In this month's free newsletter I’m sharing a simple strategy that allows you to disqualify timewasters, and focus on leads that are more likely to result in a sale.
I use it in my own business, and it’s helped our paid members close big sales and save time.
It’s a 8 minute read for anyone who wants to tidy up their pipeline in Q4 and make more sales 👇
Ever thought you had a sale in the bag, but the prospect disappears without explanation?
Perhaps there were some emails flying back and forth, a conversation or two on the phone where they said you were “just what they needed”, and they’ll get on it and come back to you.
But they’re now no longer entertaining you.
They’ve stopped replying to your emails and they’re screening your calls.
You’ve been ghosted.
But breaking up isn’t always a bad thing.
Sometimes it’s the healthiest thing you can do. Especially when it comes to organising your pipeline.
Knowing when you need to cut ties is the only way you’ll make the most of your time and stop wasting it on someone who’s never going to convert.
You need to move on.
There’s no point getting hung up on one prospect who has, after a couple of promising conversations, decided they’re going to drop off the face of the earth.
Breaking up means you can move on.
You’ll save wasted time ⌛️
By disqualifying a prospect, you can focus on the leads that are more likely to close in a sale.
You’ll clear your pipeline 🙌
We all want a realistic view of our pipelines, this way you’ll get rid of any loose ends.
You’ll improve your response rate 📧
In an ideal world, the close the file email will trigger a response. They’ll see you’re off to help someone else and know you’re not going to keep trying.
This is a strategy I originally shared with the private VAMO community in February and It’s resulted in some big wins for our members.
Remember, there are tonnes of reasons the prospect might have gone cold on you.
The timing isn’t right.
What you’re offering no longer suits them.
They’re getting other deals with competitors.
They don’t like to say no and think it’s easier to ghost.
They’re on holiday.
In times like this, there are only so many attempts at getting back on track that you can make before you:
A – piss them off.
B – start to look desperate.
So what do you do? 👇
Sooner or later, you need to give up the ghost (excuse the pun).
The important thing to remember here is to not whack this out too early because you’ll probably come across a little dramatic.
People have other things going on and if they have a reason for not replying yet, you might be too pushy.
Only pull this out if you’ve chased up two or three times and haven’t got anything back.
The types of people you’ll need to send it to:
👉 The fallen off the face of the earth prospects.
👉 The I don’t know yet or I’m not quite sure prospects.
👉 The playing hard to get prospects.
It’s time to call it a day. With the close the file email you’ll let them know they can contact you if they change their mind and realise that you’re about to stop chasing.
It might kick them into gear.
This means it’s not one to go straight in with, the purpose of it is to reconnect with prospects who have stopped all communication and you’re giving one last push on closing.
Either you close the file or the sale.
Hey,
Great meeting you the other day.
It would seem you’ve been able to fix this problem without us which is great!
Wishing you all the best, I’m going to close the file on this one for now.
Mike,
Founder of VIEWS ARE MY OWN
A good salesperson knows when to walk away.
And a huge amount of a salesperson’s time is chasing prospects that will never convert. You need to let them know that you’re glad you had the opportunity to speak, but that you’re closing them off now.
By sending an email like the one above, one of two things will happen.
They never get back to you.
You know they’re completely uninterested now and it’s over. Move on and find someone else with the same problem to sell to.
Or they come back to you with an explanation or reason for why they’ve been quiet and now you have the potential to keep the conversation going to close the sale.
But either way, you now have an answer and you can stop wasting your time.
Homework for the week 📚
Close your open files.
Go through the prospects you’ve been chasing for the last few weeks. See who hasn’t replied and has left you in limbo and send the close-the-file email.
By the end of the week, hopefully, you’ll have a list of people you can bin and no longer claim are in your sales pipeline so you can focus on who is, or you’ll have a few more conversations started back up again to close asap.
Remember: You don’t want to sound bitter.
Keep it professional and keep it positive.
This is your last chance to win them over, so you don’t want to leave it on a negative.
Knowing when to close the file is empowering. Getting used to taking yourself out of losing situations will only help you to generate more wins in the long run.
Let me know if you manage to close any deals using this tactic.
If you do, spend £150 of it on a full membership to VAMO where you’ll get strategies like this weekly, and access to ask me and Dan questions directly.
The Wrap-Up
In case you missed it, here’s what the VAMO slack community has been up to throughout September.
We discussed the pricing strategy that shifts buyer preferences to your highest-margin products or services.
After reading it, you'll never look at a Starbucks menu the same again.
We talked about how to sell into corporates - with everyone feeling the squeeze, we wanted to show how you can get hold of budget holders.
Trust me. Nail this and your business (if your service or product is good) will fly.
Finally, we had Rand Fishkin (Co-Founder of Moz) explain how some companies waste ad spend by simply throwing cash at google, Facebook and LinkedIn.
If you’re already running ads and you've been hands-off so far, this edition served as a prompt to conduct a full audit with your team.
VAMO Member Shoutout 🚀
Jac Hughes takes the prize this month for his guerrilla marketing stunt at an Agile conference.
Inspired by Mike’s own attempt (click here to view), Jac placed his own stickers in the toilets at the event. Thankfully, he wasn’t arrested and got some reaction on social too.
We love seeing people try out the things we suggest. Not everything will work for everyone, but if you keep implementing one of two things you pick up in the group, you should sell more, market better, and grow your following. Just like Jac.
That’s it for this week.
I hope you found it useful.
If you’ve not already, don’t forget to subscribe to our paid community.
You’ll get all of this:
⚡1 x email per week that covers sales/marketing/grow your following with a coaching video.
⚡Access to the private Slack community
⚡Early access to watch the VAMO Podcast (1 week early)
⚡Submit questions to be answered on the VAMO Podcast by Mike, Dan and the guests
⚡Community meetups
⚡Early access and discount to training sessions
For £150 for the year, it’s a real no-brainer 🧠
See you next week!
VAMO
Prospect Stopped Responding? Send the ‘Close the File’ email