This is the most important tip. You need to find the right cadence of follow-up. My recommendation after the first three contacts which should be within the first 10 business days is to try again just once a week. When you are in the middle of a radio silence cycle, it’s not about volume of contacts, it’s about timing and quality of contact. Maintain a positive tone and let the prospect know you are there when they need you. There are two things that you have to remember; 1) you cannot make the prospect do anything 2) after 5 contacts, the prospect didn’t forget about you. The prospect knows you are there but for some reason is actively not responding.
It’s not about you; see of the prospect is ok
One of the strengths of great sales professionals – having high levels of drive – can also be a limiter. Many people with high drive are self-centered and can struggle with emotional intelligence and awareness. In the case of Radio Silence, this is not just about you. In our current world of volatile change where contacts / prospect turnover is extremely high, there is a chance that the Radio Silence could be a result of a change in the business. Budgets could be cut, departments could be cut, or the prospect is no longer there. It happens quite a bit. My suggestion is that in one of your reach outs to your Radio Silent prospect ask if he/she is ok. Keep it simple and show some caring, concern, and empathy.
Don’t get angry, get smart
All of us what receive solicitations, emails, voice mails, and much more every day. It’s a part of life and the challenge for sales professionals in a complex strategic business sale is cut through the clutter. Sending an angry email is never, ever appropriate but there are too many sales people who think they will work. Subject: Hello, Are you Ever Going to Call me BACK??!!! is probably not going to get you very far. You can’t let the heat of the moment and the frustration of the Radio Silence get to you. So get smart. Create some urgency.
How about a note saying:
“Dear Ms. Prospect, I know you were interested in my PRODUCT/SERVICE but I haven’t heard from you in a while. We are really busy right now with other customers so I’m going to focus on them for a while. Please reach out if you would like to reconnect and hopefully we’ll have the CAPACITY to help you. Hope to talk with you soon.
