ZVRK

Enterprise Account Executive

Valued Contributor

Follow up ideas?

Savages, I need your help again :)

I've been working on this deal since September (selling HR Enterprise SaaS). We made it through an RFP, to the top two vendors being considered, and before making their final decision, there was a final meeting with the CHRO. Meeting went ok, but not great. The CHRO had a concern that we addressed but felt like they stayed on the fence even after the meeting concluded.

This meeting was in November, and I`m yet to receive any meaningful reply/feedback from my champion and other contacts I`ve been in touch.

My last email to my champion, did not even get a reply.

I`m seeing two scenarios here:

They went with the other vendor (or still negotiating on pricing with them, and will not let me know until they have the contract in phase). Although this would be really unprofessional (it was an RFO after all), might just be the case.
They are in the no-decision mode, just afraid they`ll mess things up, so postponed the project.

Either way, I`m in need for some creative ways to get a reply from them, and understand what the status of the project is.

Any and all ideas are welcome :)

☁️ Software Tech

✍️ Sales advice

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10 comments

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detectivegibbles

Politicker

9

Sales Director

Ask if it's situation #2. That will tell you the answer to either #2 or if it's #1.

"Hey customer,

Thanks again for the effort put forth during this process. I know there's been a ton of time spent.

Is this project still a priority for you and the team?"

This is where my head goes. Probably some better ways to approach delicately, but that's a big gap in communication. People don't remember shit after a call from 3 days ago.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

3

🦊

Yes. That's always a great question to ask. Need to know where you stand.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

so I like the approach, I would call out the last issue that was discussed specifically as well. address the elephant in the room.
After reflecting on that meeting, were there things you would have done differently or more details you wish you had shared?
If there are, i would call those out in your message.
i would also make sure you are calling them as well as emailing. seems basic but many ppl dont seem to do that.

detectivegibbles

Politicker

1

Sales Director

I lost a massive 7 figure deal last year. Was following up bi-weekly via email and I sensed the competing rep was likely calling/dropping-in face to face.

I'd recommend keep calling weekly unless they push back heavily. But also try to provide some type of value each time you connect, no matter how small.

If someone thinks you're being a nuisance with a weekly cadence, then there's probably bigger factors in play out of their hands.

GDO

Politicker

0

BDM

this is what i was taught as well

Pachacuti

Politicker

2

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

If they are ghosting you, it doesn’t matter what you ask them.

Asking them if there is anything you can provide them to assist in the decision making is good too.

But you need to look at other factors too which may be delaying things - layoff, hiring, the economy causing them to rethink projects (this happened to me twice last year), changing priorities, etc. So patience is a virtue here.

Diablo

Politicker

2

Sr. AE

Just curious if the champion is the decision maker? If not, did you get a chance to connect with the other person

ZVRK

Politicker

0

Enterprise Account Executive

My champion’s reporting to the CHRO who is the ultimate decision maker here. Champ has influence and is in our favor, but the CHRO - we only met him once and the ball is in his court i guess..

Diablo

Politicker

0

Sr. AE

That’s right many a times shaking the decision makers help (depending upon the relationship) which doesn’t seem that strong in this case. I would be straightforward in asking and if I still don’t hear back, I’ll reach out to the decision maker asking if he has any updates.

Justatitle

Big Shot

0

Account Executive

If you’re last email didn’t get a response you likely don’t have a champion. Don’t mean to be rude but it doesn’t seem like they are willing to fight to get it if you haven’t heard from them in 3 months. A potential option is to email the CHRO say that there seemed to be a concern that was eased however you’d like to know if they still have concerns.

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